The University of Macau’s (UM) Zhuhai Research Institute (UMZRI) has received approval for research grants of RMB 4.35 million from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for 12 research projects, according to the results of grants application for the year 2016 recently released by the NSFC. This year, UM submitted funding applications to the NSFC for 40 research projects, of which 12 applications, or 30 per cent, have been approved, a success rate higher than those of the previous two years.

Five research projects from UM have been granted funding by the NSFC in the General Programmes category. These projects are headed by Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) assistant professors Chen Long, Li Yongjie, and Wong Fai; Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS) professor Li Shaoping; and Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) senior instructor Chen Qiang, respectively. Only projects with significant research merits, sound theoretical basis, and original academic ideas will be considered for research funding by the NSFC.

The other seven research projects from UM have been granted funding by the NSFC in the Young Scientists Fund category. This fund aims to encourage young scientists to undertake innovative research projects independently and to train backup talent for basic research. The seven projects are headed by FST associate professors Ma Shaodan and Mok Seng Peng, and assistant professor Zhang Yibo; Faculty of Social Sciences assistant professor Du Hongfei; ICMS assistant professor Zhao Jing; FHS post-doctoral fellow Sun Heng, and State Key Laboratory of Analog and Mixed-Signal VLSI assistant professor Zhu Yan.