THE IGEM 2023 APPLICATION PERIOD IS CLOSED – STAY TUNED FOR 2024 THROUGH STUDENT BIOLAB
Interested in joining the 2024 iGEM team? The selection will take place between November and December, below you can find the timeline and some general information on the past recruitment process and our iGEM team structure, the information will be updated as soon as the new selection process begins.
Important: iGEM2024 & more will be organized by the Student Biolab, check out the website to stay updated.
TIMELINE:
Info Presentation: 10th Nov. (recording of the evening and slides available below)
Application Period: 10th Nov. - 1st Dec.
Invitation to Personal Talks: 3rd Dec.
Personal Talks: 5/6/7 Dec.
Final Team Selection: 9th Dec.
First Team Meeting: 15th Dec.
READY FOR IGEM?
If you wish to apply for the iGEM team UZurich please keep these things in mind.
iGEM is a large time commitment, which means you should have a couple hours a week available to work on it both in the Spring and in the Autumn semester, as the final deadline for the project is usually at the end of October. Additionally, iGEM is comparable to full-time work during the summer "holidays." However, we are all still students so obviously it is not expected that you spend as much time on it during your exam session, nor do we recommend not taking any holidays at all. What is important is that you are transparent about your availabilities from the get-go and time-manage with your team accordingly. Still, it is a huge time commitment and you must be prepared for that. If you are unsure, talk to some of our Alumni about their experience at the apéro on November the 10th (recording of the evening and slides available below).
For UZH BSc. students, iGEM can be counted as a 12ECTS research internship in synthetic biology. However, for MSc and ETHZ students there are currently no secured credits, as this is our first year recruiting ETHZ students! It is possible that we (and the new team) can work something out with ETHZ to obtain credits but there is no guarantee. Either way, iGEM is not about the credits but the experience, connections, and unique opportunity to design your own project.
Working on a large and time-limited project can be challenging. Working in a team and developing your ideas together can be difficult but it will be rewarding! Engineering your project in the lab is going to be complicated and there will be setbacks, but you will learn a lot and overcome them. And that is one of the best feelings ever.
Think you're up for the challenge? - Scroll down!
HOW IS THE IGEM TEAM STRUCTURED?
To us, iGEM is mainly a learning experience. Even if you don't have previous experiences with your role you can be a valuable addition to your team if you are motivated to learn.
MANAGEMENT
To coordinate the iGEM project it is necessary to have a clear direction and organization. The team management deals with funding, competition requirements, upholding deadlines, organizing meetings and providing the team with everything it needs.
HUMAN PRACTICES
One big part of iGEM is going beyond the lab with Human practices. Here the team examines their project carefully in regards to safety, ethics, responsibility and possible future impacts.
Talking to safety officers, industry leaders, researchers as well as engaging students and organizing public events are the tasks of the Human Practices team.
WET-LAB
The front line of the iGEM project. Designing and carrying out experiments, coming up with new approaches and ideas while expanding their scientific knowledge, theoretical and practical.
You will be working as part of a lab of your choice with an experienced supervisor.
These 3 are the main fields that comprise an iGEM team, but for a team to work many additional skills and positions are necessary, such as:
WEBSITE, CODING, AND GENERAL IT
OUTREACH, SOCIAL MEDIA
COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT, TEAM COORDINATION
WRITING
DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
PRESENTING
MATHEMATICAL MODELLING
EDUCATION
And many more! iGEM is a broad competition and though we are making the initial selection, you and your teammates will have the freedom to choose the direction the project takes and to adapt it to your own strengths and interests.
As an iGEM team has many more tasks then people, you will usually need to fill multiple roles at a time.
HOW TO JOIN THE TEAM
The iGEM team is an integrated part of SynBio UZH and will be selected by a group of SynBio members with a background in iGEM.
Timeline:
Info Presentation: 10th Nov.
Application Period: 10th Nov. - 1st Dec.
Invitation to Personal Talks: 3rd Dec.
Personal Talks: 5/6/7 Dec.
Final Team Selection: 9th Dec.
First Team Meeting: 15th Dec.
Written Application:
First, you apply by submitting a Written Application, which you will find on the Application page once the application period starts.
Personal Talks:
After the application period ends, we will invite promising candidates to come and chat with us personally.
Info Presentation 10.11.2022
You can see the Zoom recording here.
Presentation slides are downloadable here.
Time stamps:
00:00 – What is iGEM and what is synthetic biology (Alexander Schanne) – slides 1-6
09:50 – iGEM2019 Pseudonucleus (Alexander Schanne) – slides 7-14
14:30 – iGEM2020 Plant Immunity Based Biosensing (Philip Schulz) – slides 15-26
21:25 – iGEM2021 BOOM V (Larissa Bison) – slides 27-34
26:20 – iGEM2022 IBD NanoBiotics (Gabriel Cervera, Atilla Schreiber, Tamara Flury) – slides 35-60
42:00 – iGEM2023 Recruitment (Timothy Kurer) – slides 61-71
55:25 – Student Biolab Zurich (Timothy Kurer) – slides 72-73
NEED MORE INFORMATION?
Contact us at synbiouzh@gmail.com