UM increases collaboration with University of Cape Verde on education and research
Judite Nascimento, rector of the University of Cape Verde, recently visited the University of Macau (UM) and was warmly received by UM Rector Wei Zhao and Vice Rector Rui Martins. Both parties had an in-depth discussion on how to increase collaboration between the two universities. Nascimento said that UM is the bridge between UM and Portuguese-speaking countries in the training of professionals in various fields, adding that he hopes the two universities will continue to increase collaboration in education in Chinese and Portuguese languages and cultures. During the meeting, Martins told the guests about UM’s educational philosophy, latest developments, and plans for the future. He said that UM vigorously promotes collaboration and exchange with overseas universities in order to broaden students’ horizons. Nascimento said that in recent years the University of Cape Verde has actively initiated research on Chinese culture. For example, the university recently launched a Confucius Institute to promote courses in the Chinese language and culture. Nascimento added that as an important bridge for collaboration between universities in Macao and Portuguese-speaking countries, UM has a rich cultural heritage and provides a very good language learning environment. Therefore, he hopes the two universities will further increase collaboration in summer exchange programmes, in particular in the Chinese language and culture, as well as exchange visits for faculty members and students. After the meeting, Nascimento toured UM’s campus and met with students from Cape Verde to learn more their language and cultural courses at UM. Nascimento also thanked Rector Zhao for donating 93 UM-published books to the University of Cape Verde. In 2015, UM signed a collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation of Cape Verde at the 25th annual meeting of the Association of Portuguese Speaking Universities (Associação das Universidades de Lingua Portuguesa, AULP), with the aim of promoting academic collaboration between the two universities, particularly in the training of bilingual professionals.