Torch Relayed, Renewal Embraced — On Restructuring the Faculty of Science and Technology

By Xu Cheng-Zhong, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), University of Macau; Chair Professor of Computer and Information Science

Prologue — The Era Summons

In February 2019, I joined the University of Macau (UM) as the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) marked its 30th anniversary — a moment when history and possibility converged. Over three decades of dedicated cultivation, FST has accomplished a historic transformation. From an initial role as an extension of Hong Kong’s higher education system, it has grown into a pillar of Macau’s autonomous higher education development, nurturing a large cohort of urgently needed science and engineering professionals for the Macau SAR. Today, 80% of Macau’s electromechanical engineers, 50% of its electronic engineers, and 25% of its registered civil engineers are graduates of FST. These figures are more than medals of honor earned through decades of service to Macau society – they are firm foundation upon which the Faculty’s future will be built. I carry deep pride in the FST’s enduring contributions to Macau’s economic and social progress.

Coinciding with UM’s relocation to its current campus, three State Key Laboratories, the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, and the State Key Laboratory of Mechanism and Quality of Chinese Medicine, were successively established. This marked a critical turning point for UM — a transition from a teaching-oriented university focused primarily on knowledge transfer into a research-oriented university embracing both knowledge transfer and innovation. Standing at the forefront of this transformation, FST delivered significant achievements in talent cultivation, scientific innovation, and social service. As a result, UM’s international standing rose significantly, entering the top 500 of the QS World University Rankings for the first time in 2019.

Technological innovation is not only essential to the moderate diversification of Macau’s economy; it is also a cornerstone of China’s national development strategy. In February 2019, the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area was released, explicitly calling for the development of an international center for science and technology innovation. The success of the development of the Greater Bay Area hinges on innovation — likewise the inevitable path for Macau’s sustainable economic diversification. It was against this historic backdrop that I joined UM and took on the responsibility of leading FST through its transformation. The era had summoned — and the time was ripe, yet the burden was great.

Growing Pains — Structural Flaws as the Starting Point of Self-Renewal

While fully recognized our achievements and opportunities, I was also keenly aware of the Faculty’s structural shortcomings and growing pains. At that time, although our physical infrastructure was adequate, a noticeable gap remained between us and leading research universities in terms of academic depth and substantive development:

First, the student structure was imbalanced. More than 55% of enrolled students were undergraduates, while PhD students accounted for only 18%. The overall quality and scale of doctoral training lagged behind that of peer research universities in the Greater Bay Area, limiting the Faculty’s ability to sustain high‑level research output.

Second, there was an imbalance of quantity over quality in knowledge innovation. While per-capita publication numbers were respectable, high-impact output remained insufficient. Papers published in JCR Q1 journals accounted for less than 50%, with few truly influential publications. Engagement with frontier interdisciplinary fields was limited, research activities were largely conducted in individual, and ross‑disciplinary collaboration mechanisms were underdeveloped..

Third, a culture of innovation had yet to be established. An internal ethos that genuinely values knowledge innovation had not taken root. Some faculty members were content with teaching alone, reflecting a mindset where “doing research or not, doing it well or poorly, made no difference.” Although an annual Full-time Academic Staff Performance Assessment (FAPA) system existed, it had become largely procedural, offering insufficient positive incentives for research excellence.

Despite favorable infrastructure and historical opportunity, it was clear that systemic self-reform in academic culture, talent structure, and evaluation mechanisms was imperative for the Faculty moving beyond the comfort zone of being teaching-oriented. Through seven years of collective effort, the Faculty achieved a profound leap from “knowledge dissemination only” to research-based teaching and learning.

Innovation Leads — Founding on Quality, Fortifying Through Renewal

Inheritance forms the foundation; innovation provides the driving force. While preserving the Faculty’s long-standing emphasis on talent cultivation and internationalization, we adhered to the principle of building the Faculty on quality and strengthening it through innovation — aligning development with global academic frontiers and integrating deeply into China’s national innovation agenda.

