IEEE SSCS “Code-a-Chip” Travel Grant Awards at the 2023 Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits

The IEEE SSCS Code-a-Chip Travel Grant Award was created to:

1. Promote reproducible chip design using open-source tools and notebook-driven design flows and
2. Enable up-and-coming talents as well as seasoned open-source enthusiasts to travel to IEEE SSCS conferences and interact with the leading-edge chip design community.

Program Rules

• The program is open to anyone (no restrictions). IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society (SSCS) membership is encouraged, but not required. Teaming is encouraged, but each team must identify a single leader who can travel to the Symposium on VLSI from June 11-16, 2023, to receive the award.

• Applicants must submit an open-source Jupyter notebook detailing an innovative circuit design using open-source tools. The objective is to disseminate the main ideas and design choices using open-source tools and PDKs in a reproducible manner. Generating a final layout of your circuit is encouraged but not required.

  • Examples: inverter, temperature sensor

• Each submission must contain a suitable open-source license (e.g., Apache 2.0).

• A jury will evaluate the submissions and select up to 10 winners.

• Travel grants of up to US$500 (for secondary students), up to US$2,500 (for undergraduate students), and between US$1,000-US$5,000 (for graduate students and all others) will be awarded. This award can reimburse conference registration, travel and a portion of your accommodations until the dollar amount is used up.

• Travel arrangements must comply with the IEEE Travel and Expense Reimbursement Guidelines and awardees must attend the conference in person to qualify for reimbursement.

Note: As a reference, previous Notebook winners at ISSCC'23 can be found here.

Program Logistics

• The notebooks must be submitted through a GitHub Pull Request at the SSCS Open-Source Ecosystem Code-a-Chip (OSE) GitHub portal.
• Notebooks submissions must follow guidelines in the How to Apply section.
• The winners are expected to attend the conference to be recognized for their awards and to present a poster.
• Reimbursement will be provided after the conference when registration, air and accommodation receipts are sent to the SSCS administrator.

Program Schedule

• February 15, 2023, 8:00 AM Pacific Time: Info session (meeting link to follow)
• April 3, 2023, 11:59 AM Pacific Time: Notebook submission deadline (GitHub pull request)
• April 14, 2023: Announcement of winners
• April 17-21, 2023: Register for conference, obtain letter for visa application (if needed)
• June 11-16, 2023: Attend conference

FAQ

Contact

• Mehdi Saligane (mehdi@umich.edu)
• Boris Murmann (murmann@stanford.edu)