The academic degree committee under the State Council, China’s cabinet, has voted through a proposal to establish an integrated circuit (IC) university program, which will be designated a first-level discipline, in a move which industry observers said represents the country’s latest effort to nurture homegrown talent in the semiconductor industry amid a US-led crackdown on China’s tech rise.
The degree’s establishment will be officially announced after it is approved by the State Council.
The microelectronics and solid electronics university program, which involves semiconductor courses, is currently designated a second-class discipline.
Analysts said the establishment and first-class designation of the IC program will allow more universities to open colleges to train IC students, so as to make up for a drain in China’s talent pool. Also, IC-related subjects will have access to more resources and funding.