Taking place just before the main competition, it provides iGEM teams, particularly those near the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, an invaluable opportunity to practice their pitches before a large audience and a panel of judges, receiving feedback from experts in synthetic biology and engineering. This year, the event drew 12 teams, around 10 companies, and four judges.

The program included presentations and pitches, reflecting the teams' dedication and preparation. Following them, a poster session to delve deeper into teams projects and engage in discussions with attendees, was organized. The event concluded with the announcement of winners for the best presentation, best poster, and a public prize.

• iGEM Wageningen won the Public Prize with their project miRADAR, which aims to develop a simple blood test for diagnosing Multiple Sclerosis.

• iGEM Leiden received the Best Presentation award for their project ALPACA (Affordable Library-based Pipeline for Accelerated Creation of single-domain Antibodies), which offers a faster, more cost-effective, and sustainable approach to nanobody development for diagnostics and therapeutics.

• iGEM Heidelberg was awarded Best Poster for their project PICasSO (Plasmid-Integrated Cas-Stapled Origami), a toolbox designed for 3D spatial genome organization featuring multiplexing, a Cas staples part collection, and a plasmid delivery system.

The event showcased the culmination of seven months of hard work and dedication by the teams, highlighting their passion and engagement and hinting at a promising future for synthetic biology. Maja attended to help evaluate the teams' presentations and gain insights into their iGEM experiences.

Maja Rui Himmelstrup Wiese, iGEM Ambassador to Europe

“One new team expressed that they were unaware of the iGEM Ambassadors role and could have sought assistance from them. A conversation with a professor from another Dutch university revealed interest in forming a new team next year, and he was advised to reach out to the iGEM Ambassadors for support.”

To find more information about the iGEM Ambassadors & Promoters for Europe and regional synbio activities visit our Europe webpage. Learn more about the Ambassador Program here.

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