Outreach
SYNENERGENE The Hague
21-04-17
The first step in our Integrated Human Practices! The Rathenau Institute together with SYNENERGENE have launched a new version of their guidelines for Integrated Human Practices. The day in The Hague was a pilot project for the iGEMer’s Guide to the Future and gave the iGEM teams from the Netherlands the chance to start working with this guide. Moreover, this day also gave us the opportunity to talk to some experts: Korienke Smit and Cécile van der Vlugt (RIVM), Dirk Stemerding (Biotechnology & Society), Virgil Rerimassie (formerly Rathenau Institute) and Marjoleine van der Meij and Wieke Betten (Athena Institute).
Since our project at that time was still under construction and very fundamental, we could still easily shape our Human Practices. From our talk with Virgil we learned that it is extremely important to have an 'easy' explanation of our project, if it can be used as a tool, what can the tool be used for? Dirk Stemerding told us that it is important to think about what our technique would add to modern research, why would people want to use it? Furthermore, it can be very helpful to look at previous projects for inspiration. From Marjoleine and Wieke we learned that it is important to think about the audience, that might change the story you want to tell. It is also very important to incorporate the views of other people into our project, have some sort of expert committee. Lastly, with Cécile and Korienke we talked about the risk analysis of the GMOs: what is safety? When is a protein safe? Apart from safety in GMOs, guidelines regarding medicines are also important to consider.
We learned a lot from this day and it was a good first step into thinking about our Integrated Human Practices.
Dutch Biotechnology Conference Wageningen (NBC-17)
16-05-17
Every year the Dutch biotechnology association organizes the Netherlands Biotechnology Conference. iGEM team Eindhoven, other iGEM teams and several other researchers were present to show their work or plans during the poster sessions. Before this poster session presenters were given the opportunity to explain their poster in a one minute pitch in the opening of the event. Apart from that there were lectures on current developments on Microbial System Biology & Synthetic Biology by several research groups from the VU, Wageningen University and RU Groningen. In the afternoon we attended a more interactive workshop from a delegate of the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and environment Virgil Rerimassie. The discussion was set on policy making in the field of biotechnology with an eye on the new perspectives form the biotech trend analysis 2016. An important point, which was stressed several times, is that researchers would like to see a more flexible case-to-case evaluation by policy makers. In this evaluation the relevant groups doing the research can assess their own work on safety instead of a generic one-size-fits-all list of precautionary measures. An interesting perspective and seemingly fitting to the fast changing field of biotechnology.
Luckily at the end of the day there were drinks and a buffet so the impressions of the day could be evaluated with the other students from the iGEM teams.
Meeting soon-to-be Biomedical Engineering Students
30-05-17, 13-06-17, 27-06-17
The faculty of Biomedical Engineering organizes several days each year where high school students interested in starting either Biomedical Engineering or Medical Science and Engineering can have a taste of the university. During this day the students attend introductory lectures and have a personal talk about their motivation and capabilities before enrolling in the study program.
On these days we as an iGEM team presented ourselves to the students-to-be about iGEM and iGEM team Eindhoven. We did this to make them aware of the possibility to join future teams and show what kind of research we are currently doing.
Benelux iGEM meet-up
24-06-17
The iGEM team from Wageningen organized a Benelux meetup for Dutch and Belgian iGEM teams. On this day each team presented their project to the other teams and it was really interesting to see what the other teams were working on. Furthermore, some interesting guest speakers were present: Hyan Youk gave a very clear and inspiring talk about how he uses synthetic biology in his research to understand basic science. Rob Smith told us some things about reverse design and how this is useful in research.
We also participated in a short workshop "Change of Perspective", a discussion about the stakeholders of our projects. We had an interesting discussion with some team members from the team of TU Delft, they asked us some questions about what our gel could do eventually and also why people would use our gel instead of buying one from a chemical supplier.
European iGEM meet-up
07-07-2017
The iGEM team from Delft organized a European meetup, teams were present from all over Europe. On this day we started with some interesting talks. Cees Dekker started off with a presentation about synthetic biology and some hot topics in the field, like DNA origami. He also gave us some insights in his own research: synthetic cell division. Denis Murphy stressed us the importance of big data and how reliable knowledge and wisdom can be extracted from this. Finally Dirk Stemering had a more interactive talk about responsible research and innovation and asked how the iGEM teams present were incorporating societal embedding in their project.
