Judging

Welcome to judging in iGEM 2015! If you’re new to iGEM, you’re probably working hard on your project, trying to make sense of all the requirements, medal criteria, part submission guidelines and other facets of iGEM so that you can present a great project at the Jamboree later this year.

If you're an instructor or advisor, consider applying to be a judge!

Requirements to participate in iGEM in 2015

Before evaluation, you should familiarize yourselves with the requirements for iGEM this year. We have a Requirements page for this information.

We also have separate requirements for new track teams, as the scope of work is different for these teams. Please see the requirements page for more details and the Calendar of Events page for all the deadlines.

For Teams

In our mission to make iGEM better every year, there are a few differences in terms of the evaluation in 2015. Medal requirements have been slightly modified, so please read over them again on the Awards page.

Important Information

Judging Forms

Teams will be required to submit a judging form that outlines their accomplishments according to the Judging Criteria. Details on where/how/when to fill out this form will be provided when they are available.
Wiki freeze

Experienced teams will be familiar with the wiki freeze, the time in the iGEM calendar when we disable editing to allow judges to work without changes. This date will be one week before the Jamboree this year. The Registry will not be frozen. Please see the 2015 Calendar of Events for all the important dates and deadlines.
Part Characterization, Measurement and Improvement

This year, we’re changing the medal requirements for characterizing, measuring and improving a part. We’re introducing a contribution system, instead of the experience page, that you can read more about on our page.

For Judges

Apply to be a judge! All judges must apply, even if you were a judge in the past.

We are making some important changes to judging in 2015. We are de-specializing judging this year. There will no longer be a dedicated human practices judge in each presentation room. We will still have HP judges, but it will be the responsibility of the the entire judging team to learn how to evaluate areas that are outside of their core competency and research field.

To help with this process, we plan to update the Judging Handbook to include case studies and work on all areas that will require evaluation in iGEM. If you're not familiar with how to evaluate human practices, there will be a section. You can also check out the Practices hub. We are working on the handbook and will aim to have it available well in advance of the Giant Jamboree and wiki freeze.

Judging Application form

One significant change in 2015 will be the judging application form. In 2014, we worked hard on diversity and regional representation in the judging team. This year, we are continuing the democratization of this process by opening up the judging application procedure to the whole iGEM community. We will be publishing a list of criteria for potential candidates when the application form opens some time in spring 2015.

Judges Dashboard

The dashboard for judges will be available to 2015 judges closer to the Giant Jamboree. If you are unfamiliar with judging in iGEM, all of our evaluation takes place online. Once you are selected to become a judge, your teams will appear in your dashboard when we freeze the team wikis. If you would like more information on how to use the online evaluation system, please download and read part 2 of the judging handbook below.

Judging Handbook

Learning how to judge an iGEM team is a complex task and one that we are always working to improve. In 2014, we introduced the judging handbook in two parts. Part 1 of the handbook is dedicated to describing great examples and winning teams from previous years. This handbook focuses on the factors contributing to the success of these teams from the perspective of the judges who evaluated them. Part 2 focuses on how to perform your judging assignment.

We will update the handbooks later in the iGEM 2015 season. If you are not familiar with how excellence is rewarded in iGEM, we encourage students, instructors and advisers to all read through Part 1 of the judging handbook to learn more about how teams are evaluated.

Please download the handbooks here: