In October of this year, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to three scientists, including James Hassabis and John Jenner, for their contribution in developing an artificial intelligence model that can predict the complex three-dimensional structure of proteins. In the view of Yuan Longtian, a doctoral student from the School of Computer Science at Zhejiang University, this award result is timely: "In recent years, artificial intelligence has developed rapidly and caught up with the traditional discipline of chemistry. The two 'giants' have taken the same pace and achieved each other." Yuan Longtian studied in the Department of Chemistry for his undergraduate degree and is currently working on a project in the interdisciplinary field of chemistry and artificial intelligence, using artificial intelligence programs to assist in multiple complex stages of drug development. This is directly related to his undergraduate studies in the "AI+X" micro major: "I learned computer knowledge, deepened my understanding of algorithms, and more importantly, had a clearer idea of what kind of projects I can do in the future." "Micro major" refers to a set of core courses offered by universities around a certain academic field or core literacy, with characteristics such as "small but refined, interdisciplinary, and flexible". It does not grant a degree, but students can obtain a certificate after completing it. Tracing back to its roots, in 2018, Shandong University launched an online open course on classical literature, which was widely popular. Inspired by this, Shandong University explored the construction of the first batch of 17 micro majors for school wide enrollment in 2020. The "brick" thrown out by Shandong University has attracted countless "gems" - over the past four years, many universities have sprung up micro majors based on their own characteristics. Why are micro majors so popular in universities? The "AI+X" micro major, which Yuan Luotian has chosen as an elective in the forefront of popular fields, was first proposed by Zhejiang University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Nanjing University. It was jointly launched by Tongji University, Huawei, Baidu, and SenseTime in the spring and summer semester of 2021, and is open to non computer major students from the six universities mentioned above. The program is taught jointly by universities and enterprises, and students can obtain a certificate stamped by the six universities after completing their studies within two years. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, Yuan Luotian became the lecturer of the Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in this micro major and a doctoral student of Professor Wu Fei from the School of Computer Science at Zhejiang University. In Wu Fei's words, the construction of the "AI+X" micro specialty was "forced by the situation" at that time. After the first batch of 35 universities were approved to offer undergraduate majors in artificial intelligence in 2018, artificial intelligence has become increasingly popular both in society and in universities. Wu Fei often receives phone calls from non computer college teachers, with the same demand: to offer artificial intelligence courses to his own college. Given the heavy teaching workload of our institution, we would like to unite six high-level universities in the East China region, work together for warmth, and adopt a collaborative approach of course building and credit recognition to establish an artificial intelligence micro major Wu Fei said. After preliminary research, the "AI+X" micro major has set up 7 courses with 12 credits, including Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning, and Application Practice of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning. There are compulsory courses, elective courses, and practical courses, with the aim of enabling non computer major students to better empower themselves with disciplinary changes in their respective majors after mastering artificial intelligence knowledge. This is the smallest 'whole family bucket' that enables students to comprehensively master artificial intelligence skills, "said Wu Fei. At that time, the "AI+X" micro program recruited 50 students from each university. What surprised the teachers was that the number of registered students far exceeded the limit, and they had to be screened based on their academic performance in the end; Among the students, the majority come from self-care, engineering, agriculture, and medicine. Wu Fei observed that these students all have strong learning goals and autonomy: "Through micro professional learning, some students have fallen in love with artificial intelligence and entered this field; some have used artificial intelligence to promote progress in their field." Now, three years have passed. The artificial intelligence curriculum system of Zhejiang University is rapidly developing, and the form of offering micro majors is also being adjusted. Our idea is to first have general courses, then cross disciplinary courses, and finally launch micro majors. "Wu Fei introduced that this semester, the artificial intelligence course at Zhejiang University has become a compulsory general course, which is divided into three categories: ABC. Students with different professional backgrounds such as science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, humanities, social sciences, and art can choose courses according to their respective foundations and needs; Meanwhile, various colleges are also developing cross disciplinary courses on artificial intelligence. In addition, the artificial intelligence micro program at Zhejiang University is also under design and is expected to be launched in the spring and summer semesters next year. In fact, in recent years, it has become a trend for many universities to offer micro majors in cutting-edge and popular fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, and carbon neutrality. For example, Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology launched the first batch of 5G+and blockchain micro majors in 2021. Currently, among all 31 micro majors, there are 7 integrated circuit micro majors such as "Microelectronics Packaging"; The micro majors that Beijing Forestry University will enroll in September this year include artificial intelligence and its applications, carbon neutrality, and smart environmental protection; On September 22nd, the first cross campus micro program "Sustainable Development and Carbon Neutrality" at Shanghai University of Technology officially opened, attracting undergraduate students from seven universities in the northeast of Shanghai to participate in the first phase. Xia Chunming, Vice President of Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology, pointed out that in the context of the continuous development of emerging technologies and the accelerated transformation of traditional enterprises, traditional four-year majors have a "natural lag" in talent cultivation, that is, the relevant knowledge, technology, and literacy involved in the training program are difficult to quickly respond to the latest needs of industry enterprises for talents; The construction of new engineering majors can alleviate this pain point to a certain extent, but the coverage is small, the updates and iterations are slow, and the flexibility is not enough. Therefore, application-oriented universities and industry enterprises jointly build