A community comes from a group of people with shared experiences. Each year the iGEM Competition brings together over 300 teams to share their work and advance the field of synthetic biology while solving changes important to their local communities. Each individual in those over 5000 have their own reason to participate in iGEM, but once they reach the end of the season and graduate from the competition, they retain a shared experience and core values.
While competition teams are one element of this community, it extends far beyond them and involves individuals who create what we call the iGEM experience. These are the judges, the mentors, the advisors, the volunteers, anyone interested in learning about synthetic biology and anyone who is a part of the global synthetic biology ecosystem. More than 60,000 individuals have shared this iGEM experience and their contributions have gone on to develop the field of synthetic biology over the past 2 decades.
Our Purpose
The iGEM Community program brings together all of them to amplify their individual impact, support and grow the global synthetic biology community through a collective effort, and further develop their own skills and careers. It is a resource-rich space for iGEMers to team up, and collaboratively build assets for the synbio ecosystem, while developing into the future leaders of the field.
Our People
iGEM Ambassadors
In 2022, we hosted 40 Ambassadors from 21 different regions from across the world. The iGEM Ambassadors represent and promote iGEM and synthetic biology in their respective regions. They are a diverse and international team of regional leaders who have experienced iGEM and now work together to promote initiatives to expand iGEM and collaborate with local stakeholders to disseminate cooperation across their community.
Interface between the teams and iGEM HQ and voice for their regional iGEM communities
Recruit potential teams and identify barriers to entry
Connect to iGEM alumni and help improve iGEM Community's programs
Promote or help create the iGEM League in your region
iGEM Community Network topics
The iGEM Networks are dedicated to connecting individuals, building communities, sharing resources and developing initiatives geared towards specialized areas related to synthetic biology. Each Topic is led by a dedicated Steering Group.
Discover and re-curate the resources which are produced and benefit iGEMers
Connect individuals and maintain communities around the different areas of interest
Develop projects and initiatives geared towards specialized areas related to synbio
Academia and Research
The iGEM Academia & Research Network strives to provide a platform for iGEMers to engage, develop a better understanding and improve their knowledge of the recent research trends in Synthetic Biology through academic-related activities.
Education
The iGEM Education Network aspires to facilitate connections between international iGEM/Synbio educators and create a platform for them to share knowledge and seek collaborations.
Governance and Policy
The iGEM Governance and Policy Network positions iGEM alumni to participate in processes that produce the field’s larger context, such as policy discussions and public consultations.
Open Science and Accessibility
The iGEM Open Science and Accessibility Network aims to foster global networks of regional support for emerging synthetic biologists by promoting collaborative work based on the different needs of each community.
Industry
The iGEM Industry Network promotes the effective communication between iGEMers & iGEM Alumni. Secondly, we aim to build a consolidated, renowned and self-growing Industry Alumni Network.
Science Communication
The iGEM Science Communication Network aims to equip synthetic biologists with the skills in science communication needed to succeed as a scientist.
BioArt
The BioArt group aims to connect with multi-diverse teams from creative disciplines and build a collective understanding of synthetic biology through arts.
WiSTEM
WiSTEM strives to build awareness and provide resources for people underrepresented in STEM to encourage their pursuit of the field.
iGEM Community initiatives
The iGEM Community initiatives are efforts designed to address specific challenges that are important to our community.
Discover and re-curate the resources which are produced and benefit iGEMers
Connect individuals and maintain communities around the different areas of interest
Develop projects and initiatives geared towards specialized areas related to synbio
PI Hub
The PI Hub seeks to create a group of enthusiastic iGEM Community PI's interested in creating a space to listen to and encourage members who have supported their teams at iGEM with so much effort and still have so much to contribute to the global synthetic biology community.
Mentors Network
The Mentors Network aims to provide mentorship support to iGEMers during the competition and beyond.
Synbio Alliance
The SynBio Alliance initiative aims to provide a platform for SynBio Associations to network, discover shared goals for themselves, enhance collaborations between them, and develop best practices for growth for the international community.
