German-wide Meetup

The Idea

The concept of the German-wide Meetup was as to gather all the teams to network and set up collaborations for the iGEM Giant Jamboree.

In the beginning of October, the team was a small group of Bachelor’s and Master’s students with very little diversity. By November, the team doubled in size and included members from many departments: CRTD, BIOTEC and the Biology Department at the TU Dresden. We became a truly international iGEM team, covering many disciplines and nationalities. With the resources, we had pulled together now, we thought we can plan something big, a German-wide meetup. We could host the meetup, using the whole of Dresden and be able to accommodate all the German iGEM teams. Out of the 13 that were invited, 9 came to the assembly, with a total of 50 people attending.
The goals of the meetup were:

• Sharing our iGEM experience so far
• Getting to know the projects and visions of all attending teams
• Train the pitch and presentation skills in order to prepare for the Giant Jamboree
• Finding collaborations and strengthen the bonds between the teams
• Increasing the general knowledge about Synthetic Biology through conferences and events
• Having a fun weekend together

Preparation

To prepare for the meetup, a team was assembled to manage and organize the scheduling, food costs, designs and logos, accommodation, etc. Sponsors had to be found and boxes had to be checked to make sure that nothing can go wrong for such a large occasion. Vier Vogel Pils sponsored the beer for the event, while Promega hosted a seminar on RT-qPCR. We had planned everything to the millisecond that by the time the conference came around, we were prepared.

Schedule

Schedule Meetup

The German Wide Meetup was hosted for the first time by the TU Dresden iGEM team. In a 3-day affair, 60 students from 11 universities attended with the aim to practice their presentation demeanor, setup future collaborations and most of all, make new friends ahead of the Giant Jamboree and have fun.

Friday consisted of checking into the hostels, exploring the city of Dresden, and getting a chance to meet the fellow iGEM teams. Each participant was recieved a name badge and a brochure containing the schedule of the event as well some Promega givaways.

Saturday started off with a few introductory talks, as well as the presentation of “iGEM Goes Green”; part of the project of our iGEM team to push sustainability and environmentally-friendly lab work. Next, each attending team was given the chance to present their own project ideas; with the intent of promoting inter-lab collaborations.

Sundays main events consisted of two workshop events, held in smaller groups. The participants chose between the option to take part in a speed dating for last-minute collaboration agreements or an introduction workshop of iGEM goes green with interactive tasks on how to calculate the greenhouse gas emission of their projects and exploring ideas for more sustainable lab work.

The teams had 15 minutes to present their project and 5 minutes for Q&A. Other teams challenged the presenters with tough questions, much like the judges will at the Giant Jamboree, preparing the teams to be clear and concise for future presentations.

During the pauses, coffee, fruits and vegetables were provided to keep the teams energized and focuses for the long days. Beer was provided as well, courtesy of local brewery, Vier Vogel Pils. After a day filled with amazing talks, the teams were invited for a tour through Dresden, seeing the major sites and afterwards we had a Tortilla party and we played different national drinking games. It was a great bonding session and a good way to start the evening, before going to the bars in the town.

. According to our sustainability goals of iGEM goes green we greatly reduced the amount of meat provided for the Tortilla Party and invested in vegetable and soya fillings with various delicious dips instead. Furthermore, we avoided the use of disposable tableware and provided public transport tickets for the teams during the Meetup.

See more on our iGEM goes green page

Guest Speakers

Prof. Dr. Thorsten Mascher:

Dr. Mascher is the supervisor of the TU Dresden iGEM team and serial competitor in iGEM, leading the LMU Munich teams in the past. His research focuses on Bacillus subtilis, a spore-producing bacterium, and focuses on gene networks and systems biology. His talk discussed B. subtilisas a model organism and his previous endeavors in iGEM competitions.

Promega Represenative: Marcel Thiele:

Mr. Thiele is the Dresden regional representative for Promega. He gave an interesting presentation discussing hints and pitfalls when performing RT-qPCR to get optimal results.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Braun - Peptidosomes:

Dr. Braun is a professor at the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research in Dresden and his research focuses on micro- and nanostructuring techniques for polymers and liquids. His presentation focused on the self-assembly of diphenylalanine motifs and its mechanism as well as discussing his experiences in judging and supervising a team in a different biology competition.

Teams

Conclusion

The meetup was important for many reasons as it created an environment of collaboration for the teams, a pillar of the iGEM competition. With the time during the speed dating and the workshops, strong bonds were made between the iGEMers that will help for the competition but also for future endeavors after the iGEM Giant Jamboree. The experience for our team to set up this big event is also valuable as it takes a team effort in multiple areas, fundraising, planning and scheduling, getting guest speakers. It was all worth it in the end as the teams enjoyed themselves and we shared a lot of laughs. We can’t wait to see you all at the Jamboree.