Introduction
In order to establish meaningful academic connections and engage with fellow iGEM teams for mutual learning and project collaboration, we actively participated in various collaborations and meetup events. Through these collaborative initiatives and gatherings, our team significantly expanded its understanding of synthetic biology while simultaneously showcasing our own project within the iGEM community. This was achieved through presentations, participation in poster sessions, and attending several events.
Collaborations
Cycle to work
The cycle to work collaboration was initiated by iGEM IISER PUNE in India. For this collaboration they asked team members of other teams to come to work or iGEM using eco-friendly modes of transportation like cycles for commuting short distances. Each team had to send in a team picture with everyone using bikes for traveling to the workspace. The pictures were then posted on their Instagram page and each team was tagged in the post. We of course sent in our own picture.
Postcard event
iGEM KCIS Xiugang initiated a postcard event to give teams around the globe an idea of what other iGEM teams were working on. We were very happy to engage in this event and sent them our own postcard in which we explained our project and wished the other teams good luck.
World map of iGEM teams
On the 28th of May, the iGEM NTHU Taiwan team invited us through Instagram to collaborate in a very unique way. They were making a world map on which you could see where all collaborating teams were from. We loved this interesting collaboration idea and were happy to take part in it! See the result below.
Meetups
Junior Jam Münster
Four team members of the iGEM Leiden team spent the weekend at the European iGEM meet-up in Münster. Here, we had a chance to learn about and give feedback on the projects of other iGEM teams from all over Europe. We learned about common pitfalls teams experience during an iGEM project, the best ways to approach sponsors, intriguing public engagement activities, and much more. We presented our project to the European iGEM community and received a lot of constructive feedback which we incorporated in our presentations and project.
Dutch iGEM meetup
All the Dutch iGEM teams and one Belgian iGEM team were invited to the Utrecht Science Park for a meet-up on the 7th of July 2023 which was organized by iGEM team of Wageningen and the iGEM team of Eindhoven, in collaboration with The Center for Living Technologies. The Center for Living Technologies is an organization that mobilizes and integrates the expertise of institutions and multiple Dutch universities in the field of life sciences. During the event, each team had the opportunity to showcase their respective projects, establish connections, and gain precious insights into the realm of synthetic biology. These insights were offered through an array of presentations delivered by esteemed experts and professionals in the field. Biotechnological researcher Dirk Stermerding and assistant professor Zoë Robaey presented their research and their views on several topics that were relevant to iGEM such as ethical, societal, and political aspects of synthetic biology and responsible innovation. After these two presentations the participating iGEM teams presented their projects and explained how they were going to solve their chosen societal problem. It was very insightful to learn about the projects of all the other Dutch and Belgian iGEM teams and lots of feedback was shared. The event was rounded up by a brainstorming session with all the teams in which teams shared ideas on how to approach certain aspects of the iGEM journey.
Mini Jamboree
On 23rd October 2023, a small delegation of the PHAse Out team attended the mini-jamboree organized, the BeNeLux Mini Jamboree hosted by TU Eindhoven team. It was the perfect opportunity to practice our pitch and presentation before the grand jamboree! Teams from all over the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany joined the mini-jamboree, and we were very excited to get a sneak peek of all the amazing projects during the pitches and poster presentations.
