UM Rector Yonghua Song has been elected member of the Academia Europaea
University of Macau (UM) Rector Yonghua Song has been elected member of Academia Europaea (Academy of Europe). Members of Academia Europaea are the most outstanding or influential individuals in the fields of the humanities and natural sciences in Europe. Most of them are academicians of science from Europe or scientists with a long collaborative relationship with Europe. Many are Nobel laureates, Fields Medal winners, and Turing Award winners.
Academia Europaea was founded in 1988, on the initiative of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom and other national academies of sciences in Europe. Based in London, United Kingdom, it has 20 sections that cover the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and science and technology. It is considered to be one of the most influential scientific organisations in the world, with the most geographical and disciplinary coverage.
Academia Europaea holds an election to recruit new members every year. The election process includes peer nomination, rigorous academic evaluation, multiple rounds of voting by section committee members, and approval by the Council and the Board of Trustees. Currently, the Academia Europaea has nearly 4,000 members, including 73 Nobel laureates, 6 Turing Award winners, and 15 Fields Medal winners.
Rector Song is a chair professor at UM and director of the university’s State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City. He received his bachelor’s degree from Chengdu University of Science and Technology (now Sichuan University) and his PhD degree from the China Electric Power Research Institute, in 1984 and1989, respectively. In 1991, after obtaining a PhD degree in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University, he travelled to the UK for further studies. In 1997, he was appointed Professor of Power Systems at Brunel University, making him the youngest engineering professor in the UK at the time. In 2002, he was awarded a doctor of science degree by Brunel University. In 2004, he was elected fellow of the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering by Bath University. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Edinburgh. Rector Song is also a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Chinese Institute of Electrical Engineering. His main research interests include smart grid technologies, Internet of Things, new energy sources, and electricity market and related policies.