UM Strives to Attain More Achievements in Scientific Research to Meet President Xi’s Expectations

In June this year, President Xi Jinping replied to a joint letter from higher education institutions in Macao, with the instructions that higher education institutions in Macao should produce more graduates who love China and Macao and should attain more achievements in science and technology. Recently, President Xi reiterated the importance of technological innovation. UM is following President Xi’s instructions, determined to live up to the expectations of President Xi and Macao residents.

A young university with a history of only 37 years, UM has nevertheless attained impressive achievements in both teaching and research. This year, UM received approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology to establish a State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. Afterwards, it decided to establish a department of physics and chemistry, and a research institute in microelectronics, to carry out close collaborations with the two existing state key labs and other research institutes.

New Task: Internet of Things for Smart Cities

Yonghua Song, rector of UM and director of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, says, ‘We will follow President Xi’s instructions and we are determined not to let down the president who cares about the university deeply.’ The lab will develop new technologies for energy management, smart transport, public security, disaster prevention and management, smart sensors and network communication, and facilities management to make the network of things in Macao more smart and interconnected. It will also propose a ‘Macao solution’ for the Greater Bay Area in smart city development.

The lab currently consists of five chair professors and distinguished professors; more than ten full, associate, and assistant professors; as well as over 60 PhD and master’s students. Lab members have been involved in key projects under the 973 Programme, the 863 Programme, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. They have received various national awards and have published more than 1,000 papers in prestigious international journals and at international conferences, with more than 10 patents that are either pending or granted.

In response to President Xi’s instructions, the lab plans to train approximately ten outstanding postdoctoral research fellows, PhD students, and master’s students each year. It also plans to commercialise research results to promote the development of the Greater Bay Area.

Multidisciplinary Research in Microelectronics

Recently, UM established a research institute in microelectronics, which aims to build on the achievements of the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI to strengthen personnel training, research, and application in the field of microelectronics. Since its founding in 2011, the lab has carried out extensive collaboration with industry in chip design, with partners in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Xiamen, Shanghai, and other mainland cities. This year, seven papers by lab members were accepted by the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, accounting for half of the total number of papers from mainland China, Macao, and Hong Kong, placing the university at No 5 in the world.

Prof Rui Martins, UM’s vice rector for global affairs and director of the lab, says the lab has been exploring the benefits of merging microelectronics with biology. He says, ‘We have developed some prototypes in the state key lab that can detect viruses and give medical diagnosis in a faster and less intrusive manner. For instance, last year, a team from the lab developed a fast, accurate, and convenient point-of-care pathogen detection method in collaboration with experts from the Faculty of Health Sciences. In addition to obtaining fast results in 40 minutes, this method can also lower the reaction volume to one-tenth (1-μL) of the volume required with conventional methods.’

Translational Research: Chinese Medicine Going Global

The State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine (University of Macau) was also established in 2011. Since its founding, the lab has published more than 1,700 papers in SCI journals, with an average citation frequency of 14.5. In 2017, lab members published an average of 10 papers. The lab has participated in the public standard-setting process for the European Pharmacopeia and the US Pharmacopeia. It has received 15 awards, including the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award, and the Macao Science and Technology Award in the Natural Science category and the Technological Invention category. In terms of translational research, the lab has successfully extracted a new natural compound from Yi Zhi Ren, a Chinese herbal medicine in South China, for treating neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to obtaining a US patent for the research study, the lab has signed an agreement on the commercialisation of the research result with a biological technology company in Portugal.

Prof Wang Yitao, director of UM’s Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences and the state key lab in Chinese medicine, says, ‘We hope to collaborate with the World Health Organisation Collaboarating Centre for Traditional Medicine and the Guangdong-Macao industrial park in Chinese medicine. We hope to explore a new area for collaboration. ’

Innovative Projects: Promoting Knowledge Transfer

Earlier this month, President Xi said, ‘Benefiting mankind is the greatest driving force behind technological innovation.’ Scientific research that is not aimed at bringing about tangible benefits to society is but grandiose ideas on paper. Therefore, UM supports its faculty and students to commercialise their research results to benefit society, particularly through its Research Services Section and Knowledge Transfer Sections. The two sections provide support to UM researchers to carry out technological innovation and participate in more projects related to the establishment of state-level research platforms. They also support UM researchers to participate in technological innovation projects in the Greater Bay Area and apply for cross-border research grants.

UM researchers currently hold more than 70 patents from the United States, mainland China, Taiwan, and other places. These patents cover such areas as biomedical sciences, Chinese medical sciences, computer science, and microelectronics. In recent years, UM has focused its effort on promoting its achievements in science and technology in other cities of the Greater Bay Area. UM’s commercial subsidiary, UMTED Limited, playing the role of a matchmaker, assists UM faculty and students to seek potential companies that are interested to commercialise their research results. The Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute serves a similar purpose in mainland China.

UM Strives to Attain More Achievements in Scientific Research to Meet President Xi’s Expectations

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