Difference between revisions of "Giant Jamboree/Special Events"

Brainstorming Room: Gender Diversity in iGEM

This year, we are introducing a new type of interactive space to the Giant Jamboree: a Brainstorming Room! The focus for 2015 will be Gender Diversity in iGEM. We're asking teams, instructors, and Jamboree participants to help us understand the gender issues that iGEM teams encounter around the world by sharing your ideas and experiences, and to help brainstorm ways that both members of iGEM Headquarters and rest of the iGEM community can help address these issues and promote gender diversity in teams.

This room will remain open throughout the Jamboree and we invite you to stop by to add your thoughts and experiences to our interactive walls. Printed instructions and materials will be provided in the room throughout the weekend. We also invite you to join us for an instructional session on Friday evening to help kick off the brainstorming!

Panel: Women in Science

This workshop will highlight issues and solutions for diversity in the scientific community with a focus on women participating in iGEM. iGEM Fellow Kim de Mora will share how iGEM judging has been directly changed by a study performed by the Paris Bettencourt 2013 team. There will be lightning talks, personal experiences from the panel members, and a discussion session with the audience members.

Panelists:

• Professor Anne Meyer, TU Delft (Moderator)
• Aude Bernheim, Institut Pasteur
• Professor Karmella Haynes, Arizona State University
• Dr. Kim de Mora, iGEM Foundation
• Dr. Louise Horsfall, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Maria Mercedes Roca Sanchez, Tecnológico de Monterrey

College and High School Meet and Greet

The workshop aims to create a pipeline for the next generation of Synthetic Biologists in universities and is a networking session for high school students and collegiate instructors and advisors. High school students can meet with collegiate team instructors and advisors to learn about the synthetic biology communities at different colleges and universities. Collegiate team members are also encouraged to attend to share their experiences with the high school team members.

Hosted by Lambert High School and the iGEM High School Committee

Hall of Fame

Come walk through the history of iGEM in our first ever Hall of Fame exhibit! Learn about the history of the competition and see the previous projects that have won Grand Prize. Highlights will also include other milestones, including specific BioBricks, as well as the start-ups that spun out of iGEM projects. You'll also have a chance to insert yourself in iGEM history through an interactive wall where attendees can sign their names!

Human Practices Showcase

How can we continue to make Human Practices better? This session will invite iGEM teams and advisors to reflect on their experiences with the Human Practices aspects of their projects - what has excited you most about HP? What challenges have you faced in doing your HP work? What are your hopes are for the future of HP in iGEM? The Human Practices committee, representatives from IGEM HQ, and other special guests, will be there to listen to your experiences and respond to your ideas!

Latin America Workshop

A session to discuss the future of the Latin America region. Teams will brainstorm and plan for the new Latin America committee and will learn about “Synbio sin fronteras” from Doctora María Mercedes Roca.

Conflict Resolution

To be a successful researcher, you will need to rely not only your scientific ability, but also on your skill in managing and leading others. This session will focus on the “human” factors that contribute to successful team science. Presented from the perspective of two professionals with extensive experience in conflict management within research university settings, the session will cover:

• Factors contributing to the success of research team
• Tips on establishing and maintaining successful research teams
• Managing conflict constructively in a team science context

The session will include time to address questions from the learners in attendance.

Organized by the Boston University Office of the Ombuds.

Safeguarding Science and the Future

Meet with the FBI and participate in a discussion on the shared responsibility to protect the life sciences as a member of law enforcement or the synthetic biology community (whether you’re an iGEM’er, scientist, biohacker, investor, business person, or all of the above). Find out what it means to be a guardian of science.
Hosted by the FBI.

Building with Biology: Synbio Engagement at Science Centers

The NSF-funded "Building with Biology” project has created a suite of hands-on activities and conversations to create conversations between scientists and the public about synthetic biology and its implications at 200 science museums around the US. Come try out some of these activities and find out how to get involved!
Hosted by the Museum of Science, Boston.

A Syn Bio Approach to Novel Molecular Bio

Molecular Biology is undergoing a revolution, fueled by the promise of Synthetic Biology. Join us to see emerging technologies that accelerate the design, build, test, and analyze cycle: SureVector Next Generation Cloning System, allowing you to combine standard DNA components with your own gene of interest to build your own customized vector in a 20 minute reaction. QuikChange HT Protein Engineering System, enabling rapid creation of libraries of rationally designed mutants, precisely targeting and mutating from 1 to 20x50 consecutive or discreet AA with up to 120,000 user-defined sequences at a fraction of the cost of a synthetic variant library. Early access to Agilent genome editing products.

