Synopsys Inc

Article by Marina Saryan, Young People Programme Co-Chair, Synopsys

Deadline for students to apply: December 31^st, 2023

Applicants must be full-time students in EDA, microelectronics, or an adjacent field

DATE Conference (Design, Automation and Test in Europe) is the main event in Europe bringing together designers and design automation users, researchers, and vendors, as well as specialists in the hardware and software design, test and manufacturing of electronic circuits and systems. DATE will be held on 25-27 March 2024 in Valencia, Spain

Young People Programme (YPP) is an integral part of the conference which supports PhD and master’s students in their career development, with various initiatives.

Sponsorship of Attendance

To enable current master’s and PhD students to attend DATE, sponsoring companies, and the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) will fund registration for the full conference for Young People Programme participants. In addition to the numerous YPP events, participants will have the opportunity to attend keynotes, focus sessions, tutorials, and networking events. Prior to the conference, participants will receive necessary materials about available formats to maximize the DATE experience.

Please apply here for sponsorship: Student Sponsorship Application

Industry Careers Fair 

Participating companies will post open positions on the  HiPEAC Jobs portal and students will be able to upload their CVs. At the conference, companies will give a brief presentation of themselves and participate in a speed-dating recruitment event. Registered students will have the opportunity to ask recruiters questions before the conference in a ‘Meet the recruiter’ call.

A keynote by Matt Venn, a science and technology communicator, will discuss job opportunities created by the open hardware movement. The event will also feature a panel of young industry experts, who will talk about different career paths in microelectronics and related industries.

GPT Design Contest

This new initiative is a contest for teams of students who will work for 24 hours to create a design using GPT Tools. The contest is organized by Cadence, ARM, TU Munich, the University of Southampton, and UNSW (Australia), who will provide the specifications of the design, plus a verification intellectual property (IP) to check the protocol compliance of the generated design.

Registered student teams will access training material before the conference so they can get to know the GPT framework and the target design framework (e.g. any necessary protocols, the verification framework).

To find out more about the competition, watch the video and register your team for the contest: GPT Design Contest Application

Student Teams Fair

Another initiative of the YPP is the Student Teams Fair, which brings together university student teams with EDA and microelectronic companies. Student teams will present their activities, success stories and challenges, while companies can provide support (such as free tool licences, personalized webinars, and financial support) for future activities.

Submit your poster here: Student Teams Fair Application

PhD Forum

The DATE PhD Forum is a great opportunity for PhD students to present their work to a broad audience in the system design and design automation community, and to make contacts as they enter the job market. For their part, representatives from industry and academia get an insight into state-of-the-art research in the system design and design automation space.

More details about the PhD Forum

Academic Careers Fair 

It’s not just industry representatives who are looking for top-talent graduates; academic institutions also need high-potential candidates. Programme leaders will promote their research projects and open positions to YPP attendees, so those who want to stay on the academic research path can learn about these opportunities. This year’s fair will also feature a workshop on how to write proposals, an important skill researchers need throughout their academic career.

University Fair

The DATE University Fair provides a platform to disseminate mature projects, ideally with a live demonstration. In addition to academics, this is also of interest to industry, as the outcomes of fundamental research can be potentially applied to commercial products. As there are often follow-up projects, which again need a new generation of researchers, this closes the loop with the Academic Careers Fair.

For further details about the particular events, please contact:  

• Careers Fair – Industry & Student Teams Fair
• PhD Forum
• Careers Fair – Academic and University Forum