A method of controlling a reverse-conducting IGBT, RC-IGBT, component in a circuit comprising a series connection of two controllable switch components where at least one of the controllable switch components is an RC-IGBT and the other controllable switch component is to be controlled to a conductive state, the method comprising: applying a pre-trigger pulse to the gate electrode of the RC-IGBT during reverse conduction of the RC-IGBT at a first time instant (t 1), the voltage of the pre-trigger pulse corresponding to a turn-on voltage of the RC-IGBT, applying a turn-on gate pulse at a second time instant (t 2) to the other controllable switch component of the series connection for controlling the other controllable switch component to a conductive state such that the pre-trigger pulse and the turn-on gate pulse overlap, and ending the pre-trigger pulse after a delay time at a third time instant (t 3), the delay time being the time period when the turn-on gate pulse and the pre-trigger pulse overlap, wherein for a pre-defined pre-trigger pulse duration and a given RC-IGBT collector current the delay time is determined by a calibration algorithm using the steps of, after selecting an overlap period of zero, a) applying the pre-trigger pulse to the RC-IGBT when it is in a reverse conducting mode, b) applying the turn-on gate pulse to the gate of the other controllable switch component connected in series with the RC-IGBT such that the turn-on gate pulse and the pre-trigger pulse overlap for the time of the selected overlap period, c) measuring the duration of the current fall time (t meas,i-ON) of the RC-IGBT, d) increasing the overlap period of the pre-trigger pulse and the turn-on control pulse, repeating the above steps a) to d) until the measured duration of the current fall time increases, and selecting the overlap period that produces minimum duration of the current fall time as the delay time. applying a pre-trigger pulse to the gate electrode of the RC-IGBT during reverse conduction of the RC-IGBT at a first time instant (t 1), the voltage of the pre-trigger pulse corresponding to a turn-on voltage of the RC-IGBT, applying a turn-on gate pulse at a second time instant (t 2) to the other controllable switch component of the series connection for controlling the other controllable switch component to a conductive state such that the pre-trigger pulse and the turn-on gate pulse overlap, and ending the pre-trigger pulse after a delay time at a third time instant (t 3), the delay time being the time period when the turn-on gate pulse and the pre-trigger pulse overlap, wherein for a pre-defined pre-trigger pulse duration and a given RC-IGBT collector current the delay time is determined by a calibration algorithm using the steps of, after selecting an overlap period of zero, a) applying the pre-trigger pulse to the RC-IGBT when it is in a reverse conducting mode, b) applying the turn-on gate pulse to the gate of the other controllable switch component connected in series with the RC-IGBT such that the turn-on gate pulse and the pre-trigger pulse overlap for the time of the selected overlap period, c) measuring the duration of the current fall time (t meas,i-ON) of the RC-IGBT, d) increasing the overlap period of the pre-trigger pulse and the turn-on control pulse, a) applying the pre-trigger pulse to the RC-IGBT when it is in a reverse conducting mode, b) applying the turn-on gate pulse to the gate of the other controllable switch component connected in series with the RC-IGBT such that the turn-on gate pulse and the pre-trigger pulse overlap for the time of the selected overlap period, c) measuring the duration of the current fall time (t meas,i-ON) of the RC-IGBT, d) increasing the overlap period of the pre-trigger pulse and the turn-on control pulse, repeating the above steps a) to d) until the measured duration of the current fall time increases, and selecting the overlap period that produces minimum duration of the current fall time as the delay time.