Students in the Faculty of Education (FED) of the University of Macau (UM) won five awards at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness. The awards included two first prizes and a second prize for oral presentation, as well as a first prize and a second prize for poster presentation, making UM the most awarded delegation at this year’s conference. Their reports provide scientific support for different types of sports research and received positive feedback from the judges.

The conference featured a total of 81 oral presentations and 117 poster presentations from postgraduate students and scholars from the US, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. There were 10 first prizes (12.3% acceptance rate) and 10 second prizes (12.3% acceptance rate) for oral presentation, and 7 first prizes (6.0% acceptance rate) and 9 second prizes (7.7% acceptance rate) for poster presentation. The FED delegation delivered exceptional performance, with 6 participants winning 5 awards, reaching a success rate of 83%. This made UM the best-performing delegation at this year’s conference.

Hu Mingzhu, who holds a PhD in education from UM, won two first prizes for the oral presentation of her project ‘Physiological and Psychological Effects of a Ketogenic Diet Combined with Exercise under Hypoxia in Overweight Individuals’. Li Siqi, a master’s graduate in physical education and sport studies, was awarded a second prize for the oral presentation of her project ‘Exercise Enjoyment in High-intensity Interval Training and Moderate-intensity Continuous Training with a Low-carb Diet in Sedentary Young Women’. Li Jie and Yu Qian, PhD students in education, received a first prize and a second prize respectively for the poster presentations of their projects. Li’s project was titled ‘Research on the Relationship between Core Stability and Vertical Jump’, and Yu’s project was titled ‘Dose Response and Time Effect of Exogenous Ketone Supplementation on Blood Parameters’. The research results of these four projects provide scientific support for sports training, nutritional supplementation, and public health, as well as new perspectives and inspirations for interdisciplinary research that involves sports science, biomechanics, nutrition, and psychology.

Kong Zhaowei, associate professor in FED, was the supervisor of the award-winning students. He is one of the world’s top 30 experts in the field of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and is a renowned scholar in research on simulated hypoxic training. His research team is committed to improving the health of sedentary people by optimising physical exercise and dietary interventions. Recently, his team was awarded a grant for their research project ‘The Effects of Ketone Supplements and Ketogenic Diet on Brain Plasticity in Overweight Adults’.

The Society of Chinese Scholars on Exercise Physiology and Fitness (SCSEPF) is the only international platform for regular academic exchange in the field of sports science in the Greater China region. The English journal Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness of SCSEPF is a prestigious SCI-indexed journal in sports science in the Greater China Region.