The public University of Macau (UM) launched five new faculties and two research institutes on Saturday as part of a major restructuring aimed at strengthening science and technology education, supporting Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, and expanding the university’s role in innovation and research, according to a UM statement issued that day.
The new academic units, which commenced operations on Saturday, comprise the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Information Science and Computing, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Design, the Institute of Smart City Technologies, and the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Brain Sciences, the statement said.
According to the statement, the restructuring is intended to bolster UM’s science and technology capabilities, support educational integration between Macau and Hengqin, and enhance talent development in line with national and regional development strategies.
UM Rector Yonghua Song (also known as Song Yonghua) said that the restructuring aligns with the country’s goal of becoming a science and technology powerhouse, facilitates the integrated development of education, technology and talent in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and supports Macau’s economic diversification, the statement noted. Song added that the restructuring followed two years of research, expert consultation and approval processes, allowing the university to consolidate its teaching and research resources while strengthening its science and technology education and cutting-edge research, the statement said.
The statement underlined that the five new faculties will establish a sci-tech framework spanning basic sciences, engineering, information technology, medicine and design, while promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across medicine, engineering, information science and intelligent technologies.
The university also plans to expand cooperation with leading international institutions through joint talent cultivation, academic exchanges and research collaboration, while further internationalising its student body, faculty and academic programmes, the statement pointed out. It added that the two new research institutes will focus on national priorities including smart city development, artificial intelligence (AI), brain sciences, robotics, data science and green urban development.
The Institute of Smart City Technologies will concentrate on smart city systems, urban governance and low-carbon development, according to the statement, while the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Brain Sciences will promote interdisciplinary AI research and its applications in healthcare, engineering and social governance.
UM also said that it is establishing two additional research institutes dedicated to life sciences and clinical and translational medicine. Once operational, the university will have 11 research institutes in total. Under its “one university, two campuses” model, the Faculties of Medicine, Information Science and Computing, Engineering and Design will be based at the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone campus in Hengqin, while the Faculty of Science will remain at UM’s main campus*, the statement said. It noted that the two campuses will share academic and research resources, while the research institutes will help accelerate technology transfer, industry - academia collaboration and the commercialisation of research outcomes in both Macau and Hengqin.
UM expects the number of students enrolled in science and technology disciplines to increase to 14,500 in the future, striving to further strengthen its capacity to cultivate talent for regional industries, the statement noted.
*A 1.09 km2 leasehold in Hengqin under Macau jurisdiction. Unlike its main campus, the second UM campus in Hengqin operates under Chinese mainland jurisdiction. Hengqin Island forms part of Zhuhai Municipality in Guangdong Province. – Gemini, MPD
This undated handout photo provided by the public University of Macau (UM) on Saturday shows its main campus on a plot of land leased from the Chinese mainland.