First, optimizing the disciplinary landscape. Anchored in the development of New Engineering combined with Artificial Intelligence, we actively responded to global technological trends and societal needs. Innovative master’s programmes were launched in Financial Technology, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Coastal Environment and Safety, Construction Project Management, Smart Ocean Technology, and Smart Power Grid — expanding our total number of master’s programmes from 19 to 27. In 2022, the Department of Ocean Science and Technology was officially established, further strengthening our disciplinary ecosystem and reflecting the Faculty’s proactive vision and commitment to serving Macau’s long-term development.

Second, focusing on substantive development and rebuilding academic benchmarks through high-quality output. After seven years of sustained effort, the Faculty has achieved a remarkable performance: the proportion of JCR Q1 publications exceeded 75%; output in top-tier computer science conferences progressed from zero to a level projected to enter the global ranking top 100 by 2025 among leading institutions in the Greater Bay Area; six new faculty members were elected as Fellows in their respective professional fields; the number of scholars listed among the world’s top 2% of scientists increased from 15 to 37; and a cohort of faculty members received prestigious awards including the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award, the Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award and the Xplorer Prize. In 2024, FST faculty accounted for 45% of all recipients of the Macau SAR Government Science and Technology Awards, highlighting our deep cultivation in research and teaching. Notably, nine young professors have been awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau). In recent years, we have also cultivated five NSFC Excellent Young Scientists (Overseas), who have taken up positions at leading universities in Mainland China.

These robust metrics witness the simultaneous improvement in both the scale and quality of the Faculty’s research competitiveness. Our international recognition has also accelerated accordingly : Engineering and Computer Science have entered the top 0.1% globally in ESI rankings for the first time; both fields advanced to the 101–125 bracket in the THE World University Rankings by Subject; and in the U.S. News & World Report and Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, disciplines such as Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Computer Science have successfully entered the global top 100, ranking among the best in the Greater Bay Area.

Trinity in One – A Collaborative Innovation of Talent, Platforms, and Mechanisms

These accomplishments stem primarily from a synergistic ‘talent–platform–mechanism’ development framework that underpins our innovation ecosystem. Talent defines the frontier of originality, platforms strengthen capacity, and mechanisms ensure quality and sustainability. Together, these elements continue to foster an academic environment that values excellence, intellectual depth, interdisciplinarity, and growth — driving sustained and accelerated development in research output, talent cultivation, and societal impact.

Talent.  People are the driving force of knowledge innovation, and professors’ innovative mindset and scholarly excellence directly shape the quality of research outcomes and talent cultivation. What I am most proud of is that over the past few years, we have recruited more than 70 outstanding professors. Nearly all newly appointed faculty hold PhDs or have postdoctoral experiences from top overseas universities. Assistant professors from world-class institutions like MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Cambridge, and ETH are no longer exceptions but are increasingly becoming the norm. Benchmarking their research against international excellence, these scholars bring fresh perspectives from the global academic frontier and serve as vital bridges connecting us with the international research community.

Platforms: Advanced research platforms play a decisive role in attracting top talent — particularly those positioned at the frontiers of scholarship and at the intersections of disciplines, where they play a “nest‑building” role in drawing outstanding scholars. FST supported the establishment of the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI. When I joined UM, the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City and the Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) were just being launched. Aligning with university-level strategy, the Faculty actively participated in building interdisciplinary and collaborative innovation research platforms spanning power electronics, computer science, AI, and civil and environmental engineering. To further promote interdisciplinary integration, since 2018, FST has taken the lead in establishing research centers in AI and Robotics, Regional Oceans, Data Science, and Applied Mathematics — fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between science, technology, and the humanities to harness collective innovative intelligence.

Notably, platforms also play an irreplaceable role in attracting international talent. For instance, among the 12 professors recently recruited by the ICI’s Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, more than half are non-Chinese scholars from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. These internationally diverse teams are drawn to UM precisely because of the strength of its platforms, opening new opportunities for future global collaboration. In addition, the newly established Center for Regional Oceans has become an important cooperation platform linking UM with marine research communities in Lusophone countries.

