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| UM Rector Wei Zhao (middle) signs cooperation pacts with representatives from numerous Portuguese universities. The second from the left is the president of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia Joao Sentieiro |
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| UM delegation meets with, among other people, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal Prof. Mariano Gago |
From 18 March to 27 March 2011, a delegation from the University of Macau (UM) visited eight prestigious universities in Portugal and signed several pacts on academic exchange, in an attempt to enhance cooperation between UM and its Portuguese counterparts and to lay a solid foundation for nurturing outstanding graduates for both Macao and Portugal.
The delegation was comprised of UM’s Rector Wei Zhao, Vice Rector (research) Prof. Rui Martins, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration Prof. Jacky So, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities Prof. Hao Yufan, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology Prof. Philip Chen, Dean of the Honours College Prof. Mok Kai Meng, Interim Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law Prof. Augusto Teixeira Garcia. During the stay in Portugal, the delegation successively visited the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the University of Porto, the University of Minho, the University of Aveiro, the University of Coimbra, the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, the University of Lisbon and the Instituto Universitário de Lisboa / ISCTE where cooperation pacts with most of these institutions were signed.
The signature of such agreements with these renowned Portuguese universities is significant, because it will further enhance the academic ties and strengthen cooperation in student training between UM and Portuguese universities, and will also help lay a solid foundation for nurturing outstanding graduates for both Macao and Portugal. These cooperation pacts will no doubt greatly contribute to the development of higher education in Macao. Besides this, UM has also signed a protocol on the creation of an academic chair designated by ‘Camões’, unique in the world, to be integrated in its Department of Portuguese. The chair will be co-financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal), UM (Macao), Fundação Oriente (Portugal), Centro e Científico e Cultural de Macau (Portugal), and BNU (Macao). A prestigious academic in the area of Portuguese language and culture will be openly recruited for this chair.
Before visiting the Portuguese universities, Rector Wei Zhao was honoured with the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by twelve prestigious Portuguese universities in the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to advancing Macao-Portugal ties in higher education. By having twelve Portuguese universities conferring an honorary doctorate on him, Rector Wei Zhao was on a par with the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was conferred a similar honour but by three Portuguese universities in 2009. Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva met with Rector Wei Zhao and presidents from numerous Portuguese universities. During his meeting with Portuguese President Silva, Rector Wei Zhao briefly talked about the good results achieved by UM recently.
Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education of Portugal Prof. Mariano Gago twice met with UM delegation and both sides exchanged views on a range of issues, including Macao-Portugal cooperation in higher education, the strategies for developing higher education in Macao and Portugal, and training and exchange models. That UM delegation’s visit to Portugal was warmly received by the Portuguese government and numerous universities is a reflection of their recognition of the achievements in higher education attained by UM and Macao as a whole.