micro majors to cultivate students in a "specialized micro integration" manner, which can accurately connect and quickly respond to the talent needs of industry enterprises. Xia Chunming gave an example that almost all engineering universities have automation majors, and the curriculum system of this major is relatively stable. However, the industry's requirements for automation talents are constantly updating: not only do they need talents to master traditional technologies, but they also involve many emerging technologies, such as machine vision, artificial intelligence, 5G navigation, which are needed for unmanned warehousing. This is something that traditional automation majors cannot explain deeply and thoroughly. Students studying micro majors can accurately match the demand of enterprises for versatile talents; Students who receive micro professional certificates issued by schools and industry enterprises are also equivalent to obtaining the "stepping stone" to employment. Why are micro majors blooming everywhere in many universities? A reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network noticed that micro majors are not only concentrated in cutting-edge and popular fields, but many universities are building micro majors in batches with their own characteristics. For example, the 31 micro majors at Shanghai University of Engineering and Technology are widely welcomed by students. The "Integrated Circuit" micro major has the highest number of applicants, and many are even full-time graduate students; The source of students for the "Artificial Intelligence" micro major is very wide, including not only electronic and electrical majors, but also management, mechanical, chemical, transportation, aviation, and even foreign language majors; The registration for the "Life and Health Management" micro major, which is based on the advantageous major of "Elderly Care Service Management" at the school, is extremely popular. Xia Chunming told reporters that the distinctive feature of the school's micro major is school enterprise cooperation. The purpose of running the school is to focus on the demand for new engineering and technical talents in new technologies, new industries, and new economies, and to meet the training needs of targeted training for enterprises and pre employment in the industry; When students choose micro majors, they focus on cutting-edge technological fields, closely connected with strategic emerging industries, and emerging disciplines facing the job market. The reporter also found that universities such as Heilongjiang University, Central South University of Economics and Law, and Huanggang Normal University have opened micro majors in civil servant abilities and qualities; Jinan University has established a Korean language micro program for studying abroad; Inner Mongolia University for Nationalities has established a micro major in castor industry; Beijing Forestry University has launched a micro major in natural education this year, recruiting students both on and off campus. The observation of Lu Xiaodong, a researcher at the School of Education of Peking University, is that the micro majors explored by many universities have spread across various fields, especially closely integrated with new engineering, new humanities, new medicine, and new agriculture. Looking into the reasons, Lu Xiaodong believes that unlike major and minor majors, the establishment of micro majors is led by universities and does not require approval from higher education departments, so it has a high degree of flexibility. Lu Xiaodong told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network that according to the "Management Measures for Authorization and Awarding of Bachelor's Degree" issued in 2019, students studying minor or dual degree majors must be recruited by universities during the college entrance examination. However, in teaching practice, students may only develop new learning goals after receiving general education in university, making it difficult for them to choose a minor or dual degree major. Due to the fact that micro majors are more in line with educational laws, micro majors offered by universities based on students' learning needs have begun to flourish and develop. For example, according to Lu Xiaodong's observation, "In recent years, the number of students applying for minor majors has decreased, while the number of students applying for micro majors has increased significantly." In some universities, micro majors are not only open to students on campus, but also open to the general public. Taking Communication University of China as an example, the university offers multiple practical and industry oriented micro majors, such as "AIGC and Commercial Photography", "Short Video and Digital Cultural Communication", "Digital News and Social Innovation", "Media Industry Investment and Financing", etc., and adjusts the name and content of micro majors every new academic year. Niu Yuming, a senior student at the School of Journalism, Communication University of China, has taken two micro majors, "Digital Art Management" and "Digital Virtual Production," offered by the School of Cultural Industry Management, and has completed multiple design project assignments. For example, in the course of digital art market management, she did a digital collection cultural tourism planning, connecting the "1314" bus route in Hangzhou with the scenic spots along the route; After learning the basic process of production in the digital age production management class, she and her team members adapted a novel into a good film and television project book. He Xiaofei, Vice Dean of the Undergraduate School of Communication University of China, introduced that after each micro major runs on campus for one round, those with good teaching effects will recruit students from outside the school: "The education form is developing diversely, and universities are providing non degree education resources such as micro majors to society, which is also one of the ways to contribute to the construction of a lifelong learning society." Micro majors have become the "growth point" of new majors in universities. Interdisciplinary and professional integration is a direction for universities to adjust majors in recent years. The establishment of micro majors is led by universities, and the setting, management, and operation are relatively flexible, which makes micro majors a "test field" for many universities to promote educational and teaching reforms. Many universities, before cultivating and building new undergraduate majors, polish backbone courses and train teacher teams through running micro majors, and establish new majors on this basis. Taking Communication University of China as an example, He Xiaofei said that one important function of micro majors is to provide "new growth points for professional development" and incubate new professional directions. For example, the "Computational Communication" micro major has incubated Communication Studies (Computational Communication Direction), which has now been iterated into Communication Studies (Intelligent and Computational Communication Direction). At present, Shandong University, which has over 50 micro majors, is constantly flourishing and bearing fruit in this "experimental field" of micro majors. For example, based on the exploration of the micro major of "Medical Data Science", Shandong University added an undergraduate program in Biomedical Data Science in 2021