UM’s “The Pursuit of Research” promotes the popularisation of health sciences

In order to nurture local secondary school students’ understanding of health sciences and enhance their scientific literacy, the University of Macau (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) organised the 8^th  session of science popularisation activity, namely “The Pursuit of Research”, which attracted 46 teachers and students from five local secondary schools. The students had guided laboratory tours of  the Faculty’s core facilities, and experienced hands-on multiple health sciences-related experiments to stimulate their interest in health sciences.

FHS Assistant Professor Wakam CHANG warmly welcomed the teachers and students from Escola Sun Wah, Our Lady of Fatima Girls’ School, Kao Yip Middle School, Colegio Mateus Ricci and Lou Hau High School, and introduced to them the research achievements, structure and curriculum of the Faculty. Being led by Prof. Chang, the participants visited the core facilities and had an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and resources of the Faculty. Afterwards, under the guidance of Faculty technicians and current students, the participants individually handled several experiments related to Biomedical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Technology and Bioinformatics, mastering their experiment practical skills and experiencing the fun of scientific research.

U Cheng CHEANG , a teacher from Escola Sun Wah, said that the event made good use of the University’s state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and excellent academic team to promote science education for middle school students. According to him, the activity not only strengthens the students’ knowledge and skills in the field of health science and trains them to rack their brains and use their hands, but also reinforces the knowledge they learned in school, and ultimately improves students’ aptitude in science.

Xue Jian MING, a sophomore at Kao Yip Middle School, said that the health industry is an emerging industry with huge market potential. He intends to delve into this industry, hence he came to this event with the expectation to gain more insight about health science-related undergraduate courses. He said that this was his first hands-on experiment, and it was far more difficult and rigorous than he anticipated. He came to know that a pipette controller that seemed very simple to operate in theory required a certain amount of skill to be used correctly and accurately after conducting the experiments.

Kit Hei LO, a sophomore at Kao Yip Middle School, said he feels blessed to have the opportunity to participate in this field trip, where he could physically experience university-level research environment, and have a closer look at the actual research equipment. Even though there are certain aspects that have been previously covered in textbooks, Jiexi LUO this activity allowed him to actually “see with his own eyes” and “touch with his own hands”, further deepening his interest in scientific research whilst gaining invaluable practical laboratory skills.

Chi Cheng CHOI from Our Lady of Fatima Girls’ School said that the visit to the Animal Research Core is a real eye-opener for her on the possibilities of health sciences. She never knew that the unique body structure and physiological characteristics of experimental animals are extremely valuable to scientific research, and these animals form the cornerstone on mankind’s ongoing mission to improving health. She also said that performing hands-on experiments allowed her to gain valuable practical experience, and she felt a sense of accomplishment when completing these experiments.

“The Pursuit of Research” aims to broaden students’ knowledge base and practical skills in the realm of health sciences, guiding them to think critically whilst exploring new scientific concepts, thereby instigating their interest and scientific literacy, and helping them shape their own path on their future academic endeavors.