Wu Dingtao, a PhD student of the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS) and the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine (SKL-QRCM) of the University of Macau (UM), received the Excellent Paper Award at the 11th Annual National Academic Conference for PhD Students, for his paper titled “Characterisation and Discrimination of Polysaccharides in Seven Species of Cordyceps Using Saccharide Mapping”. The paper was co-supervised by Prof. Li Shaoping and Dr. Zhao Jing.

More than 500 experts and students from well-known universities and research institutions in China attended the conference, which was held in Chengdu, from 18 October to 20 October. The session on biomedical science received a total of 120 papers from over 40 well-known universities and research institutions in China, including UM, the Hong Kong Baptist University, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Sichuan University, and Wuhan University. Through two rounds of expert evaluation, five papers, from Peking University, Wuhan University, the Fourth Military Medical University, Hebei Medical University, and UM respectively, were awarded the Excellent Paper Award.

Wu’s research was jointly supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao SAR and UM. His research findings hold the promise to improve the quality control of polysaccharides in natural and cultured Cordyceps spp. Wu’s paper and presentation were very well received by conference participants, including experts in pharmaceutical analysis from Peking University, Zhejiang University, and Sichuan University.

Launched in 2002 by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), the Annual National Academic Conference for PhD Students aims to help PhD students progress in their areas of expertise as well as to discover new talent. Since 2005, the conference has been co-sponsored by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and CAST.

Should you have any enquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Kristy Fok at（853）8397 4325 or prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.