Starting a Team 2016
Starting a Team
There are several things you need to consider before starting a team; here are some guidelines to help you get started. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact iGEM Headquarters for more information. We will be happy to hear from you!
Team Composition
iGEM teams are very flexible! Two or more schools can get together to form a single team. This allows a team to combine different backgrounds and talents to enrich the overall project. There is no limit on the number of students in an iGEM team. However we recommend creating a team of around 10 -15 people with different backgrounds who can enrich the team. There is no age restriction for participating in iGEM. However, be aware of the requirements for the undergraduate and overgraduate sections. You need at least two instructors to be part of your team, and one of them must be a faculty member. For high school teams, one of your instructors must be a high school teacher.
JANUARY
◦ Teams begin to assemble and brainstorm
Choosing a Project
iGEM teams are very flexible! Two or more schools can get together to form a single team. This allows a team to combine different backgrounds and talents to enrich the overall project. There is no limit on the number of students in an iGEM team. However we recommend creating a team of around 10 -15 people with different backgrounds who can enrich the team. There is no age restriction for participating in iGEM. However, be aware of the requirements for the undergraduate and overgraduate sections. You need at least two instructors to be part of your team, and one of them must be a faculty member. For high school teams, one of your instructors must be a high school teacher.
Funding and Fees
There are several things you need to consider before starting a team; here are some guidelines to help you get started. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact iGEM Headquarters for more information. We will be happy to hear from you!
Requirements
There are general requirements that you must follow in order to take part in iGEM. There are also specific requirements depending on which track you wish to participate in. You can read the detailed requirements on our 2015 requirements page.
Finding Space
Teams need a space in which to work during the summer. You may want to: Ask your instructors if they have lab space over the summer. See if the department has free lab space. Your team may want to start setting up dedicated lab space for your team this year and in future years. Make sure that in addition to benches and equipment, you also have a space for meetings, relaxing, eating, sleeping, etc.
Finding Mentors
iGEM teams are very flexible! Two or more schools can get together to form a single team. This allows a team to combine different backgrounds and talents to enrich the overall project. There is no limit on the number of students in an iGEM team. However we recommend creating a team of around 10 -15 people with different backgrounds who can enrich the team. There is no age restriction for participating in iGEM. However, be aware of the requirements for the undergraduate and overgraduate sections. You need at least two instructors to be part of your team, and one of them must be a faculty member. For high school teams, one of your instructors must be a high school teacher.
Documenting your Project
In order for judges to evaluate your project you will need to document what you have worked on. There are three main places where your work must to be recorded. Wiki You will be provided with a blank online webpage with your team’s name: your team wiki. You will need to document your project on this page. The complete wiki requirements are on this page. Presentation At the end of the summer, you will need to explain your project in a 20 minute presentation at the Giant Jamboree. The structure of this is flexible; you can look at other team’s presentations or read the presentation guidelines page for more information. Poster Also, your team will need to create a poster in which you summarize your work. There are a few poster guidelines, which are fully explained on this page.
Registry and Part Submissions
One of the main aspects of the iGEM Competition is the Parts registry. Teams are provided with a distribution kit, which contains an array of standard biological parts. Teams use these parts to start their projects and develop their own standard parts. The Registry of Standard Biological Parts is another tool which teams can use to look for specific parts to complement their designs. These parts can be requested from iGEM and will be shipped to your team. You can browse the Registry catalogue. Teams need to submit the parts they have developed to the iGEM Registry. Part submission requirements and shipping details will be available later in the season.
The Giant Jamboree
There are several things you need to consider before starting a team; here are some guidelines to help you get started. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact iGEM Headquarters for more information. We will be happy to hear from you!
Have fun
There are several things you need to consider before starting a team; here are some guidelines to help you get started. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact iGEM Headquarters for more information. We will be happy to hear from you!
Bronze
Your team must convince the judges you have achieved the following 6 goals:
- Register for iGEM, have a great summer, and attend the Giant Jamboree.
- Complete the Judging form.
- Create and share a Description of the team's project using the iGEM wiki, and document the team's parts using the Registry of Standard Biological Parts.
- Present a poster and a talk at the iGEM Jamboree. See the 2015 poster guidelines for more information.
- Create a page on your team wiki with clear attribution of each aspect of your project. This page must clearly attribute work done by the students and distinguish it from work done by others, including host labs, advisors, instructors, sponsors, professional website designers, artists, and commercial services.
- Document at least one new standard BioBrick Part or Device central to your project and submit this part to the iGEM Registry (submissions must adhere to the iGEM Registry guidelines). You may also document a new application of a BioBrick part from a previous iGEM year, adding that documentation to the part's main page.
Silver
In addition to the Bronze Medal requirements, your team must convince the judges you have achieved the following 3 goals:
- Experimentally validate that at least one new BioBrick Part or Device of your own design and construction works as expected. Document the characterization of this part in the Main Page section of the Registry entry for that Part/Device. This working part must be different from the part you documented in Bronze medal criterion #6.
- Submit this new part to the iGEM Parts Registry. This part must be different from the part you documented in Bronze medal criterion #6. (Submissions must adhere to the iGEM Registry guidelines.)
- iGEM projects involve important questions beyond the bench, for example relating to (but not limited to) ethics, sustainability, social justice, safety, security, and intellectual property rights. We refer to these activities as Human Practices in iGEM. Demonstrate how your team has identified, investigated and addressed one or more of these issues in the context of your project. (See the Human Practices Hub for more information.)
Gold
In addition to the Bronze and Silver Medal requirements, your team must convince the judges you have achieved at least two of the following goals:
- Choose one of these two options: (1) Expand on your silver medal Human Practices activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the design and/or execution of your project. OR (2) Demonstrate an innovative Human Practices activity that relates to your project (this typically involves educational, public engagement, and/or public perception activities; see the Human Practices Hub for information and examples of innovative activities from previous teams).
- Help any registered iGEM team from a high-school, different track, another university, or institution in a significant way by, for example, mentoring a new team, characterizing a part, debugging a construct, modeling/simulating their system or helping validate a software/hardware solution to a synbio problem.
- Improve the function OR characterization of a previously existing BioBrick Part or Device (created by another team, or by your own team in in a previous year of iGEM), and enter this information in the part's page on the Registry. Please see the Registry Contribution help page for help on documenting a contribution to an existing part. This part must not come from your team's 2015 range of part numbers.
- Demonstrate a functional prototype of your project. Your prototype can derive from a previous project (that was not demonstrated to work) by your team or by another team. Show this system working under real-world conditions that you simulate in the lab. (Remember, biological materials may not be taken outside the lab.)
Tracks
Environment Track
Projects that tackle environmental issues have been popular since the first biosensor projects started to appear in the 2006 iGEM competition. Teams have been inspired to work on solutions to problems in their local area, such as the UBC in 2011 and Colombia in 2012. These teams were inspired to tackle massive environmental problems that are unique to their regions. Learning about these problems and how passionate teams can be to find solutions is one of the great parts of the iGEM competition.