1. Brief Introduction

Biomedical Engineering (BME) of Chongqing University (CQU) was founded in the 1970s, and is a key discipline supported by the National “211” and “985” projects. Over the past 40 years, BME of CQU has developed into a robust academic program with a growing international influence, becoming one of the largest training centers for biomechanics and biorheology in China. It began to offer the first master's degree program in Biomechanics in 1980, and the first two Ph.D. programs in Biomechanics in 1986. After winning the first Natural Science Award in the field in 1984, it was listed as one of the earliest key disciplines in China in 2007, with 14 national and provincial centers including the Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology (Ministry of Education), 111 Innovation and Intelligence Base, and National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Vascular Implant Development, etc. The Bioengineering College of CQU has a complete system for academic degree authorization, including 2 programs for doctoral degrees in first-class disciplines and 2 centers for post-doctoral research (Biomedical Engineering, Biology); 4 programs for master degree authorization (Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering, Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering, Master of Science in Biology, Professional Master's Degree in Biology and Medicine), and 3 undergraduate specialties (Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering, Intelligent Medical Engineering).

2. Academic staff

We have assembled a first-rate team of 77 full-time faculty members, including nationally recognized, award-winning scholars. Currently, there are 44 full professors and 27 associate professors. Sixty-nine members possess a Ph.D. degree and 59 members have research experience overseas. There are winners of Yangtze River Scholar (Kaiyong Cai), Professor in Elsevier's annual list of Most Cited Chinese Researchers (Guixue Wang), Distinguished Professorships by the National Talent Project in the New Millennium, National Young Talents, and New Century Talents.

To promote international teaching, Danish Professor Hans Gregersen, expert on biomechanics of the gastrointestinal tract and a National High-Level Talent Professor, joined the faculty to continue to run a lab at CQU. In addition, Professor Yanli Zhao (Nanyang Technological University) and Xingjie Liang (National Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) joined the faculty as Lecture professors of Changjiang Scholar Program and Chongqing Bayu Scholar Program for better cooperative training of our academic staffs. Through Joint College of BME between CQU and Army Medical University, more than 20 professors, including Academician Xiuwu Bian, were invited to work as part-time academic advisors. A joint training mechanism has been established between the innovation team of Biomaterials and Tissue Repair and 3 municipal supervisory teams of Chongqing.

3. Education

Talent training has always been a unique feature with regard to progressive curriculum system and collaborative education among colleges, enterprises, and other stakeholders. Multi-dimensional and personalized training of graduates in interdisciplinary effort between medical engineering, science and technology, learning and research has contributed to the growth of our students. Currently, there are 1091 students, including 434 undergraduate students, 436 master students and 221 doctoral students. The admission rate of master students is 16%, with 42% of whom are admitted through the exam-free recommendation procedure. Half of the graduates continue to pursue a Ph.D. degree in the discipline. Supported by the "Silk Road Scholarship Program" from the Chinese government, we have started to recruit 71 international master students since 2017.

In the past decade, we have cultivated innovative experts with leadership, scientific spirit, and creative ability to solve complex problems in the field of health science. Our students have won over 20 awards such as the Nomination Award of the Yearly Chinese College Students, the 1st Prize of National Undergraduate BME Innovation Design Competition, the Silver Award of the National College Students "Challenge Cup".

4. Academic Research

The national Health China strategy has driven the research for the development of national/local medical devices/equipment. Biomechanics and Tissue Repair, Biomaterials and Medical Devices, Intelligent Digital Health and Equipment, as well as Molecular and Cell Medical Engineering are our dominant characteristic research directions. By in-depth cooperation with the Army Medical University, Suzhou Medical Device Research Institute, Huawei, Pumen Technology, etc., we have established 10 joint innovation and training bases.

In the past 5 years, over 100 national-level projects were carried out to organize scientific research with a higher position and a wider vision. Over 600 papers were published in high-impact SCI journals such as Nat. Neurosci., PNAS, Sci. Adv., etc. Additionally, 19 patents regarding the dynamic identification of health function were successfully transferred and productized. We made a significant contribution to the global efforts of developing and deploying digital health technologies, by leading the development of 46 ISO/ITU international standards and corresponding conformance test tools, as well as co-authoring the Digital Health Platform Handbook jointly published by WHO and ITU. We received more than 10 awards, including the Chongqing Science and Technology Award, China Federation of Commerce Science and Technology Award, and China Standard Innovation Contribution Award.

5. Domestic & International Influences

We are dedicated to establishing long-term cooperation with leading laboratories in overseas universities, such as the University of California, University of Southern California, Nagoya University, through the 111 Project Laboratory of Biomechanics and Tissue Repair. Moreover, we have invited distinguished overseas experts including Academician Shu Chien, Geert W. Schmid-Schonbein, and Zhengming Zhong, to start joint research platforms. In the last 5 years, we have co-authored over 70 academic papers. Such collaborations promoted the international influence of the discipline through organizing 15 academic conferences, such as the 7th Sino-American Workshop on Biomedical Engineering and Joint Workshop on Biomechanics and the Conference of Rehabilitation Engineering of Chinese Biomedical Engineering Society. Eight faculty members chaired the sessions, and 14 academic staff are assigned in the International Personal Health Equipment Standards Committee and other organizations. Another 16 staff currently serve on the editorial board of international journals. We also joined the compilation of over 20 development plans in the health sector for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, promoting the international and national academic communications of BME.