Phoenix Project
The Phoenix Project aims to increase the number of projects that live on beyond their initial iGEM cycle. In this way, we hope that the iGEM community can move forward in making engineering progress on these pressing issues by iterating on each other’s ideas.
Our Community Efforts
Supporting iGEM teams
Mentorship Program
The Mentorship Program provided the means for new high school, collegiate (undergrad and overgrad), and community lab iGEM teams to learn how the iGEM Competition works through mentorship by experienced iGEMers. 47 teams were successfully paired with mentors in 2022.
Hacking iGEM Webinars
The Hacking iGEM Webinar series provided targeted information about Human Practices, Wiki-coding & Gitlab, Entrepreneurship and Judging to iGEM Teams.teamsiGEM teams in order to prepare them better for the Jamboree.
Values & Risks Workshops
The iGEM Ambassadors hosted 10 Values & Risks Workshops. These 90-minute long interactive workshops helped iGEM teams to explore issues of responsibility, safety, security, and ethics with current-year iGEM teams. By the end of the workshop, teams understood more about the risks in their projects, knew where to go for further information on different risks, and be confident they have the tools they needed to manage them effectively.
How to iGEM? Resources for teams
A streamlined guide packed with information that iGEM alumni and Ambassadors have found to be the most important parts of iGEM or things they wish they had known earlier. We hope that the advice and resources included here can help you succeed as an iGEM team.
iGEM Handbook for African Teams
The iGEM Handbook for African Teams aims to encourage local Synthetic Biology enthusiastics to point out the problems they are facing in Africa, build a team and participate in iGEM competition and take their projects to the next level.
Connect with your Ambassadors
The LATAM Ambassadors created a direct channel of communication between 25 LATAM teams for iGEM competition and them to increase the engagement.
LATAM Cycle
The iGEM cycle is a tentative plan to make the iGEM cycle more regional and thereby more realistic with the academic cycle of the LATAM teams.
Regional ambassadors activities
Africa
The iGEM Ambassadors for Africa worked on improving the iGEM Competition experience for both established and prospective iGEM teams from the region. The team members had proficiency in Arabic, English, French and Swahili, and also helped connect with the community in Middle eastern countries.
- The Ambassadors engaged in Egypt, Ghana, South-Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Qatar.
- They supported 5 Teams from the region and connected with over 11 potential teams.
- Events Organized: iGEM x AfricaOSH, Values & Risks Workshops (In-Person), Ambassadors On-Site Meeting, Synbio Africa Showcase
- Projects Organized: Hacking iGEM, Handbook for African iGEM teams, Beyond Biology Workshop, Leagues proposals
Asia and Oceania
The iGEM Ambassadors for Asia & Oceania engaged with iGEMers and students particularly from high-school to promote iGEM Competition to new institutes.
- The Ambassadors engaged in China, India, Taiwan
- Events Organized: Highschool Synthetic Biology Summit
- Events Attended: All India iGEM Meetup, Taiwan iGEM Meet 2022
Latin America
The iGEM LATAM Ambassadors are the main support team for all Latin American iGEMers, from both the iGEM Competition and Design League. They act as a bridge between the teams, the HQ, and the iGEM Community and provide advice, access to platforms and resources, or help with your projects.
- The Ambassadors engaged in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela.
- They supported 14 teams from the region.
- Events Organized: Pitch and Match; On-site meeting for LATAM ambassadors; LATAM meetup (jamboree); Time for games! (jamboree); Hacking iGEM Workshops.
- Projects Organized: Connecting with ambassadors; Pitch and Match; Hacking iGEM; LATAM Cycle, Teams Database.
North America
The North American Ambassadors are a group of nine passionate individuals currently residing in Canada and the United States working to support iGEM teams and iGEM alumni across the region. They organized different events and resources to act as a source of guidance for teams as they tackle the competition.
- The Ambassadors engaged in Canada, United States of America.
- They supported 8 Teams from the region.
