To qualify for a silver medal, teams must demonstrate how they have identified and investigated one or more Human Practices issue in the context of their project. Demonstrate to the judges that your have thought carefully and creatively about whether your work is safe, responsible, and good for the world. You could accomplish this through engaging with your local, national and/or international communities or developing new creative approaches (see exemplary projects).

Please note that conducting a survey will not necessarily fulfill this requirement. See “How to conduct a valid and legitimate survey”.

To qualify for a gold medal, teams must complete two of the four requirements listed on the official medal criteria page. To qualify for gold using human practices work, teams must expand on their silver medal activities by demonstrating how the investigation of their HP issues has been integrated into the design and/or execution of their project. Just talking about your project with people outside your lab DOES NOT meet this requirement. Show us that your conversations with people outside the lab have influenced your project. We want to see how your iGEM project (lab design, parts selection/development, overall application, etc.) has evolved based on your human practices work. Think of the design/build/test/learn cycle of engineering.