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Revision as of 13:39, 31 October 2017

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Discussion Night

In Austria, people are rather negatively opposed to the concept of genetic engineering. The reason for this is presumably because genetic engineering in Austria plays no great role in, for example, the agricultural sector. We do not have to resort to genetic engineering either economically or agriculturally. The fewest know, that genetic engineering is also used in medicine and therefore necessary in Austria. By this misunderstanding, the generally accepted term genetic engineering has a very negative association. In order to stimulate the discourse on the subject of genetic engineering, we organized a discussion evening, to which we invited experts from various fields. Through our work for iGEM, we were aware of how much is discussed about genetic engineering, although the necessary understanding is only deficient. For this reason, we have decided to organize such an evening to clarify misunderstandings and half-truths. Different topics have been discussed during this evening. The aim was to increase the knowledge about the widespread use of genetic engineering in various fields. The main topics were: genetic engineering in media, genetic engineering in agriculture and foods and its use in medicine. In addition, some key words which are often heard on the radio or read more often in the newspapers, were deepened more precisely: Genetic engineering interventions in the environment for the “well of man”; patent of life: growing influence of large concerns; synthetic life: do we play god?

For support, we invited following experts:

Nerd Nite

Together with Nerd Nite, we hosted their first ever event in Graz. If you are wondering what Nerd Nite is – it´s an event format, where people from different fields are holding 15-minutes presentations about certain scientific topics they are interested in. These can be subjects with which the persons are intensively engaged or an area in which they are working in, but of course, all scientifically related.

It all started, when the inventor of the event was asked, why he had been absent in his local pub for the last three months. He started a presentation about the expedition he did before and because the audience was so excited about it, it became a regular event.

By now, Nerd Nite is a monthly event in more than 90 cities across the world, during which several people give short and funny, but informative presentations about different disciplines. The inventors believe, that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends.

As we were able to host the first Nerd Nite ever in Austria, we were very proud to present our iGEM project there as well.

One of the participants at the event was Alex Murer, former molecular biology student, who did present his start-up “Briefcase Biotech GmbH”. He is now working on a DNA-printer that makes it possible to print primer in the shortest possible time. “Producing your own DNA Primers becomes as convenient as brewing a nice cup of coffee”, Alex Murer. Check out their homepage!

Daniel Derndorfer, another participant, did present “OLGA”, Open bioLab Graz Austria, the first biohacker laboratory in Austria, where people can meet and discuss scientific topics and work on their own research.

Martin Stefanec presented “ALL”, Artificial Life Lab, an interdisciplinary workgroup of the Department of Zoology from the Karl-Franzens University of Graz. In this group, students are working on bio-inspired robots, bee simulations, virtual brains or robot swarms for example. Take a look at their homepage!

After the presentations, there were lots of exciting discussions about future possibilities in the field of research and science. In addition, new ideas were raised about how to make laboratory life easier for scientists. We are curious to see, which of these great ideas might be implemented.


"Spritzerstandl"

A “Spritzerstandl” is kind of a traditional thing at universities in Austria - here we call a glass of wine with mineral water a “Spritzer”. It is an event, where people come together to talk, drink and socialize while having fun after a long and hard day of classes. We decided to use these kind of events to call attention of the students from the Technical University and Karl-Franzens University of Graz for the iGEM competition.

Since our team consists of students from many different fields like biotechnology, biochemistry, philosophy or computer science, the event attracted a very diverse audience of upcoming future scientists. Because of the broad range of different fields, it was very interesting discussing scientific topics from various perspectives. We took the chance to explain what iGEM is about as well as how to become part of it and what we are doing.

Besides the social advantages and informational transfer, those so called “Spritzerstandln” also offered the opportunity to raise a little bit of money for the iGEM competition. All in all,  the “Spriterstandln” we hosted were a big success, since we were able to promote our team among the students and start a discussion about iGEM and science while having some drinks and relax.


Welcome Days

Under this motto, the Technical University of Graz is hosting the Welcome Days in cooperation with alumniTUGraz. During the Welcome Days, first-year students receive the most important information for a successful start to the TU Graz and at the same time, a first insight into the working world of engineers. At this yearly event, the university offers an overview of the university´s services and the wide range of possibilities for support in different aspects in and around the study program for the freshmans.

We took the opportunity to present iGEM in general as well as our project idea. Besides to this, we have also offered our support for the first-year students and swamped them with tips for the new phase of their lives.

At the event, the university allocated us a stand with which we could present our poster and iGEM brochures. To get the attention of the students, we had the idea to serve pudding in petri dishes.


"Ersti" Presentation

The first course for all the freshmen in Austria is the “introduction into the field of study”. There, the students get the most important information about their certain branch of study as well as the main critical steps at the beginning. By the way - “Erstis” stands for freshmen in german.

At this lecture, representatives of university held a presentation about everything concerning the study: how the systems works, how one can apply for classes and sign in for labs, the general handling of the online-system, the best order to take courses and other study related things. They also offered us, and other study organizations, the chance to present our project idea and what the iGEM competition is about.