Fraunhofer ENAS belongs to the partners of the International Research Training Group (Internationales Graduiertenkolleg 1215) "Materials and Concepts for Advanced Interconnects", jointly sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Chinese Ministry of Education.

The following partner cooperate within this IRTG :

• Chemnitz University of Technology (Institute of Physics, Institute of Chemistry, Center for Microtechnologies )

• Fraunhofer-Institute for Electronic Nano Systems ENAS

• Fraunhofer-Institute for Reliability and Microintegration

• Technische Universität Berlin

• Fudan University, Shanghai

• Shanghai Jiao Tong University

This International Research Training Group (IRTG) is the first of its kind at Chemnitz University of Technology. It is lead by Prof. Ran Liu of Fudan University as the coordinator on the Chinese side and Prof. Thomas Gessner on the German side. A graduate school like this offers brilliant young PhD students the unique opportunity to complete their PhD work within 2.5 to 3 years in a multidisciplinary environment. Up to 14 PhD students of the German and 20 of the Chinese partner institutions, as well as a post-doctoral researcher at the Center for Microtechnologies are involved in the current program. The different individual backgrounds of the project partners bring together electrical and microelectronics engineers, materials scientists, physicists, and chemists. In particular, the IRTG is working to develop novel materials and processes as well as new concepts for connecting the devices within integrated microelectronic circuits. Smaller contributions are being made in the field of device packaging and silicides for device fabrication. In this sense, the IRTG project is helping to solve problems currently encountered on the way to nanoelectronics.

After a successful first project period the second phase of the programme was approved in 2010 by the German Research Foundation at the partnering institutions for another period of 4.5 years (until 03/2015). The topic will be extended to the field of Nanosystems. Accordingly the new title is: "Materials and Concepts for Advanced Interconnects and Nanosystems".

Currently there are 19 PhD students of the German and 15 of the Chinese partner institutions involved in the programm.