The University of Macau (UM) said in a statement on Tuesday that four of its students were awarded the Henrique de Senna Fernandes Academic Prize for the Best Portuguese Thesis, which recognises “postgraduate students who have demonstrated an excellent academic performance in Portuguese-related fields”.
The statement noted that the prize is presented on the centenary of the birth of the Macanese writer-cum-lawyer. It is funded by the University of Macau Development Foundation (UMDF).
The awardees comprise the Faculty of Arts and Humanities’ Department of Portuguese doctoral students Francisco Manuel Pelicano Antunes, Carla Alexandra Santos Lopes, and Lang Sida, as well as Faculty of Law master’s student Leong Kin Man, according to the statement. They were respectively awarded the best doctoral theses and best master’s thesis written in Portuguese for the 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 academic years.
The statement noted that UM Vice Rector Rui Martins and Macanese Association (ADM) President and son of Henrique de Senna Fernandes, Miguel de Senna Fernandes, presented the awards.
Henrique de Senna Fernandes (1923-2010) wrote in Portuguese. Customarily, the term "Macanese" denotes Macau's community of mixed Portuguese and Asian extraction and its diaspora. The Macanese are estimated to account for about 1.5 percent of Macau's population. He wrote six books in the Portuguese language, including "Amor e Dedinhos de Pé" ("Love and Tiny Toes") published in 1986.
The statement added that Martins hopes that the prize will encourage doctoral and master’s students at UM to improve the quality of their theses and strengthen their research capacity in Portuguese-related fields, while Miguel de Senna Fernandes said that he was grateful to the public university for establishing the prize in his father’s name and congratulated the awardees.
This undated handout photo provided by the University of Macau (UM) on Tuesday shows its Vice Rector Rui Martins (first from left) and Macanese Association (ADM) President Miguel de Senna Fernandes (first from right) presenting awards to doctoral students Carla Alexandra Santos Lopes (second from left) and Francisco Manuel Pelicano Antunes.
