Difference between revisions of "Team:UiOslo Norway/Integrated Practices"

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         <h2 class="padding-left">Public presentations</h2>
 
         <h2 class="padding-left">Public presentations</h2>
         <div class="padding-right padding-left">As our project ventures into a fairly unexplored field, we had a fairly easy time gathering interest for our project. We held a multitude of public presentations for large audiences. We presented our work for several renowned experts in molecular biosciences, physics and microscopy on two occasions, which provided us with valuable feedback and advice on our project. We talked about our work for several large student groups; notably at Realistforeningen in front of interested students at April 6th, to new physics bachelor students and new bioscience master students at August 15th (<i>Img 1</i>). On the 20th of October, <a href='http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/om/aktuelt/aktuelle-saker/2017/kunnskapsministeren-imponert-over-bios1100-og-igem.html'>we also got to present our project to the Norwegian Minister of Education</a> as he was visiting the University(<i>Img 2</i>), along with the leading university administration, which was a greatly successful endeavour. <br><br>
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We wanted further insight on the feasibility and usability of a bio-laser as a measurement tool. Because of this, we presented our ideas to a group of fluorescence microscopy experts, led by Professor Oddmund Bakke and Associate Professor Cinzia Progida. As they have a lot of experience in the field of intracellular visualization and measurement, they were able to give a lot of useful feedback in terms of what they thought about using a bio-laser as a measurement tool. The big takeaway from this is that to invest in a tool like this, it would be necessary with solid documentation that this tool was <i>significantly</i> more sensitive than current methods of measurement, as it would compete with several similar methods of measurement. Another issue was price; we did manage to make our setup extremely cheap thanks to the use of LED-circuits as our external light source, and it was suggested that a simple, more compact setup at a similar price level might be a viable product to use for experiments in school laboratories. In conclusion, the session here made us reconsider the focus of our project; what was originally a plan to develop a specific product was changed into managing a practical proof-of-concept of a biolaser as a measurement tool.<br><br>
  
            We also made an effort to spread knowledge outside of academia. In this endeavour, we talked to startup expert company Inven2 to learn more about entrepreneurship and the possibilities of working further on our project post-iGEM. They were enthusiastic about the possibilities of the bio-laser, and wanted us to present our work at the Cutting Edge festival held in Oslo 29th of September. The festival is to celebrate innovation and science, bringing business and academia together, and spreading knowledge and ideas. We had a stand manned for the entire day, discussing the opportunities and potential of our project, while also being provided critical feedback from experts in the fields of bioscience, physics and commerce. <br><br>
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We were also keen to hear what other experts in the fields of both bioscience and physics thought about our project. As such, we gathered an expert group along with Rein Aasland, Department head of the Institute of Bioscience, UiO, and presented our initial plans for the project to them. We were met with enthusiasm, and we were able to gather much useful practical knowledge for what we'd have to do in the labwork, thoughts on the optics necessary, and the genetics of yeast cells.
 
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            In addition, we joined an initiative from iGEM Uppsala and several other teams to talk about ethics and potential dangers in regards to our projects. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOuFtJZxDf0">The result is published on youtube,</a>and all involved parties learned much from the fruitful discussions. We also had a case about our project published in the newspaper Porsgrunn Dagblad(<i>Img 4</i>), and another one <a href="http://www.banett.no/nyheter/2017/09/18/Br%C3%B8nn%C3%B8yv%C3%A6ring-konkurrerer-med-biolaser-i-USA-15319481.ece">in Brønnøysund avis</a>, which helped us reach the wider public. <br><br>
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            We have also been active on Facebook and Instagram, announcing events and sharing pictures. With more than 600 followers on Facebook, we've been able to reach a lot of people and spread our project further. <br>
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        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/6/6c/T--UiOslo_norway--public_engagement_master_students.jpg" width="420" height="420">
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    <figcaption>1 - Presenting our work and ideas to the new M.Sc.-students at the Institute of Biosciences,
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UiO, in an attempt to educate and spark interest among the students to join later teams.</figcaption>
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        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/2/2d/T--UiOslo_norway--timeline_oct.jpg" width="480" height="320">
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            <figcaption> 2 - Minister Henrik Asheim showed a keen interest in our project </figcaption>
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         <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/7/75/T--UiOslo_norway--public_engagement_department_head_presentation.jpg" width="480" height="320">
 
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<figcaption> 3 - IBV Department head <a href="http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/english/people/adm/reina/">Rein Aasland</a> and several experts in biosciences and physics were the audience for one of our presentations. </figcaption>
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<figcaption>IBV Department head <a href="http://www.mn.uio.no/ibv/english/people/adm/reina/">Rein Aasland</a> and several experts in biosciences and physics were the audience for one of our presentations. </figcaption>
 
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        <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2017/b/b3/T--UiOslo_norway--engagement_pd.jpg" width="480" height="640">
 
        <figcaption> 4 - Successful outreach by having a newspaper article about us  </figcaption>
 
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Revision as of 14:24, 1 November 2017


Public presentations

We wanted further insight on the feasibility and usability of a bio-laser as a measurement tool. Because of this, we presented our ideas to a group of fluorescence microscopy experts, led by Professor Oddmund Bakke and Associate Professor Cinzia Progida. As they have a lot of experience in the field of intracellular visualization and measurement, they were able to give a lot of useful feedback in terms of what they thought about using a bio-laser as a measurement tool. The big takeaway from this is that to invest in a tool like this, it would be necessary with solid documentation that this tool was significantly more sensitive than current methods of measurement, as it would compete with several similar methods of measurement. Another issue was price; we did manage to make our setup extremely cheap thanks to the use of LED-circuits as our external light source, and it was suggested that a simple, more compact setup at a similar price level might be a viable product to use for experiments in school laboratories. In conclusion, the session here made us reconsider the focus of our project; what was originally a plan to develop a specific product was changed into managing a practical proof-of-concept of a biolaser as a measurement tool.

We were also keen to hear what other experts in the fields of both bioscience and physics thought about our project. As such, we gathered an expert group along with Rein Aasland, Department head of the Institute of Bioscience, UiO, and presented our initial plans for the project to them. We were met with enthusiasm, and we were able to gather much useful practical knowledge for what we'd have to do in the labwork, thoughts on the optics necessary, and the genetics of yeast cells.
IBV Department head Rein Aasland and several experts in biosciences and physics were the audience for one of our presentations.