Founded in 1981, theUniversity of Macau (UM)is the only internationalized public comprehensive university in Macao, with a modern governance model. 80% of its faculty members are from outside Macao. With English as the main medium of instruction, the university is committed to producing creative and socially responsible graduates with a global mindset and international competitiveness.
Teaching units at UM include:
Research institutes include:
Currently, there are more than 12, 500 students at UM. For undergraduate students, the university provides a unique "4-in-1" education, which consists of discipline-specific education, general education, research and internship education, and community and peer education. Adopting a credit system and a collegiate system, the university offers around130 degree programmesat bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels, covering a variety of fields, including literature, language, business administration, marketing, accounting, finance, international integrated resort management, science, education, biomedical science, law, history, economics, psychology, sociology, communication, engineering, computer science, and Chinese medical sciences. Many academic programmes at UM have received international accreditations, namely AACSB Accreditation, AMBA Accreditation, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Accreditation, etc.
UM is rankedno. 245in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025, where "international faculty ratio" is rankedno. 21and "citations per faculty" is rankedno. 23in the World. UM is also ranked no. 91 in QS Asia University Rankings 2024. In addition, UM is ranked in 17 subjects in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025:
1. Hospitality and Leisure Management #51-100
2. Linguistics #101-150
3. English Language and Literature #151-200
4. Education #201-250
5. Psychology #251-300
6. Sociology #251-300
7. Modern Languages #301-350
8. Pharmacy & Pharmacology #301-350
9. Arts & Humanities #401-450
10. Mathematics #401-450
11. Engineering - Electrical and Electronic #401-450
12. Material Science #401-550
13. Medicine #451-500
14. Computer Science and Information Systems #501-550
15. Business & Management Studies #551-600
16. Economics and Econometrics #551-700
17. Biological Sciences #601-650
In addition, UM is also among the top 1% in Essential Sciences Indicators (ESI) rankings in eleven subjects, namely Engineering, Computer Science, Chemistry, Materials Science, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Psychiatry/Psychology, Biology & Biochemistry, Clinical Medicine, Social Sciences, General, Economics & Business and Agricultural Sciences.
An International University
UM is an international university with a multicultural campus. It adopts a modern governance model and recruits faculty members internationally. 80 per cent of its faculty members are from outside Macao. The fact that English is the main medium of instruction at UM has attracted outstanding students from around the world, which in turn has created a vibrant, multicultural campus. The university constantly expands its international network and actively builds new platforms for international collaboration in order to broaden the students’ horizons. It has established collaboration agreements with more than 250 institutions of higher learning in over 30 countries and regions. UM students can choose from over 150 institutions around the world for exchange programmes or overseas studies. The university also provides students with many internship opportunities, both local and overseas, in order to enhance their employability upon graduation.
Cutting-edge Research
UM adopts a research policy that can be summarised as ‘highlighting characteristics, leveraging strengths, creating peaks, and strengthening cooperation’, with a focus on supporting academic disciplines that reflect Macao’s characteristics, meet the needs of Macao and the country, and are in line with international trends. UM has established a strategic ‘3+3+3+3’ research blueprint, with the four ‘3s’ referring tothree state key laboratories(State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine,State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI, andState Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City),three emerging research fields(precision medicine,advanced materials, andregional oceanology),three interdisciplinary research fields(cognitive and brain sciences,data science,artificial intelligence and robotics), andthree research platformsfor the humanities and social sciences(Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences,Centre for Macao Studies, andAsia-Pacific Academy of Economics and Management). The university encourages interdisciplinary collaboration, especially the integration of modern technology in humanities and social sciences.
At the same time, UM is strengthening entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer to enhance the social impact of its research results.Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institutewas the first industry-academia collaboration demonstration base established by UM andUMTECLimited in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) for this very purpose. The institute is a hub of cooperation between Zhuhai and Macao in building an international science and technology innovation centre in the GBA. It relies on the research strengths of the three state key laboratories and institutes with competitive disciplines to integrate into the GBA and participate in national research projects, promote technology transfer, and foster emerging industries. In addition, UM faculty and students have established more than 30 companies to facilitate technology transfer. The university’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has obtained approval to serve as anational co-working space, showing full recognition of the university’s efforts in industry-academia collaboration.