Science communication

Science communication

iGEM Ioannina in the 1st pfs-bio in Alexandroupolis, Greece (28-29-30/04/2023)

On April 28-29-30th we participated in the 1st pfsbio, a conference organized by students of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics in Alexandroupolis, Greece. It was the first panhellenic bioscientists conference for university students and it hosted many great scientific speeches from professors, undergraduate and overgraduate students. There, we had the opportunity to present our team and our project to the public for the first time. We talked about iGEM, competition villages, our team roster, cancer as a global problem, Photodynamic therapy and our approach on designing IRIS. Afterwards, we had a discussion with the attendees about our project safety and how we envision its implementation to the real world.

We also got to meet, hang out and share ideas with other iGEM teams from all over Greece!

Project presentation – iGEM IOANNINA
Our team – iGEM IOANNINA at the conference room
iGEM IOANNINA – iGEM Athens – iGEM Thrace

iGEM Greece 2023 Discord server

One of the most important things for a young scientist is to connect with others in the same field of interest and spend countless hours discussing their science. Our team consists of nine young individuals who love science and science communication. That's why we decided to create the 'iGEM Greece 2023' server, a Discord server for all members of Greek iGEM teams. Our goal was to create a cozy space for Synthetic Biology enthusiasts where everyone can discuss their projects, ideas, dreams, and the overall iGEM experience.

The server includes several text and voice channels where people can chat, share memes, exchange interesting scientific facts, suggest ideas for changes in the Discord server, post photos and media related to their iGEM work, and listen to a 24/7 Lofi Music Radio. We also provided every Greek iGEM team with the opportunity to host their own events.

Through our server, our team hosted an event called the 'Homecoming Party' to kick off the server's creation. During this online event, we met with other iGEM teams and were able to forget about stress, deadlines, and the pressure of the competition's deliverables.

The server also served the purpose of facilitating collaborations between Greek iGEM teams. Private rooms could be created at any time, allowing teams to engage in meetings or other online activities. For example, our team used this feature to separately meet-up with iGEM Athens and iGEM Patras Med, connecting with their members and discussing the development of our project.

During the final days of the iGEM season, a new section debuted on our server! In the #Paris voice and text channels, we can share information about the upcoming trip to Paris for the Grand Jamboree, plan meetups, and propose places we can possibly visit while in Paris.



iGEM Greece 2023 Discord server made by iGEM Ioannina



iGEM Ioannina and iGEM Athens meet up in iGEM Greece 2023 Discord server



We are proud we created this online space for science communication and we are sure that future iGEM generations are going to make good use of it as well.



Collaborations with other iGEM Teams

One of the biggest opportunities we had during our iGEM journey was the opportunity to connect with people who share the same interests. We are grateful for all the meetings and collaborations that took place this year because, in addition to the contacts we made, we were able to communicate Synthetic Biology and our project to the world.

iGEM Patras Med podcast

We were glad to be invited as guests to iGEM Patras Med’s podcast, ‘The SynBio Voice #2’! iGEM Patras Med shares a common goal with our team, cancer therapeutics. That gave us the opportunity to talk about cancer’s background and several cancer treatment strategies before we shared more information about our therapeutic approach, IRIS.

We are very happy that many aspects of our project are presented in a podcast episode, making it more accessible to the public!

You can listen to the episode HERE





iGEM Ioannina and iGEM Patras Med podcast



iGEM Patras Med x World’s iGEM Teams - World Health Day

April 7 is marked as World Health Day, in order to celebrate the foundation of WHO. This year, teams from all over the world connected in a really nice collaboration arranged by iGEM Patras Med. We are really happy we took part in this and had the opportunity to explore our creativity and send an important message to the world : Happiness lies first of all in Health!

Happiness lies first of all in Health!
Happiness lies first of all in Health! iGEM Ioannina

iGEM Thrace × World's iGEM teams: What is iGEM?

In this video, 17 iGEM Teams from all over the word were connected to answer the question ‘‘What does iGEM mean to you?’’ Thank you iGEM Thrace for giving us the opportunity to share with the world out there, that for us:
iGEM is the creative side of science!



Offline post interview



We were glad to give an interview to Offline Post as well. Offline Post is a platform where young people write interesting articles on a wide range of topics. Ioanna Koutsotoli is a 3rd-year bachelor’s student at the Department of Biological Applications and Technology, University of Ioannina, and she writes pop-science articles for Offline Post. Ioanna was our interviewer, and she asked us about IRIS, cancer, and the iGEM competition. We hope that this interview educates readers about Synthetic Biology and maybe even inspires them to become part of a future iGEM team.

Social Media - Instagram

Our team is active in Social Media. We love science communication and Instagram is a great platform to raise awareness about synthetic biology and cancer treatment. Additionally, we use Social Media as means to keep in touch with other iGEM teams and engage with the international science community, by collaborating from teams not only in Greece but the entire world.