MUST 2025/2026 Teaching Excellence Award recipients: Assistant Professor Chen Qin from the Faculty of Law (left), and Professor Li Xiaodong from the Faculty of Innovation Engineering (right)

For the academic year of 2025/2026, Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) has announced the list of recipients of the annual Teaching Excellence Award, which is conferred to two teachers in recognition of their outstanding teaching performance. This year’s winners are Professor Li Xiaodong from the Faculty of Innovation Engineering and Assistant Professor Chen Qin from the Faculty of Law. The Teaching Excellence Award is made to honor and award teachers for their excellent teaching performance, ever-improving teaching standards, and significant contribution to enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in the University; it also provides incentive and encouragement for newly joined faculty members.

Professor Li Xiaodong from the Faculty of Innovation Engineering

Professor Li Xiaodong has been teaching at MUST since 2009. The courses he teaches include Circuit Analysis, Circuit Analysis Lab, Analog Electronics, Analog Electronics Lab, Power Electronics, and Advanced Topics in Electronics Engineering. At the same time, he is dedicated to research in Power Electronics in renewable generation, transportation electrification, power electronics technology in transportation electrification, as well as the interdisciplinary applications of artificial intelligence with power electronics and power systems. Drawing on his solid engineering background and extensive industrial and overseas research experience, he emphasizes the integration of theory with engineering practice in his teaching. He creates a rigorous yet interactive classroom atmosphere that effectively guides students in developing an engineering mindset, enhances their hands-on practical skills and problem-analysis abilities, enables them to build a solid professional foundation through engineering deduction and experimental exploration, bridges theory and engineering applications, and deepens their understanding of knowledge in the interdisciplinary fields of power electronics, smart grids, and artificial intelligence. 

Assistant Professor Chen Qin from the Faculty of Law

Assistant Professor Chen Qin has been teaching at MUST since 2022, where she teaches General Theory of Criminal Law and Comparative Criminal Law (undergraduate), and Criminal Law (master's). Her research interests encompass comparative criminal law, Anglo-American criminal law, and Macao criminal law. She is committed to integrating the University’s motto, “Dedication to practical studies, Enhancement of knowledge, Ability and Quality, into legal education. To develop professional competence, she uses case-based and interactive methods to guide students in building systematic criminal law thinking and mastering case analysis, making abstract theories accessible and engaging. To cultivate professional commitment, she selects cases with tensions between legal rules and substantive justice, encouraging students to move beyond mechanical legal formalism and develop a deeper appreciation of the humanistic values underlying the legal profession. Guided by the conviction of “educating students with care,” she tailors her teaching to the needs of students at different stages of legal study and provides individualized guidance beyond the classroom. She also promotes the integration of teaching and research, bringing her latest scholarly work to enrich students’ learning and deepen their understanding of contemporary criminal law. Since joining the University, her teaching quality, educational commitment, and dedication to student development have earned broad recognition from her students.

The assessment process for the Teaching Excellence Award is rigorous. The Teaching Excellence Award Committee first conducts a preliminary review of all the nominated teachers and produces a shortlist of teachers to go forward. The committee members then complete a comprehensive review of the candidates in terms of their teaching performance, teaching attitude, and teaching portfolios, plus a general assessment in the form of class observations, interviews, and a review of students’ evaluation feedback. Finally, the committee meets and deliberates, and decides by voting.

Since the Teaching Excellence Award was established in 2008, altogether 54 teachers have been awarded over the years. Their names are inscribed on the Honors Board for permanent display. This speaks of the great importance attached to the quality of teachers and teaching by the University, as well as its commitment to offering the best quality education for the students.