After the break it was time for the poster session. The poster presentations were a good opportunity for us to practice our story and we noticed that our story was a whole lot clearer compared to the previous meetup. It was also very interesting to see the posters of other European teams and to see their projects.
TUe Information Days: Explaining and Discussing GMOs
17&18-03-17, 20&21-10-17
Four times a year, the TUe organizes Information Days for high school students who want to find out more about the Bachelor’s programs or about the student life in Eindhoven. Besides finding out more about the programs at the TUe, the high school students also have the opportunity to see what possibilities there are outside the regular program, like joining a student team.
We as an iGEM team had prepared some questions for the students-to-be and their parents about synthetic biology, to start a bit of a discussion about GMOs. During these discussions we noticed that a lot of people do not really know what a Genetically Modified Organism actually means. In first instance, a lot of people think about the danger accompanied with the the genetically modified. But, after we talked with them about the opportunities and applications of GMOs, most people became less sceptical about it. Furthermore, after explaining the regulations around GMOs, the negative first impression people had about GMOs faded away.
TUe Master Introduction
29-08-17
This year the TUe organized a Master Kick-off to welcome all new Master students, this includes foreign Master students as well as Dutch Master students. During this Kick-off, which is a three day event, students will get to know each other, the master’s degree program and they had the opportunity to network with some high-tech companies in the area.
During one of these days the faculty of Biomedical Engineering also had the chance to welcome their new Master students. We as an iGEM team gave a presentation about the iGEM competition in general and also our project, to give the new students an idea of the possibilities to join a student team in the area of synthetic biology.
RIVM Biotech Fair
07-10-17
During the Weekend of Science, the RIVM (the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) also participated with the ‘Kennisparade’. People could come by to learn more about public health and the environment by visiting presentations and exhibits. For the children, a lab was set up where they could do some small experiments and also an exhibition was present to show people what biotech is and what you can do with it.
At this fair we wanted to raise awareness about the use of GMOs. We did this by showing people several products and asking them whether they thought that GMOs played a role in the production of these products or if GMOs were present in them. Most of the people were surprised that GMOs were already present in several production processes, for example the production of insulin. It was very interesting to talk to people about their opinion about GMOs and also very nice to be able to learn them something new.
TUe Science Festival
08-10-17
During the first weekend of October, the Weekend of Science is organized throughout the Netherlands. During this weekend, people can take a peek backstage at companies, institutes, universities and musea. The TUe also participates in the Weekend of Science with a Science Festival. People can come to listen to presentations about prominent research at the TUe, but tests and demonstrations are also part of the Science Festival.
At the Science Festival we also talked to people about GMOs involved in food and learned them something new. We also had the opportunity to present our project to people with a little to no experience in synthetic biology, which was very instructive for us to do. We demonstrated the basics of our project to the younger visitors of the Science Festival by making ‘lava lamps’ with them. These ‘lava lamps’ were made of oil, water and a fizzing tablet, showing phase separation. It was a really fun day, especially when seeing children enthusiastic about the 'lava lamps'.
KNCV Night of Chemistry
19-10-17
The KNCV is the Dutch professional association of chemists, life scientists and process technologists.During the Night of Chemistry we had the opportunity to listen to some inspiring talks about Chemistry, one of the speakers of the night being Ben Feringa. Ben Feringa is one of the Nobel Laureates in Chemistry who gave a very enthusiastic and interesting talk about the molecular world and what drives him in his research. Ionica Smeets, science journalist and a professor in science communication in Leiden, gave some recognizable and amusing examples about communicating your research to ‘normal’ people: how sometimes simple words like 'a model' might cause some confusion. It was a very fun and inspiring night and also very instructive to see how scientists tell their story.
Mini jamboree Eindhoven
03-11-17
In order to have a final practice at the presentation and poster session in advance of the Giant Jamboree in Boston, we organized a mini jamboree in Eindhoven for all Dutch iGEM teams. Teams present were Amsterdam, Groningen and Utrecht. We also invited previous iGEM teams from Eindhoven for some extra expertise. Zoë Robaey, Pieter van Boheemen and Dirk Stemerding were also present to act as judges and provide the teams with some last feedback.
Educational Outreach
Academic Year 2017-2018
For a course about beta didactic design for students enrolled in the study program to become a high school teacher, we provided a case about iGEM and synthetic biology. The aim of the course for the teachers-to-be is to develop material for lessons at high schools and they also test whether this material is suitable. Furthermore, it is also investigated whether these new materials for lessons can be embedded into the exam program. This way, knowledge about synthetic biology can be spread at high schools.
