The International Institute of Macau has awarded yesterday (31 January 2018) two young students for the research in areas of the Macau SAR. The Young Researcher Award, initiative supported by the Macao Foundation since 2001, aims to incentive young students, teachers, graduates and creatives to research and further study for the sake of the development of the Macau’s Special Administrative Region’s development – in the strategic sectors of economy and diversification, heritage and identity, applied sciences, and History of Macau.

The winners of this contest were Xu Chang (Heritage, Tourism or Identity of Macao Area), with the submitted work named "The Identity of Macanese - Focus on Macanese Cuisine" and Ieong Lok Tong (Economy and Management Area), with the submitted work named "Perception of Generation and workers in recruitment and retention in Macau service industry".
We congratulate all the participants and the panel of jury, constituted by two teachers from the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT), Io Man U and the University of Macau (UMAC), Rose Neng Lai.

On 23 February 2017, the award ceremony of 2016 Young Researcher Award took place at the International Institute of Macau. The award aims to be an incentive to young students, teachers, graduates and creatives to research and further study for the sake of the development of the Macau’s Special Administrative Region’s development – in the strategic sectors of economy and diversification, heritage and identity, applied sciences, and Macau History. The prize, together with a diploma and a monetary award of twenty five thousand Patacas, has been attributed since 2001 and the objective is to stimulate young generations, where its focus is to diversify social intervention, create opportunities and expand the growth of knowledge.
In the current year, through this accomplished competition, the award was given to Loi Wai Cheng, in the area of Social Sciences, a work about “The Impact of Social Support on the Mental Health of the Visually Impaired in Macao”; and Lei Ka Meng, in the area of Applied Sciences, with the work titled “Miniaturized Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Platforms for Chemical/ Biological Assays with Customized CMOS Integrated Circuits”. During the session, Secretary-General of IIM, Rufino Ramos, has made an incentive to the participants to dedicate their time in the investigation regarding themes about Macau and contribute as well for social and cultural development. The competition of 2016 was very competitive, with about thirty two works received and analyzed by two academic teachers, Mok Kai Meng and Chan Ka Wai.

The International Institute of Macau announced granting the Identity Award of 2017 to Henrique d'Assumpção, Quito for friends, for his very relevant contribution to the preservation of Macanese heritage and identity, disseminating their genealogy, history and culture, in the cyber space, in Portuguese and English. Born in Macau, but sent very young to Australia to study, "Quito" d'Assumpção played prominent roles in the Government of that country, achieving an enviable list of services and several titles and honorific orders. After retiring from his academic life as Professor Emeritus at the University of South Australia, he devoted himself wholeheartedly, over the past 20 years, to create a permanent repository for the preservation of cultural and historical records of the Macanese people. Despite his numerous other professional and official commitments, he has been able to gather and make available a large collection of data. Improving the existing documentation about the genealogy of Macanese families, enriching it with thousands of photographs and many other information, collecting more than 200 recipes of Macanese cuisine, picking up verses, a lexicon and audio from the old Macau dialect he managed to digitize these elements into an electronic platform awaiting of biographical documentation related to more than 55,000 names, and prepared the development of this base "indefinitely for the future", without looking for personal interest and in a worthy of the highest praise.

The Identity Award, initiated in 2003 and decided by approval of all governing bodies of the IIM, aims to reward individuals or institutions that, in a continuous way, have contributed to the enhancement and appreciation of the Macanese Identity. Among the rewarded individuals or institutions, contemplated persons include Monsignor Manuel Teixeira, Henrique de Senna Fernandes, Arnaldo de Oliveira Sales and institutions such as the Macau Diocese, the Holy House of Mercy of Macau, the University of Macau, the Macau Portuguese School and other local and overseas entities, related to the Macanese diaspora.

The representation of Macau in the third edition of the Lusophone Festival in Goa was made on 7 March 2017 at the Central State Library Panjim Goa, through a photo exhibition "Cultural Heritage of Macau" of the International Institute of Macau (IIM).
The photos were exhibited until 9 March 2017, portraying the heritage legacy and the cultural traditions of Macau, from a photograph​ competition of IIM in 2016. 
Supported by the Macao Foundation and the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), during the opening ceremony was also presented the recent publications of IIM and showed the last promotional video of MGTO. 
A collaboration between IIM and the Lusophone Society of Goa (LSG), this is a mutual collaboration of Goa and Macau.