The Nature Publication Group released the “Nature Index 2017 Tables” in July, which gives an assessment of the research output of universities by weighted fractional count; Macau University of Science and Technology was ranked 22nd among Chinese universities in the Earth and Environmental Sciences area; the University is also the only university of Macao to enter the top 50 in the ranking.
Chair Professor Liu Liang, President of M.U.S.T., acknowledged that he is very much pleased and encouraged by the good performance of the University in the ranking, which has been a pleasant reward for the University in its daring exploration of new research areas in lunar and planetary sciences and proactive efforts in moving forward research of earth and planetary sciences under the support of the Macao S.A.R. government, Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, and the social communities; this has also been a great recognition and motivation for the research work of the University and its research teams.
The Space Science Institute of M.U.S.T. has gained prominent research achievements
The Space Science Institute, M.U.S.T., aligns closely with the national space science program, grows fast in research of lunar and planetary sciences, features internationality in its research team, and acts proactively in international exchanges and collaborations. According to statistics regarding the ranking of publication in the “Solar System Exploration” area provided by the National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences, M.U.S.T. ranks No.1 in 2016 both in number of papers published and times of papers cited. This testifies to the fact that the Space Science Institute has gained prominent research achievements and has become a new feature and brand of Macao in science and technology innovation.
The “Nature Index 2017 Tables” examines publications generated in the time period of December 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016, counts the number of research papers of research institutions in 68 natural science journals including the Nature series, Science and Cell, monitors the affiliated institutions of authors of over 60,000 high-quality research papers, covers over 20,000 research institutions, and produces area-based rankings for core research areas such as chemistry, earth and environmental sciences, life sciences, and physics. The statistics made available by the Index not only provides important references regarding universities all over the world with respect to high-quality international research output, but also helps the universities to explore other factors that contribute to a functioning research ecosystem, such as collaboration, willingness to make data and research open, science communication and sound science policy.
