The journey of a mainland student pursing PhD degree at UM – Li Tianyi from the Department of Mathematics
數學系李天怡在澳大讀博之旅

Li Tianyi is a PhD student in the Department of Mathematics at the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of the University of Macau (UM) who is from Mainland China and had known about UM’s development and reputation. Due to the internationalization, multilingual learning environment and rich teaching resources of UM, she decided to pursue a PhD degree at UM when she was studying a master’s degree at Beijing Information Science & Technology University. As recommended by her professor in Beijing, Li Tianyi was able to get in touch with an UM professor via email and has forged an indissoluble bond with UM ever since.

However, Tianyi had feelings of anxiety and uncertainly before choosing UM like many other mainland students. She says, ‘After all, the culture of Hong Kong and Macau is slightly different from the mainland. Before choosing UM, I was more worried about the language, living style, as well as the weather in the south as it could be difficult to adapt.’ In 2021, at suggested by Prof. Sun Haiwei, head of the Department of Mathematics, Tianyi participated into the “Summer Camp for Mainland Students” organized by FST. During the several-day workshop, Tianyi and other students from mainland universities visited the campus, laboratories, faculties, libraries and gymnasiums, and even had lunch with Professors to experience the elegant and peaceful campus and multilingual learning environments. After the summer camp, Tianyi was inspired with UM’s unique international environment, supporting and caring campus environment, peaceful and beautiful campus and excellent hardware for researching. After returning to Beijing, she did not hesitate to apply for a Ph.D. degree of UM.

Now she has been studying at UM for more than two months, and the atmosphere of friendship and mutual assistance in the university have impressed her a lot. She says, ‘When I arrived, senior students in my departments were eager to help me get acquainted with the environment. They invited me to go to the northern restaurant and even applied the bus card for me.’ Tianyi is keen on mathematical problem solving and enjoys the rigorous reasoning process is currently a doctoral student, she spends a lot of time in the laboratory and teaching every day and go to the gym in spare time. She hopes to pursue a career in education or research in the future, so she is glad to take the teaching assistant position to gain teaching experiences to prepare herself for the future.

Tianyi encouraged junior students who aims to study at UM when looking back to her admission process, ‘studying in Macau is not as difficult as you imagine. No need to worry too much about living or weather in here. Instead, it is suggested to practice English to build up the foundation.’ It is recommended that students who are interested in applying for a doctoral degree should formulate the direction of their research, communicate with professors more, and build as many scientific research results as possible. She wishes that her experiences of applying UM could be references to junior students who aim to become one of the members of UM.  

UM has concentrated resources on the development of advantageous research fields in recent years. With the advanced scientific research equipment and contributions of professors and students, the university’s scientific research have been widely recognized by authoritative academic journals, and have won numerous national and international awards. In the 2022 World University Rankings and World Young University Rankings announced by Times Higher Education (THE), UM reached a historical high and its ranking has risen to 201-250 and 26. The ranking by subject: Engineering has risen to 101-125 from 126-150. Computer Science has risen from 176-200 to 151-175. In the future, UM will focus on strengthening the transformation of scientific research results, carry out more cross-disciplinary and cross-field research and teaching, and accelerate the training of local talents needed for the development of Macao and the Greater Bay Area. 

李天怡是澳門大學科技學院數學系的在讀博士生，來自內地的她對澳大早有所聞，對大學的國際化、多語環境及卓越的師資十分仰慕。在北京信息科技大學修讀碩士時，她已立志繼續攻讀博士，並以澳大為目標。在大學教授的引薦下，天怡成功透過郵件與澳大的教授取得聯繫，從此便與澳大結下不解之緣。

擔心言語不通, 生活難以適應

但與眾多內地學子一樣，選擇澳大前天怡仍有不少憂慮，她說: 「畢竟港澳文化與內地有別，來澳大前我比較擔心語言不通，也害怕生活、南方的天氣、飲食與北方不同而難以適應。」2021年在數學系系主任孫海衛教授的建議下，天怡參加了科技學院所舉辦的「內地優秀大學生暑期研習營」。為期數天的研習營中，天怡與其他來自內地高校的學生一同遊覽澳大校園、實驗室、學院、圖書館及體育館，更與教授們一同聚餐，親身感受優雅寧靜的校園及英語學習環境。研習營結束後，天怡感嘆澳大得天獨厚的國際環境、充滿關愛的校園氛圍、恬靜優美的寄宿環境及優秀的硬件設備皆遠超預期。回北京後，她毫不猶豫馬上申請博士學位。

友愛互助的學習氣氛

現時在澳大生活已有兩個多月，大學友愛互助的氣氛令她感受甚深，她說: 「剛到達時，同門師兄師姐都很熱心帶我熟悉環境，怕我飲食不習慣就帶我到北方菜館，甚至巴士卡都是他們和我一起去辦理的。」熱衷於數學解題，享受嚴謹推理過程的天怡現時作為在讀博士生，每天都花費不少時間在實驗室及教學工作上，閒暇就到體育館鍛鍊。她期望未來可從事教育或研究事業，為此她很樂於擔任目前的教學助理的職務，以賺取教學經驗為未來籌劃。

穩固根基, 及早籌劃未來

回顧整個入學的過程，天怡勉勵有志入讀澳大的學弟妹們: 「在澳門讀書並沒有想像中困難，不用過份憂慮生活問題，反而應盡早練好英語，穩固根基。」天怡也建議有志申請博士的同學們，應擬定研究的方向，多與教授交流，盡可能建立更多科研成果。她期望透過分享自己的申博歷程，為學弟妹提供參考，讓大家及早籌劃，成為澳大的一分子。

澳門大學近年積極發展優勢研究領域，憑藉先進的科研設備及全球師生的協作努力，大學的科研成果已廣泛見於權威學術期刊，並屢獲國家級及國際性獎項。在泰晤士高等教育 (Times Higher Education, THE) 公告的2022年世界大學及世界年輕大學排名中，澳大已上升至201-250位及26位達歷史新高。在澳門地區的大學中獨佔鰲頭，其中工程學的排名已由去年126-150位升至101-125位, 計算機科學則由176-200位升至151-175位。未來大學將着力加強科研成果的轉化，開展更多跨學科、跨領域的科研與教學，加快培育大灣區乃至國家發展所需要的本地人才。