MUST launches State Key Lab Hengqin branch

The Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) opened the Hengqin branch of its State Key Laboratories earlier this week. The unveiling ceremony was held on the afternoon of December 17 in the Hengqin Creative Valley.
Deputy Mayor of Zhuhai City Yan Wu said that, in recent years, Zhuhai and Macau have been cooperating closely and that their industrial cooperation has become more effective.
Cheang Kun Wai, a member of the Macau Science and Technology Development Fund Executive Committee, stated that the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) has been actively promoting the development of science and technology in Macau.
As a facilitator of scientific research in Macau, in the new era, FDCT will spare no effort in to continuing to support the construction of high-level scientific research platforms, the implementation of major scientific and technological projects, to increase support for various types of talents, and promote results transformation and cooperation between industry, university, and research.
Liu Liang, rector of MUST, said that the school has actively integrated itself into the national innovation and technology system, as well as into the overall national development principles, which dictate that Macau should provide what is needed by the country.
There are four State Key Laboratories in Macau. Two are operated by the University of Macau, namely the State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI and the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. A third, the State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, is operated solely by MUST. Macau’s fourth State Key Laboratory, the State Key Laboratory for Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, is jointly operated by MUST and the UM, but at separate facilities.
On November 29, MUST reached a “Cooperation Framework Agreement” with the Hengqin New District Management Committee to jointly build the Hengqin Macau University of Science and Technology Demonstration Base.
The base connects scientific discoveries, and scientific and technological achievements with the industrialization base of Hengqin New Area, provides technical support for the development of Hengqin’s high-tech industry, and also provides moderately diversified and sustainable development for the Macau economy and the Guangdong International Technology Innovation Center.
MUST is also in discussions with the Chinese History Research Academy to establish of a new research center in Macau.
Recently, a delegation from MUST paid a visit to the mainland academy in Beijing to discuss the short- and long-term work required for the opening of the new Chinese History Macau Research Center.
Overall, the center’s purpose would be to organize symposiums on the review and prospects of Macau’s historical research since the Macau handover. The center will also carry out follow-up research on major social issues in Macau to provide the Chinese Communist Party and the country’s decision-making organization with policy recommendations; create a new type of high-end think tank; and promote academic exchanges, cooperation, and interaction in various fields between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The center will focus on “inheriting Chinese culture, studying the history of Macau, training high-end talented people, sharing academic resources, promoting the development of discipline, [and] building a world-class academic platform.”