Beyond talent attraction, platforms also help secure more resources to support collaborative innovation research. After joining UM, leveraging the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, I served as the principal investigator for three major research projects, each valued at ten million. These include a key R&D project on “Smart Cities” funded by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, a Guangdong Province key R&D project on “Intelligent Management and Control of Cloud Data Centers,” and a research initiative on “Intelligent Driving Technologies” supported by the Macau Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT). Working closely with leading domestic universities and industry front‑runners, we have pursued joint research breakthroughs that not only delivered “UM solutions” for real‑world technological deployment but have also significantly enhanced the University’s academic standing and influence within China’s innovation ecosystem.

Mechanisms: Talent and platforms are mutually reinforcing, much like seeds and soil. Yet even the best seeds cannot germinate and thrive without innovative mechanisms to nurture their growth. While UM had long maintained an annual FAPA assessment mechanism, it had gradually become procedural in nature. One of my first initiatives upon joining UM was to lead the Faculty in redesigning the FAPA assessment model, lowering the Faculty’s average score from 9 to 7 to differentiate performance more clearly, establish benchmarks of excellence, and ensure that high achievers received appropriate recognition and meaningful incentives. We introduced special rewards for faculty members achieving “first breakthroughs” within their disciplines, encouraging a step‑by‑step approach toward publishing in top journals and conferences — rather than pursuing overly ambitious goals disconnected from sustainable academic growth.

Simultaneously, we emphasize that academic publications are not the sole pathway to knowledge innovation. Adhering to a problem‑oriented mindset and the principle that application creates value, we actively encourage faculty members in engineering and technology fields to engage more deeply with industry, particularly leading enterprises. Some faculty members have gone further by arranging for students to participate directly in technology transfer and commercialization efforts, exploring alternative innovation pathways through which technology can better serve industry and society. Starting in 2025, FST has formally recognized and commended hybrid talents who demonstrate excellence in both original research and technology transfer.

Today, FST has cultivated a virtuous ecosystem that respects knowledge innovation and champions high-quality research. This represents the most significant breakthrough in the Faculty’s development in recent years. Over the past seven years, we have not only carried forward the torch of academic tradition but also forged a distinctive, UM‑characteristic pathway for building an innovative, research‑oriented faculty.

Galaxy of Stars – A Glimpse of Glorious Achievements

As a comprehensive faculty, FST has achieved remarkable accomplishments across a wide range of disciplines. While research outputs from the two State Key Laboratories have already received extensive media coverage, I would like to spotlight notable achievements in several other fields instead.

Mathematics: In the field of Mathematics, Chair Professor Gui Changfeng of the Department of Mathematics achieved breakthrough results on the best constant problem of the Moser-Trudinger inequality and the existence of solutions to critical exponent elliptic equations — resolving several renowned mathematical challenges, including the Aubin conjecture, with profound theoretical implications. He published four significant papers in world-leading journals such as Inventiones Mathematicae and Journal of the European Mathematical Society, marking a historic breakthrough by achieving Macau’s first publications in the “Big Four” top mathematics journals.

Engineering Sciences: In engineering sciences, Assistant Professor Zhong Junwen of the Department of Electromechanical Engineering focuses on intelligent micro‑electromechanical systems (MEMS), with micro-robots and flexible electromechanical devices as his main research targets. He has achieved outstanding results, including the development of a highly agile electronic insect, published in Science Robotics — marking the first paper by a Macau scholar in this top-tier journal. His flexible tactile sensing and feedback devices enable long-distance tactile transmission and can be applied to near-realistic online human-machine interaction. He has recently received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s Excellent Young Scientists Fund.

Computing Technology: In computing technology, Assistant Professor Xu Huanle of the Department of Computer and Information Science specializes in cloud-native architecture and large-model infrastructure optimization. He pioneered a shared microservice resource management scheme in Alibaba’s large-scale cloud service environments, achieving savings of over 50% in computing resources. Addressing Agentic AI, he was the first to realize a post-training system with shared cache prefixes, reducing model training time by 50%. These achievements have been integrated into Huawei’s large-model training engine.

