Judging/Medals

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iGEM Medals

All teams must convince the judges they have achieved each of the medal criteria. Simply ticking a box does not guarantee you will awarded a medal.

All teams can earn a medal. Teams can only win one medal in a given iGEM year. Teams must nominate themselves using the Judging Form. Failure to successfully complete the Judging Form will prevent the judges from evaluating your team for medals.

Please see our Judging Form information page for more details. See the Calendar for more information on iGEM deadlines.

The three levels of medals, from lowest to highest are Bronze, Silver, and Gold. We do not limit the numbers of each medal. Teams are only competing with themselves to achieve the medal criteria.

Medal

Explanation

Criteria for Standard Tracks

Criteria for Special Tracks

Bronze
All Criteria must be met
1 Registration and Giant Jamboree Attendance Register for iGEM, have a great iGEM season, and attend the Giant Jamboree.
2 Competition Deliverables Convince the judges that you have completed the following Competition Deliverables from this page (link):
#1 Wiki
#2 Poster
#3 Presentation
#4 Judging Form
3 Attributions Convince the judges that you have completed Competition Deliverable #5 Attributions from this page (link).

Please note: This requirement is not about citing literature references. Attributions is about describing what work your team did and what other people did for your project.
4 Characterization / Contribution Do one of these two options:

(1) Successfully complete the InterLab Measurement Study (link). This means you have met all requirements of the InterLab Measurement Study, including acceptance of data.

(2) Convince the judges that you have added new, high quality experimental characterization data to an existing BioBrick Part (Basic or Composite, must be RFC10 compatible) from the Registry. Clearly document the experimental characterization on that Part's Main Page on the Registry (see the iGEM Registry Contribution page for instructions). The part that you are characterizing must NOT be from a 2018 part number range. Sample submission is not required.
Document on your team wiki at least one new substantial contribution to the iGEM community that showcases a project related to BioBricks. This contribution should be central to your project and equivalent in difficulty to making and submitting a BioBrick Part.
Silver
All Bronze criteria must be met, plus all Silver criteria below must be met
1 Validated Part / Validated Contribution Convince the judges that at least one new BioBrick Part (Basic or Composite, must be RFC10 compatible) of your own design that is related to your project works as expected. Clearly document the experimental characterization on that Part's Main Page on the Registry (see this page for details). You must submit a sample of this new part to the Registry (following the Registry submission requirements). This part must be different from the new part documented for Gold #2.

Teams must follow all of the DNA Submission Requirements and Shipping Guidelines (link) to qualify for medals. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in a rejected shipment or sample, which may prevent your team from winning medals and awards.
Convince the judges that something you created (art & design, hardware, software, etc.) performs its intended function. Provide thorough documentation of this validation on your team wiki.
2 Collaboration Convince the judges you have significantly worked with one (or more) currently registered 2018 iGEM team(s) in a meaningful way. For example, mentor a team (or be mentored by a team), characterize a part, troubleshoot a project, host a meetup, model/simulate a system, or validate a software/hardware solution to a synbio problem.

Document your collaboration in detail on your wiki. Judges will look at your collaborator's wiki to see what they say about your interaction. Simply filling out a survey for a team is not enough to demonstrate a significant interaction.
3 Human Practices Convince the judges you have thought carefully and creatively about whether your work is responsible and good for the world. Document on your team wiki how you have investigated these issues and engaged with your relevant communities, why you chose this approach, and what you have learned. Please note that surveys will not fulfill this criteria unless you follow scientifically valid methods.

See the Human Practices Hub (link) for more information and examples of previous teams' exemplary work.
Gold
All Bronze and Silver criteria must be met, plus at least two (2) Gold criteria below must be met
1 Integrated Human Practices Expand on your silver medal activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the purpose, design, and/or execution of your project. Document on your team wiki how your project has changed based upon your human practices work.

See the Human Practices Hub (link) for information and examples of previous teams' comprehensive and innovative activities.
2 Improve a Previous Part or Project Convince the judges that you have created a new BioBrick Part (must be RFC10 compatible) that has a functional improvement upon an existing BioBrick Part (must be RFC10 compatible). The sequences of the new and existing parts must be different. You must perform experiments with both parts to demonstrate this improvement.

Clearly document the experimental characterization on the Part's Main Page on the Registry for both the existing and new parts (see this page for details). The Main Pages of each part's Registry entry must link to each other. The existing part must NOT be from your 2018 part number range and must be different from the part you used in Bronze #4. The new part must be different from the new part documented for Silver #1. Submit a sample of the new part to the iGEM Parts Registry (following the Registry submission requirements).
Improve the function of an existing iGEM project (that your current team did not originally create) and document your achievement on your team wiki.
3 Model Your Project Convince the judges that your project's design and/or implementation is based on insight you have gained from modeling. This could be either a new model you develop or the implementation of a model from a previous team. You must thoroughly document your model's contribution to your project on your team's wiki, including assumptions, relevant data, model results, and a clear explanation of your model that anyone can understand.

The model should impact your project design in a meaningful way. Modeling may include, but is not limited to, deterministic, exploratory, molecular dynamic, and stochastic models. Teams may also explore the physical modeling of a single component within a system or utilize mathematical modeling for predicting function of a more complex device.
4 Demonstration of Your Work Convince the judges that your engineered system works.

Your engineered system has to work under realistic conditions. Your system must comply with all rules and regulations approved by the iGEM Safety Committee (link). Your system can derive from or make functional a previous iGEM project by your team or by another team. For multi-component projects, the judges may consider the function of individual components.
Standard Tracks Special Tracks