The Biomedical Sciences Summer Camp 2019, organized by the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and sponsored by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) of Macao SAR, was successfully held between 10 and 19 of July with the theme of “Biological Detectives”. A total of 60 high school students from 30 local secondary schools joined this summer camp and became “Biological Detectives”. Their tasks were to investigate cases by conducting the experiments to dig out the answers in scientific ways.

In the opening ceremony, Prof. Chuxia DENG and Prof. Renhe XU, Dean and Associate Dean (Research) of Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) respectively warmly welcomed the participants. They encouraged the students to immerse themselves into the activities of the summer camp in hope to learn new knowledge and foster their interests in biomedical sciences. Prof. Terence POON, Associate Professor of FHS, also introduced the students the fundamental concepts, the applications and the new technologies of biomedical sciences.

Two sessions of the 3-day summer camp featured splendid activities, in conjunction with lectures of theories, hands-on experiments and interactive activities. Under the supervision of the faculty mentors and students, the participants attended the thematic lectures and also participated in different workshops related to biochemistry, bioinformatics, cell and molecular biology, genetics and microbiology, in which they had ample chances to conduct experiments and operate some state-of-the-art equipment. The faculty mentors coached the students for experiment observation and analysis with in-depth discussions. They had a lot of fun particularly in the workshop “Pipettman Usage Accuracy”. During the camp, the students stayed on campus at the residential college or the hostel, which provided an excellent opportunity for experiencing a university life.

The students indicated that the summer camp not only allowed them to experience the campus living of a university student but also enriched their knowledge by involving in the interesting experiments and operating the state-of-the-art equipment.  The summer camp enabled the students to explore their research interest and receive diverse exposures, both of which broadened their horizons in pursuing their future studies in related research fields.

The Biomedical Sciences Summer Camp was successfully held

Prof. Renhe XU welcomed the participants

Students do the hands-on experiments

Students and faculty mentors with in-depth discussions

Group photo