AI + Health: In the AI + Health domain, Chair Professor Cai Xiaochuan, with joint appointments in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, has long been devoted to interdisciplinary research in AI and healthcare, with particularly distinguished achievements in medical image analysis and intelligent diagnosis. Leveraging big-health technologies that integrate AI and high-performance computing (HPC), his team has achieved tangible clinical outcomes in areas such as basic research and clinical diagnosis of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, fundamental computation for arrhythmia and electrocardiography (ECG), and digital diagnosis of liver and kidney diseases. The team has also developed a mixed-reality-based virtual diagnostic system that significantly enhances clinical efficiency and can be applied to personalized medicine, preoperative planning, and remote multi-center consultations for complex cases — yielding significant social and economic benefits.

Technology Transfer: In technology transfer, Associate Professor Hao Tianwei of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering has made groundbreaking advances in wastewater treatment and high-value resource recovery from sewage sludge. Traditionally regarded as an environmental burden, wastewater and residual sludge have been transformed by Prof. Hao into “green treasures.” On one hand, he developed a novel new low-carbon wastewater treatment process that drastically reduces energy consumption; the accompanying innovative biological carrier fillers have been successfully implemented in a wastewater treatment plant in Heilongjiang and have withstood the challenges of operation in cold northern climates. On the other hand, he achieved the high-value monetization of sludge, with recovered resources now being widely applied in aquaculture across the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions.

These outstanding achievements not only demonstrate the status and influence of FST within the Greater Bay Area and the international academic community but also directly respond to national development strategies and Macau’s need for appropriate diversified economic development — fully showcasing the sense of responsibility and commitment of UM’s scientific community.

Break to Rebirth – Advancing Restructuring with Order and Grace

The restructuring of the Faculty is not merely an adjustment to administrative organization; it is a structural transformation aimed at deepening disciplinary positioning and invigorating institutional vitality. Throughout the process, we have adhered firmly to the principles of top-level design, smooth transition, and quality first — focusing on preparatory works in three main areas:

First, optimizing top-level disciplinary design to build an internationally aligned academic structure

FST encompassed fifteen first-level disciplines listed in the Ministry of Education’s subject catalog, resulting in a very large organizational scale. Following restructuring, the functional positioning of the Faculty of Science (FSC), the Faculty of Engineering (FEG), and the Faculty of Information Science and Computing (FIC) has become clearer and more precisely defined. In particular, the naming of FIC draws on the “Computing” paradigm adopted by leading institutions such as MIT and Stanford. Taking into account Macau’s local context, it is named “Information Science and Computing” —  encompassing both software and hardware information technologies related to computing, while achieving a balanced integration of international perspective and local characteristics.

In terms of programme development, building on the original 29 programmes of FST, FIC added undergraduate programmes in Artificial Intelligence, Electronic and Communication Engineering, Microelectronics, Robotics, and Financial Technology. FEG retained core programmes in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Electromechanical Engineering (EME), Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and Ocean Science and Technology (OST), while adding new undergraduate programmes in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. FSC, building on its established strengths in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, introduced a Biology programme, while further differentiating and reorganizing the Physics and Chemistry programmes. Correspondingly, six departments were established in both FIC and FEG, and four departments in FSC. This configuration is designed to allow each disciplinary direction to develop with focus and precision within its own dedicated track.

Second, reconstructing the talent cultivation system to break barriers and promote interdisciplinary integration

In curriculum and programme design, we adopted a strategy of “parallel advancement of new and existing programmes with cross-disciplinary innovation”. Newly established programmes such as AI and Biomedical Engineering are directly aligned with the construction of new departments. For traditional programmes such as ECE and EME, we moved beyond the conventional model of management by a single department and instead implementing cross-faculty and cross-department co-construction mechanisms. This institutional innovation aims to dismantle disciplinary silos, enabling students to grow within a fertile interdisciplinary environment and truly cultivate composite and versatile talents. Meanwhile, quality assurance mechanisms have been strengthened in parallel. We are actively engaging with the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) to advance professional accreditation for emerging disciplines such as Biomedical Engineering and AI, thereby ensuring the international recognition and competitiveness of our degrees.

At the same time, in terms of research platform positioning, we have proactively restructured the Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) and established the Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Brain Science (IAIBS), positioning ourselves at the forefront of the deep integration between artificial intelligence and brain science. Leveraging the unique advantages arising from this interdisciplinary convergence, the institute focuses on human–machine interaction, applies insights from brain science to inspire intelligent system design, and builds a forward‑looking, multi‑disciplinary collaborative innovation platform. This initiative further strengthens UM’s role as a strategic academic anchor, contributing to Macau’s development as an international hub for high‑level talent and advanced technological achievements.