- Events Attended: The Canada + US iGEM 2022 Mini Jamboree: Virtual Presentation, PuMP Let’s talk Biotech - Ontario Canada, Indigenous Voices in Science - Saskatchewan, Canada, Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board - Canada
- Projects Organized: How to iGEM - Resources for iGEM Teams
Europe
The iGEM Ambassadors for Europe are passionate individuals that went through the iGEM competition cycle and guided the journey of European teams with additional resources, networking opportunities and advice. - The Ambassadors engaged in Turkey, France, Germany, Finland, Greece, Spain, Belgium, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, Latvia, Norway - They supported 74 Teams from the region and reconnected with 100-150 Alumni - Events Attended: Congreso Nacional de emprendimiento stem, synbio e innovacion social, Congreso Estatal de Estudiantes de Biociencias, iGEM UK meet-up, Mini Jamboree Benelux, The Biomania Student Scientific Meeting - Projects Organized: How to iGEM - Resources for iGEM Teams
Understand Global Biotech & SynBio Governance
Stockholm 50 & iGEM World Environment Day
iGEM hosted the online seminar Synthetic Biology: A Bold Choice for a Healthy Planet? on June 3, 2022, in honor of the World Environment Day and the 50th anniversary of 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment.
Governance and Policy Weekend
The Shipping Policies project studied how to extend access to synthetic biology and its tools by understanding local/regional bureaucracy and policy with the pilot project in Latin America.
iGEMers Discussion
NTI | Bio, in partnership with the Next Generation for Global Health Security - GHS Network (NextGen), the iGEM Foundation, SynBio Africa, and the Global Health Security Network, launched the Sixth Annual Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition. The iGEMers Discussion provided an opportunity to iGEMers and anyone interested in the competition, to connect, learn more about the competition and build projects for it.
Biofoundaries policy research
Members of the iGEM Community Governance and Policy Steering Group published a preprint arguing for expanding the scope of applications for biofoundries towards roles in biosurveillance and biosecurity. They concluded that this could be achieved through developing measurement standards and protocols, engaging citizens in data collection, closer collaborations with biorefineries, and processing of samples. This document should prove useful to policymakers and other stakeholders who wish to strengthen biosecurity programs in ways that synergize with bioeconomy.
Building Synthetic Biology Resources
EduHall
The EduHall project created an online catalog of synthetic biology content in a reader-friendly format as a go-to resource for iGEM teams, SynBio beginners and the SynBio community in general to learn about synthetic biology. EduHall currently hosts 14 resources developed by our members.
ORIgin Project
Origin built a repository of SynBio learning resources from various channels of different languages on the Internet including videos, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), curriculum, articles, etc. The database currently contains 54 resources from individuals and organizations from around the world in 9 different languages.
iGEM Handbook for African Teams
The iGEM Handbook for African Teams aims to encourage local Synthetic Biology enthusiastics to point out the problems they are facing in Africa, build a team and participate in iGEM competition and take their projects to the next level.
Beyond Biology Workshops for Highschool
The workshop series aims to educate African students about Synbio, and stimulate their curiosity to discover new career opportunities. Currently, the team has created a database for high schools that could host these workshops in Africa, and is preparing and developing workshop content, along with a list of potential partners.
PI Hub Database
Search and identify the different profiles of PIs in the community, their areas of interest, expertise and lines of research of their projects and laboratories.
Excelling beyond the competition
Careers in SciComm
The series featured 3 webinars with science communication professionals working in the areas of YouTube content development, journalism and policy to connect individuals interested in science communication as a career path and showcase the experiences of professionals in the field that could benefit them.
Mastering Science Communication
The Mastering Science Communication course is geared towards equipping scientists with the essential skills in writing, presenting, social media, illustration, and best practices needed to realize the full potential of their research and make advances at the intersection of science and society.
iGEM Handbook for African Teams
The iGEM Handbook for African Teams aims to encourage local Synthetic Biology enthusiastics to point out the problems they are facing in Africa, build a team and participate in iGEM competition and take their projects to the next level.
