In order to cultivate the interest of Macao secondary school students in science, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), and to inspire them to understand the key applications of AI in drug discovery and healthcare, the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Driven Drug Discovery (AIDD) of Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) has launched a series of training and scientific research activities, which have been well received by secondary school students.

The training activities were planned and taught by the teaching team, and guided under the supervision of Professor Tong Hoi Yee, Director of the Centre for AIDD. With their guidance and extensive practical experience, students from Pui Ching Middle School visited the laboratory and learned about the latest research in drug discovery and the role AI plays in the field of biomedicine. Through computer training and practice sessions, students gained hands-on experience with AI technology and understood its potential in solving real-world problems.

For research activities, teachers and students from the information technology team of Pui Ching Middle School actively participated in the research of AI-driven drug discovery. Under the co-supervision of lecturers from the Center and their teacher, the students completed various tasks such as literature research, data mining and cleaning, building of AI models and data analysis. As a result, students were able to further develop their interest and potential in the area of scientific research.

With the solid disciplinary and academic advantages of the Faculty of Applied Sciences and Faculty of Health Sciences and Sports of MPU, the Centre for AIDD creatively integrates disciplines such as AI, computational chemistry, computational biology and pharmacy, and serves as an innovative carrier for the research and development of AI-driven drug discovery. In the future, the Centre will continue to organise various educational training activities in science to provide more secondary school students with opportunities to learn and practice, thus contributing to the development of scientific research education among young students in Macao.