Difference between revisions of "Template:Team:Groningen/CONTENT/EVENTS/Events"

We presented our idea at the Night of Art and Science at Minerva and discussed with the public the feasibility of Blue Energy and other renewable energy sources. Prof. Euverink accompanied us at this event.

Today Lianne Wieske visited our lab with 10 VWO students from the Hondsrugcollege Groningen. Last year Lianne was an iGEM member herself and today she was giving a tour at the Linneausborg with a group of third year VWO students. Obviously Lianne is really enthusiastic about iGEM and she gave us some time to tell the students about iGEM and our project.

Today Marieke and Bente went to the Gomarus College in Groningen. We got the opportunity to tell the class something about synthetic biology, our project and iGEM. After a short introduction about who we are and what we came to do, Marieke told the class everything they needed to know about synthetic biology.

On the 11th of June we (Harm en Marieke) visited Gomarus College in Groningen to tell something about sustainable energy and some ethics about our project. We started with an introduction about sustainable energy and why the Netherlands is so keen about this topic. After that we talked about our project and our goals and how we incorporated synthetic biology in blue energy. Further we discussed the ethics behind our project. Is it okay to put GMOs in a power plant? And their opinion on GMOs overall. The opinion of the teacher was to be careful with all GMOs, hence they could also create environmental disasters (according to him). We explained that used GMOs for industrial purposes are thoroughly checked before usage and the chances that they will cause harm are very little. Overall the lesson was a success, and ended with an invitation to see our lab!

A group of 6 VWO students from the Celeanum gymnasium Zwolle had a day programme in and around our building with Science Linx. Luckily there was some time left to spend with us. So we could talk about synthetic biology, iGEM and our project. Maybe we have created some future iGEM members!

2 September was the annual symposium from the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB). During this symposium young ambitious PhD students and professors can present their latest work. iGEM Groningen was kindly invited by the GBB, to give a presentation about their project Blue Bio Energy.

Today we went to our neighbours in the Chemistry building where Hanneke gave a talk to her fellow students about iGEM in general and about our project. The study association of Chemistry and Chemical engineering invited us to give a talk for their members, so we did!

Just before the wikifreeze the last group of highschool students visited us. Four classes of the Gomarus College Groningen were stopping by this morning, they got a lecture about our project and iGEM in general. At this talk we told the basics of molecular biology, this subject wasn’t covered in class yet. So we really had to start with the basics today, which was really exciting. With the talk we gave and a tour through our lab we hope that they can relate more to the subject. And that it would be easier to remember!

All the iGEM teams from the Netherlands were invited by the Rathenau Institute and the RIVM, the ministry of Health and Environment, to talk about a congress about synthetic biology. Every iGEM team from the Netherlands gave a pitch about their project and the ethical side of their project.

The Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) is an independent scientific advisory committee composed of scientists. The main functions of COGEM are to give statutory advice to the Dutch Minister of Environment on the risks to human health and the environment. On the 19th of August we visited COGEM in Bilthoven to discuss the ethical and legal implications of our project.

At the exact same day as our final presentation we are going to do something special. In Groningen there will be the Researchers' Night which is part of the European Researchers Night. It is organised by FabLab Groningen, Science LinX, Groninger forum and the Infoversum and we are invited to give a talk about our project and iGEM.