Frontiers Journal Collaboration
We are collaborating with Frontiers in Systems Biology to feature iGEMers and their work in the Emerging Talents Series. This collaboration will provide an avenue for mentorship and a platform of publication for both iGEMers and iGEM teams to submit into the three focused topic areas of disease, climate change, or biotechnology.
Industry Alumni Network
The Industry Alumni Network is hosted on LinkedIn primarily. In the group you can interact with a scheduled array of content such as polls, information posts on different sectors within the synthetic biology industry, news-sharing, and monthly opportunities (i.e. jobs, academia, etc.).
Skills Development Mapping
The Industry Steering Group surveyed iGEM alumni currently working in the industry to identify important skills and abilities for young professionals starting a career in synthetic biology and biotechnology
PI Hub Database
Search and identify the different profiles of PIs in the community, their areas of interest, expertise and lines of research of their projects and laboratories.
Improving Accessibility in SynBio
EduHall
The EduHall project created an online catalog of synthetic biology content in a reader-friendly format as a go-to resource for iGEM teams, SynBio beginners and the SynBio community in general to learn about synthetic biology. EduHall currently hosts 14 resources developed by our members.
ORIgin Project
Origin built a repository of SynBio learning resources from various channels of different languages on the Internet including videos, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), curriculum, articles, etc. The database currently contains 54 resources from individuals and organizations from around the world in 9 different languages.
Hope By Nature
Hope by Nature is a virtual arts gallery curated by the Steering Group of iGEM Bioart Network. The gallery was launched during the Grand Jamboree week and will be open to our community to view. Check out artworks which explore the major challenges earth is facing, how synthetic biology can solve them, and the impact on all living beings and society.
SynBio gets developed everywhere around the world
iGEM Leagues
The iGEM Leagues are local and regional competitions designed to enable more local people to learn and apply synthetic biology around the world through competitions.
ORIgin Project
Origin built a repository of SynBio learning resources from various channels of different languages on the Internet including videos, MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), curriculum, articles, etc. The database currently contains 54 resources from individuals and organizations from around the world in 9 different languages.
iGEM Handbook for African Teams
The iGEM Handbook for African Teams aims to encourage local Synthetic Biology enthusiastics to point out the problems they are facing in Africa, build a team and participate in iGEM competition and take their projects to the next level.
Beyond Biology Workshops for Highschool
The workshop series aims to educate African students about Synbio, and stimulate their curiosity to discover new career opportunities. Currently, the team has created a database for high schools that could host these workshops in Africa, and is preparing and developing workshop content, along with a list of potential partners.
How to iGEM? Resources for teams
A streamlined guide packed with information that iGEM alumni and Ambassadors have found to be the most important parts of iGEM or things they wish they had known earlier. We hope that the advice and resources included here can help you succeed as an iGEM team.
Learning from our Alumni
iGEMx
3 independent iGEMx events were organized to provide public speaking practice in front of a live audience and an opportunity to test and improve your presentation and science communication skill advancement to the speakers, and beneficial insight from alumni to the audience. 3 independent iGEMx events were organized online.
Day in the Life of a Researcher
High school and undergraduate students often have a difficult time visualizing what research looks like in college or at a graduate level. This video series was intended to help.
High School Synbio Summit
High School Synbio Summit aimed to revitalize synthetic biology in high school by incorporating iGEM teams, iGEM alumni, and the general public through collaborative projects. 8 iGEM alumni panels and several discussions were held for current and prospective high-school iGEM participants to learn from the experiences of alumni.
iGEM Community at the 2022 Grand Jamboree
The iGEM 2022 Grand Jamboree brought together over 3,500 synthetic biology researchers, industry, investors, startups, and policy makers from all over the world to witness and celebrate the future of synthetic biology. iGEM Community organized over 50 different activities throughout the event for you to meet and connect with iGEM teams and the synthetic biology community, hear from experts and learn from each other, advance your careers and much more.
Africa
Asia & Oceania
Europe
Latin America
North America
Academia & Research
Education
Governance & Policy
Industry
Science Communication
Open Science & Accessibility
BioArt
WiSTEM
PI Hub
Synbio Alliance
Phoenix Project
Mentors Network