On September 30, the 2025 Chinese Government Friendship Award Ceremony was grandly held at the Great Hall of the People. State Councilor Shen Yiqin presented the awards and delivered a speech. Professor Rodrigo Martins, Honorary Professor of the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences at Wuhan University of Technology (WUT), was among the 50 foreign experts receiving this year’s award. WUT President Prof. Wang Fazhou attended the ceremony. That evening, Academician Martins was invited to attend the reception celebrating the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

On October 1, Academician Rodrigo Martins was officially appointed as a Strategic Scientist of Wuhan University of Technology. Prof. Meng Fangbing, Secretary of the CPC WUT Committee, met with Academician Martins and exchanged views on the development of China–Europe cooperation in science and technology. He expressed the hope that both sides would continue to work together to promote WUT’s high-quality development and deepen the integration of science, technology, and higher education between China and Europe. President Wang Fazhou attended the appointment ceremony and presented the certificate, with Vice President Luo Rong presiding over the event.

On behalf of the university, President Wang extended warm congratulations to Professor Martins on receiving the Friendship Award and expressed sincere appreciation for his and his team’s long-term contributions to talent cultivation and research collaboration with WUT. He noted that the appointment of Professor Martins as a Strategic Scientist would further strengthen cooperation in advanced materials, green chemistry, and related fields, while contributing to China–Portugal and China–Europe technological collaboration and supporting the Belt and Road Initiative.

Professor Martins expressed his heartfelt gratitude to WUT for the recommendation and said he felt deeply honored to receive the Friendship Award at the Great Hall of the People. He noted that he has personally witnessed and actively participated in WUT’s rapid progress in frontier interdisciplinary fields such as materials chemistry in recent years. During this period, he has leveraged his academic influence and resources to strongly support WUT in organizing high-impact international conferences. He stated that he would continue to enhance cooperation with the university, support the growth of young researchers, and pursue more achievements in joint research.

Following the appointment ceremony, Academician Martins and his wife, Academician Elvira Fortunato—a Fellow of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering and Academia Europaea, and former Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education of Portugal—delivered academic lectures introducing their latest research progress to WUT faculty and students. Representatives from the Office of Human Resources, the Office of International Affairs, the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and the School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences attended the event.

Professor Rodrigo Martins is a Fellow of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering and the Academia Europaea, one of the founders of international flexible electronics materials and the creator of paper electronics. He currently serves as Professor at NOVA University Lisbon, Chair of the Portuguese Advanced Materials Management Board, Chair of the European Committee Affairs of the European Materials Research Society, and President of the European Academy of Sciences. He has maintained a long-standing partnership with WUT, achieving a series of fruitful outcomes, and earlier this May, he visited the university to participate in the 2025 World Digital Education Conference and the 2nd International Conference on the Interdisciplinary Frontiers of Chemistry, Materials, Biology, and Artificial Intelligence.

Written by: Qiao Jiang, Li Junsheng, Jiang Ning

Rewritten by: Liang Muwei

Edited by: Li Huihui, Li Tiantian

Source: School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences; Personnel Office of WUT; International Office of WUT