See how free SureVector kits are being used by iGEM Teams! Join us to see emerging next gen cloning, protein expression, and genome editing technologies that accelerate the design, build, test, and analyze cycle. Up to 3 Teams will be chosen to speak about their use of SureVector in their projects. For more info, visit Partner Special Offers.
Hosted by Agilent.

Multi-Omics Solutions for Syn Bio Workflows

Synthetic biology requires multi-disciplinary approaches in the discovery of enzymes, pathways and suitable organisms, the building of efficient production strains and their validation, and finally the creation and monitoring of a bioprocess. Agilent’s broad portfolio of solutions and tools in molecular biology, analytical instrumentation, as well as bioinformatics solutions for data analysis and integration enable researchers to overcome challenges in their workflows from discovery, through the engineering cycle, to the final bioprocess.
Hosted by Agilent.

Design and Run Experiments in Automated Labs

At Autodesk, we have been working on tools to accelerate scientific discovery. In this workshop, we will explore visual tools to create, execute and analyze automated lab experiments.
Hosted by Autodesk.

Modeling Biology with SimBiology

Mathematical modeling is an indispensable component of synthetic biology, and the iGEM competition. Modeling and simulation enables synthetic biologists to test the feasibility of their designs prior to fabrication, thus cutting down on trial and error. Every year, iGEM teams successfully use modeling as a tool to guide and optimize the design of their genetic assemblies. In this workshop, we will introduce iGEM teams to SimBiology, a MATLAB-based tool for modeling, simulating and analyzing biological systems. Using an example from synthetic biology, we will demonstrate key features, including:

• Block diagram model building environment
• Model exploration methods, including sensitivity analysis
• Parameter estimation techniques
• Advanced analysis via custom analysis tasks written in MATLAB

Hosted by MathWorks.

Paving the Way to Graduate School

After iGEM and undergraduate studies, the next step for many on the synthetic biology research career path is to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. This workshop will guide you through the graduate school application process, including how to get great letters of recommendation, how to emphasize research experiences, and how to find the program that’s right for you. The presentation gathers together wisdom from students, professors, and admissions experts to help you to apply to graduate programs in synthetic biology related disciplines. Learn what you need to do to gain acceptance into your dream graduate school! Note: this workshop concentrates on admissions at U.S. research institutions.
Hosted by Synberc.

SynBio at Science Museums

The Museum of Science, Boston, Synberc (the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center), and AAAS (the American Association for the Advancement of Science) are partnering to engage scientists and members of the public in activities and multi-directional conversations about the societal implications of engineering biology at science museums around the U.S. iGEM attendees will test out hands-on activities created through collaborations between museum developers and research scientists and learn about opportunities for participating in “Building With Biology” events that will take place at 200 sites in the summer of 2016.
Hosted by Synberc.

Synthetic Dance-ology

Synthetic Dance-ology is a performance activity that uses dance to engage public audiences about synthetic biology. In this workshop, a professional dancer and a scientist will work with one or more iGEM teams to break down their iGEM projects into parts. We will then use movement as a metaphor to illustrate how those parts (translated into dance movements) are created, remixed, and strung together to build a complete iGEM project (dance routines). Through this method, workshop attendees will learn how their iGEM projects and other research activities can be translated into movement to illustrate synthetic biology concepts and engage diverse audiences. Through movement, participants explore synthetic biology in a unique and fun way that reinforces learning, sparks questioning, and promotes interaction with each other in an informal setting. Everyone is welcome to the workshop, but please submit an abstract if you would like your project to be danced at the Jamboree! Learn more at dance.synberc.org.
Hosted by Synberc.

Taking SynBio Visions to the Next Level

How will SynBio change the world around us, and how can we prepare for it? How do we respond to moral dilemmas and enhance opportunities for the public good?

In order to ensure that developments in science and technology better align with views and values in society, increasingly more efforts are being made to organize societal dialogue. Discussing the potential impact and desirability of synthetic biology is however quite a challenge, since the field is still largely confined to the laboratory. So, how can we facilitate a meaningful dialogue on synthetic biology without too much speculation? Future scenarios have proven a useful tool. Scenarios can visualize a future situation in which synthetic biology is plausibly applied and make us aware of potential moral issues. To this end, the EU-funded project Synenergene – dedicated to responsible research and innovation in synthetic biology – teamed up with iGEM. Eight iGEM teams were funded and assisted by Synenergene to develop a future scenario based on their very own iGEM project.

This workshop will present and discuss the scenarios developed by these iGEM teams. The teams will share their experiences on the developing and using future scenarios as part of their project.

Matti Sonck and Laurens Landeweerd
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Ana Delgado and Kjetil Rommetveit
University of Bergen, Norway
Hosted by Synenergene