Brain-computer interface technology, once confined to science fiction, is now advancing toward clinical application and industrial development.

On September 30, the province's first "AI and Brain-Computer Interface" micro-major officially opened at Bengbu Medical University.

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Duan Shumin and Chief Scientist of the Lingang Laboratory Hong Bo delivered lectures on site, with government, universities, and enterprises joining forces, marking an important step for the province in cultivating interdisciplinary innovative talent that bridges medicine and engineering, and laying a solid talent foundation for the future brain-computer interface industry.

Brain-computer interface is a cutting-edge field involving deep multidisciplinary integration, combining artificial intelligence, life sciences, clinical medicine, and engineering technology, and the demand for interdisciplinary talent from industry and clinical frontlines is extremely urgent.

Bengbu Medical University has broken down traditional disciplinary barriers to establish the province's first "AI and Brain-Computer Interface" micro-major, promoting the alignment of teaching with research and real clinical scenarios, and focusing on cultivating innovative talent capable of solving practical industrial problems.

"The university will continue to deepen education and teaching reform and improve the interdisciplinary talent cultivation system," said Zheng Lanrong, Deputy Party Secretary and President of Bengbu Medical University, who encouraged students to integrate their personal aspirations into the cause of serving people's health and to hone their skills in practice, delivering high-quality talent for the brain-computer interface industry in Anhui and across the nation.

Relying on the Longhu Laboratory, local chain-leading enterprises, and the clinical resources of Bengbu Medical University, the cluster effect of Bengbu's brain-computer interface industry continues to emerge.

The establishment of the "AI and Brain-Computer Interface" micro-major precisely meets the practical needs of Bengbu's industrial development, effectively connecting the education chain from medicine, artificial intelligence, and engineering technology to clinical translation, and will promote deep coupling between the education chain, talent chain, industrial chain, and innovation chain, helping to build a domestically influential innovation hub for the brain-computer interface industry.

It is reported that since the province launched its micro-major construction pilot in 2024, universities across the province have established 576 micro-majors, making micro-major construction a calling card of Anhui's higher education reform.

A relevant official from the Provincial Department of Education stated that the opening of the "AI and Brain-Computer Interface" micro-major at Bengbu Medical University is a vivid practice of developing new quality productive forces in the province, and the department will continue to support the university's interdisciplinary talent cultivation in medicine and engineering.

Zhu Lijun, Party Secretary of Bengbu Medical University, presided over the opening ceremony.

At the ceremony, the university signed joint school-enterprise cultivation agreements with several companies including Anhui North Microelectronics Research Institute Group Co., Ltd., officially launching a new model of collaborative education; a group of industrial technology experts were appointed as enterprise mentors for the micro-major.

Student representative Yu Yilin from the first cohort expressed that they would cherish the learning opportunity and strive to grow into interdisciplinary innovative talent in the brain-computer interface field.

In the first class of the program, Academician Duan Shumin and Professor Hong Bo each delivered keynote lectures, transforming cutting-edge research achievements into classroom teaching content and opening up the scientific horizons of brain-computer interface for young students.

Although the micro-major is "small" in scale, it carries the significant mission of serving future industries.

With the implementation of collaborative education among government, universities, and enterprises, a group of young talents equipped with medical, artificial intelligence, and engineering competencies will grow here, injecting solid talent momentum into Anhui's efforts to seize a leading position in the brain-computer interface sector.