In summer 2017, Year 1 students of the BSc in Biomedical Sciences Programme (BSc Programme) had participated in various activities for strengthening their knowledge in field of biomedical sciences, and for having a better understanding of their interest and potential so that they could be more well-prepared for selecting their Concentration Area,  in addition to taking core and elective courses as required in the Programme’s curriculum in their Year 3 study.

•  Summer Undergraduate Biomedical Research Attachment (SUBRA) 2017 was firstly launched by the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS) in 2017, which aimed to provide an opportunity to students of the BSc Programme for experiencing a real research environment after their first year study.  Students were enabled to conduct biomedical research in a real and practical environment, hence practicing and acquiring various basic laboratory techniques.   With the support of 15 principle investigators of SBS acting as their research mentors, a total of 18 Year 1 students participated in this 8-week summer research attachment held between May and August 2017.  The list of participating students and their research mentors is shown as below:

During the 8-week attachment, aside from attending different research seminars, each student took up a part of a research project and carried out hands-on experiments in a laboratory independently, under the supervision of their mentors.  To complete the attachment, students were invited to conduct poster presentation on their selected research topics on 1 September 2017. Awards were presented to the students with most outstanding performances.  The awardee list is as follows:

• April T.Y. Cheng and Tiffany W.L. Lo participated in 2017 Chongqing Medical University Study and Culture Tour during 9 - 23 July 2017.  During this two-week exchange programme, April and Tiffany visited different hospitals and laboratories and learnt the health care system in Chongqing.  They were impressed by the advancement in biomedical applications on the medical development in Chongqing.  They also had the opportunity to take courses in traditional Chinese medicine.  Besides, they met students from seven different universities from around the world including Taiwan, Belgium and Australia for having cultural exchange and making friends with each other.

• Romeo C.W. Goh joined an academic exchange programme at University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada from July to August 2017 for 4 weeks.  During the exchange programme, Romeo took two academic courses on Anatomical Sciences at UBC and met Canadian students from other universities through their socio-cultural activities.  Another two students James C.H. Shiah and Cindy J.Y. Wang participated in research attachments offered by the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) for 8 weeks from July to August 2017.  Both of them were enabled to gain more research knowledge and practical experiences in laboratories.

We hope the various summer activities will maximize our students’ exposure in the field of biomedical sciences, and widen their horizon especially those who had participated in the exchange programmes overseas.  It is believed that these experiential learning experiences will enable them to recognize their strength and potential which are crucial for their academic and future career development as well as for advancing their personal growth. 

Student participating in SUBRA presents her poster before the mentors	Group photo of students with their mentors

Tiffany W.L. Lo (1st from left) with her new friends from around the world in Chongqing Medical University Study and Culture Tour	April T.Y. Cheng (middle) also makes new friends in Chongqing Medical University Study and Culture Tour