Recently, the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory Center for Outreach, Research & Education, in collaboration with the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation, successfully concluded its excellent high school student summer internship program. The 20 participating high school students completed two months of research exploration and laboratory operations. These students came from nine different schools in Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and the United States. The closing ceremony featured presentations attended by laboratory leaders, PI representatives, school principals and teachers, as well as student parents, all witnessing this important moment together.
At the closing ceremony, the Deputy Director of SZBL, TU Huan, highly praised the positive impact of the high school internship program on the students. TU Huan noted that Shenzhen Bay Laboratory is committed to providing high-quality research platforms for young people, aiming to inspire their scientific curiosity and innovative spirit through hands-on experience and research. She expressed pride in the students' performance during the internship and looked forward to seeing more young scholars engage in scientific research and contribute to scientific advancement. She also welcomed these "future scientists" to frequently visit the laboratory.
PI representative LI Gang spoke, mentioning that Professor Feng Zhang from MIT, inspired by green fluorescent protein during a summer internship, embarked on the path of gene editing research and achieved Nobel-Prize-level research. LI Gang hoped that this summer internship would plant the seeds of scientific inquiry, wishing the students great future achievements. Although the internship was brief and could not cover independent projects, he encouraged everyone to make the most of this opportunity to learn and engage actively. LI Gang highlighted intern student's achievement of reading over a dozen papers in a week and summarizing an unfamiliar research area for the lab group, which put pressure on the research group and fostered a learning atmosphere.
YUAN Hui, Executive Director of the Center for Outreach, Research & Education and Head of the high school internship program, summarized and reviewed the internship, expressing gratitude to the 20 students for their hard work. She hoped they would share their internship experiences with their schools upon returning in September. Thanks were extended to the 14 PI team leaders and their teams, whose professional guidance and selfless dedication laid a solid foundation for the program's success. YUAN also led the students in applauding and thanking their mentors and teams. Appreciation was also given to the teachers for their recommendations and supports, and to the parents for their daily transport, as well as donations. YUAN stated that during the internship, students not only enhanced their expertise in life sciences but also developed teamwork, time management, and interpersonal skills. The close cooperation between the laboratory and the schools built a bridge from theory to practice, fostering deep integration of education and practice. The successful completion of this event represents a significant attempt at educational innovation and practical exploration. We look forward to more opportunities like this in the future to provide growth and development platforms for more students.
Subsequently, 11 student representatives took the stage to present summaries of their internships, sharing what they learned, the challenges and setbacks they faced, and interesting experiences. Through this period of learning and experimentation, they not only encountered real research experiences and felt the "adult workplace environment" but also developed collaborative and problem-solving skills. One student shared how they overcame their fear to eventually perform mice dissection, while another shared a funny incident about ELISA. During the first week's group meeting, they repeatedly heard the name "ELISA" and finally mustered the courage to ask, "Who is ELISA? Why didn't she come to the meeting?" It turned out that ELISA is not a person's name but a testing method—Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. ELISA is a special type of enzyme immunoassay used to quantify a target molecule using antibodies. It was truly eye-opening. Another student showcased her experimental notes in cartoon style, aiming to convey that scientific experiments are not dull but full of fun.
Principal Mark Bridgeman from Merchiston International School expressed gratitude on behalf of the school to Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, praising the internship program for its significant impact on students' academic growth and future career development. He hopes to maintain long-term cooperation with Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, providing students with such high-quality scientific education opportunities.
In the future, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory will continue to uphold its mission of scientific dissemination and education, establishing more research practice platforms for youth and advancing science education in the fields of life science and bioinformatics.
Source: Center for Outreach, Research & Education
Executive Editor: Winston
Editor: Bai Bai
For more information, please contact media@szbl.ac.cn
