University of Macau
Founded in 1981, the University of Macau (UM) is the only internationalised public comprehensive university in Macao, with a modern governance model. 80 per cent of its faculty members are from outside Macao. With English as the main medium of instruction, the university is committed to producing creative and socially responsible graduates with a global mindset and international competitiveness.
Currently, there are more than 10,000 students at UM. For undergraduate students, the university provides a unique ‘4-in-1’ education, which consists of discipline-specific education, general education, research and internship education, and community and peer education. Adopting a credit system and a collegiate system, the university offers around 130 degree programmes at bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels, covering a variety of fields.
UM is ranked in the 301-350 bracket in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, with a global ranking of No 6 in International Outlook, No 37 in the THE Asia University Rankings, and No 42 in the THE Young University Rankings. In the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings, it is ranked No 367.
UM has earned recognition for its high degree of internationalisation. 80 per cent of its faculty members are from outside Macao. The university constantly expands its international network and actively builds new platforms for international collaboration in order to broaden the students’ horizons. It has established collaboration agreements with more than 260 institutions of higher learning in over 33 countries and regions.
UM is the only university in Macao to implement a residential college system. In fact, its RC system is the largest in Asia. As a complement to the faculty-based system, the RCs serve as a vehicle for whole-person education through systematic planning of experiential programmes. RCs aim to nurture students into compassionate and socially responsible individuals with the ability for self-reflection amid a culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating environment.
Adopting a problem-oriented approach, UM devotes its resources to research areas that reflect the university’s strengths. UM provides full support to the three state key laboratories (the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, and the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City), three new key research areas (precision medicine for cancer treatment, advanced materials, and regional oceanography ), three interdisciplinary fields (artificial intelligence, cognitive and brain science, and data science), and three research platforms for humanities and social sciences (Centre for Macau Studies, Asia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management, and Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (in preparation)). UM encourages interdisciplinary collaboration, especially the integration of humanities and social sciences on the one hand, and modern technology on the other.
According to statistics from the Web of Science, the number of high-quality academic papers published by UM scholars increased from a little over 190 in 2010 to around 1,800 in 2019, with citation frequency exceeding 24,000. Chip research is a key research area at UM. The chip research team focuses on developing analogue and mixed signal integrated circuits and systems as well as an advanced R&D platform. The team has received a second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award. At the 2019 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, UM was ranked second in the world along with two other institutes in terms of the number of papers accepted at the conference, next only to Intel. Chinese medicine is a signature research area at UM. The Chinese medicine research team is committed to the study of Chinese medicine quality and international standards. The team has received a second prize of the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award. The innovative products developed by the team have won international invention gold awards and more than 40 special science and technology awards in Macao.