Finally, we have steadily advanced faculty realignment and new campus expansion to ensure coordinated operation across two campuses In faculty adjustment — one of the most critical aspects of restructuring — we established the principle of “primary appointment in one department, with concurrent appointment across disciplines”. This approach ensures clear academic affiliation for faculty members while encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration through joint appointments. At present, a number of courses are being successfully delivered at the temporary Hengqin teaching site, with more courses scheduled to relocate there in the coming autumn. For popular postgraduate courses, we have introduced an innovative “two campuses, same faculty, same quality” teaching model — carefully coordinating teaching assignments so that the same instructors deliver courses across locations, ensuring that students at both campuses have equal access to high-quality educational resources.

The division and restructuring of the Faculty is a systematic and comprehensive endeavour. We sincerely thank all faculty members and students for their understanding and support. We are confident that through this restructuring, we will further unleash disciplinary vitality and lay a more solid institutional foundation for the long-term development of UM’s science and engineering disciplines.

Epilogue — On to the New: A Vision of Excellence Ahead

The division and restructuring of FST marks a pivotal step in UM’s transition from quantitative growth to a qualitative leap — and represents an inevitable pathway toward institutional excellence.

After nearly a decade of rapid development, the Faculty has undergone a profound transformation in scale and capacity. The academic staff has doubled to 180 members, while the number of PhD students has exceeded 1,100, with an average of seven PhD students per supervisor — a ratio that substantially surpasses the conventional upper limit of comparable international research universities. While the original “mega-faculty” structure played an important historical role, it has become increasingly difficult for such a model to accommodate emerging trends in frontier science and interdisciplinary research, thereby constraining deeper disciplinary advancement. The current restructuring offers a valuable opportunity for both expansion and upgrading. Through more targeted development and precise efforts, we can further strengthen our faculty, optimize the disciplinary ecosystem, and truly build the University of Macau into a comprehensive, internationally competitive research university.

Opportunities, however, are inseparable from challenges. The relocation of FIC and FEG to the Hengqin Cooperation Zone is not merely a change of physical location; it signifies a fundamental reshaping of our development paradigm. The key question before us is how to move beyond the stage of “rooted in Macau and reaching toward the Greater Bay Area” and advance toward the more demanding goal of deep integration into the national innovation system. This requires not only overcoming the “last mile” challenges of translating research into practice but also proactively constructing a closed-loop innovation ecosystem that tightly integrates industry, academia, research, and application — directly serving the core needs of the moderate diversification of the Macau-Hengqin economy.

The spirit of “seeking truth and being pragmatic, while pioneering and innovating” — forged over more than three decades of development — is the most precious asset underpinning the steady and sustainable progress of the newly established faculties. “Seeking truth and being pragmatic” defines the foundation of our academic ethos; regardless of structural changes, our commitment to rigorous scholarship and service to society remains unwavering. “Pioneering and innovating” provides the impetus for continual advancement. As Macau aligns its 3^rd Five-Year Plan with the national 15^th Five-Year Plan, the Government’s 2026 policy agenda places higher expectations on the integrated, high-quality development of education, technology, and talent. Meeting these expectations calls for greater resolve in advancing the development of an international higher‑education hub and fostering technology‑driven industries.

Beyond the window, dawn is breaking in the east. A new day is unfolding, and a new journey is about to begin. Let us cherish the achievements of the past and welcome the sunrise of tomorrow with confidence and determination.

I firmly believe that, through the collective efforts of all faculty members and students, we will live up to our mission, carry forward our legacy, and build the science and technology arm of UM into a globally influential center of education, research, and innovation — a source of pride for the people of Macau. In doing so, we will contribute “UM’s strength” to the scientific and technological self-reliance of the Greater Bay Area and the nation at large.

May the three new faculties flourish, may UM continue to thrive, and may the seeds of science and technology planted here grow, blossoming into ever more brilliant achievements.

Dean of FST
Cheng-Zhong XU