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Collaboration

Introduction​

Participation in iGEM goes beyond scientific work in the laboratory. It also offers the opportunity to connect with people worldwide who share similar interests. Throughout the year, we actively engaged in various meetings and events, identifying collaboration opportunities and even organizing our initiatives. In this phase of the competition, we greatly appreciated the connections made within the scientific community and beyond. Our team is thankful for the collaborations and opportunities that arose during the competition.

Meet-up at HHU​

Following our initial contact with some of the nearest German iGEM teams, we organized our first meeting on May 12th 2023. We extended an invitation to iGEM teams for a regional meet-up at our university, the teams from Münster and Aachen accepted. We had a fantastic turnout and initiated the event with project presentations, fostering a fruitful dialogue. This allowed us to gain insight into the projects within our region. Münster's Beevax and Aachen's Rarecycle project presentations resulted in productive. However, due to the differing project directions, a scientific collaboration proved challenging. Despite this, we explored alternative ways to collaborate outside of scientific work, maintaining contact with these teams throughout the competition.

Picture of team Aachen, Düsseldorf and Münster at HHU

JuniorJam​

Our next opportunity to engage with other iGEM groups was at the iGEM JuniorJam from August 4th to 6th. This event provided a European-wide gathering where we connected with iGEM teams from various European nations. On the first day, we had the pleasure of attending presentations by Prof. Dr. Jochen Schmid and Prof. Dr. Sonja Billerbeck, both involved in this Münster's iGEM team 2023. Subsequently, we interacted with the other groups. The second day comprised project presentations from each team, discussions about project advantages and disadvantages and goal achievement strategies. This exchange of ideas significantly contributed to our project's development. A poster session followed, further immersing us in the subject matter. We also took the opportunity to invite other groups to participate in our postcard project, a tradition of our iGEM team. On our final day in Münster, we participated in a pitch training session, enhancing our presentation skills. After the JuniorJam had concluded, we maintained contact with the other teams through social media and our postcard project.

Picture of Ben and Niklas Presenting in Münster
Picture of Aamir, Ben, Maurice, Deniz and Niklas in Münster

Postcard project​

As mentioned earlier, our postcard project has been a longstanding tradition of our team. We were keen to continue this tradition and reached out to several other teams to involve them. Participating in the project is straightforward; teams create and send self-designed postcards. Subsequently, our team sends these postcards to different teams in various countrys. This year, numerous groups joined our project, contributing many creative postcards. We are currently awaiting the last few to arrive before sending them to their final destinations. This project has been a rewarding task for both our team and the other participating groups.