The University of Macau (UM) will be establishing a second, smaller campus in Hengqin, which is expected to begin operating by 2028, the institution’s rector Song Yonghua said in a meeting with Greater Bay Area media delegates yesterday.
According to local media reports, Song announced that 500 teachers will be hired for the new campus, which will be able to accommodate 8,000 students, including 4,000 postgraduate students.
“The Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Information Technology and the School of Design will be built to meet the demand for the development of high-tech, big health and finance in Hengqin,” the rector said. He also noted that an Institute of Advanced Studies that is aimed at stimulating further academic research in the areas of science and technology, was in the works as well.
Data from Macao Daily News indicates that UM remains a humanities and social sciences-oriented university, with 70 percent of the programmes that are currently on offer based on this discipline. Meanwhile, the remaining 30 percent are focused on science and technology.
[See more: UTM has set its sights on a new Hengqin campus]
Previous reports indicate that the new campus will occupy an area that is around half the size of its current Hengqin campus, which is 1.09 square kilometres.
UM’s first campus was originally located in Taipa, covering an area just 0.054 square kilometres. In order to further its development, the university transferred to its current location in Hengqin, operating on land that the SAR government has leased from mainland China.
In recent years, UM has been making strides in the global rankings, breaking into 193rd place in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, after being placed between 201 and 250 the year before.
UM is not the only Macao-based tertiary institution with plans to expand its horizons into Hengqin, as the Macao University of Tourism is in the early phase of developing a new location on the island.
