Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng: "One Student One Chip" Initiative – A New Model for Integrated Circuit Talent Cultivation

On March 7, the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress held a press conference on people's livelihood. Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng noted that as a new mechanism and model for talent cultivation in the integrated circuit field, the "One Student One Chip" initiative guides each graduate student to complete their own chip design, enabling students to acquire capabilities in chip design, manufacturing, etc., upon graduation, which serves as an important foundation for industrial practice and innovation in the integrated circuit sector.

Excerpt from Minister Huai's remarks:

In alignment with national strategies, particularly in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, life sciences, new energy, and quantum technology, we are exploring new mechanisms and models for cultivating innovative talent independently. For example, in the integrated circuits field, we have integrated technological innovation with industrial innovation and implemented the "One Student One Chip" initiative in talent cultivation. This is a program where each graduate student designs one chip, ensuring that every student graduates with the ability to design and manufacture chips. This provides a crucial foundation for industrial practice and driving innovation.

The source material is from the official website of the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China: "Two Sessions Press Conference | Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng: Promoting the Transformation of Universities from Discipline-Focused Development to Serving National Missions"

Editor's Note:

The "One Student One Chip" initiative is a large-scale, non-profit chip talent cultivation program launched by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2019. It is dedicated to cultivating high-level processor chip talent by introducing the concept of "silicon-based teaching" into the chip curriculum system, guiding students to independently design their own open-source processor chips and have them taped out and powered on. The program focuses on cultivating students' "computer software-hardware system co-design capabilities" and "full-chain chip design capabilities."

To date, the "One Student One Chip" initiative has attracted over 17,000 registered students from more than 1,200 schools worldwide. Previous participants have repeatedly won national special prizes and first prizes in competitions such as the Loongson Cup, the National College Student IC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, the Electronic Design Competition, and the Embedded System Competition. Meanwhile, after graduation, many have joined industry-leading companies such as HiSilicon (Huawei), Cambricon, Loongson, Hygon, and Moore Threads, or pursued further studies at top domestic and international institutions including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Peking University, HKUST, and Carnegie Mellon University.

The "One Student One Chip" initiative is open year-round to chip and system design enthusiasts, free of charge and with no restrictions on school, major, or grade level. Additionally, the program offers free tapeout opportunities to students who achieve specified learning goals. Interested students can register by visiting the official "One Student One Chip" website (ysyx.org/en).