Dissemination of the project and presentations

With the purpose of raising awareness about iGEM among the forthcoming generations, we have made a series of presentations in different locations and media.The aim was to publicize some of the core values of our team and iGEM such as research, entrepreneurship and learning in STEM.

Presentation in the faculty of biology of the UCM

This presentation was given in the Faculty of Biology of the Complutense University of Madrid. Faculty where we had the space for biotech and hardware laboratories. The presentation took place in September coinciding with the second week of the course.The main objective was to present our project to the students and professors who are going to be this course in this faculty to sow the seeds of the contest and try to find the volunteers to continue with the team in the next edition.

The presentation had 2 different parts. In the first part the background and functioning of iGEM was explained. Where the main objectives were highlighted and the repercussion that it has at the international level. In the second part, the course of the project was explained from the point of view of the team. How the idea and its evolution originated as different complications and solutions appeared.

Presentation in the "Biotechnoencuentro" from Almeria

The “biotechno” meeting was organized by a group of volunteers from Almeria who are trying to set up a do it yourself biology lab and organize activities around this. As a team of iGem we have not had much budget to carry out activities and we have followed the philosophy of DIYBio to carry out our project. They contacted us to participate in a conference to explain our experience in iGem and how we had solved different challenges with the DIYBio. We also talk about the under-representation of our country in the competition and the need to start appearing new.

The conference was live via youtube, where the participants had the opportunity to ask their questions directly. You can find the link of the presentation in the following link:

Conference link

Presentation in the TEMS school

We also consider it necessary to expose the project in a more interactive way to high school youth. With this objective we attend a school in Madrid: The English Montessori School. The presentations delivered to the Year 12 and Year 13 groups included an interactive session using colored ink, syringes, PDMS microfluidic chips and optical sensors to show the students how our idea will work. It all got a little dirty as the room flooded with excitement!

A big part of our visit was to convince them that, soon, they will also be able to build their own creative and ingenious devices. A large chunk of the presentations revolved around Biology DIY (Do It Yourself), encouraging the teenagers (and, surprisingly, also some teachers!) to be innovative and scientific and embrace the fun that comes with that.

After the visit, the BIology and Chemistry teacher that had organized the talk got back to us to tell us how the students had been impressed. Apparently, given it was the beginning of the semester, a couple of indecisive highschoolers had changed their mind and had finally decided to switch to the STEM track of the Spanish Baccalaureate!

We would like to thank The English Montessori School for inviting us and arranging the visit.

Interview for the magazine "Tribuna Complutense"

After the talk in the faculty of biology, the global dissemination magazine of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) "Tribuna Complutense" interviewed us. In this interview, we were asked about all the aspects we have been working on. We have talk about the basis of the project, the process of finding funding, how the team was formed and the requirements for it, the results obtained and the vision of the future after the Jamboree.

You could read the entire interview (in spanish) in the next link:

Interview page

Future presentation in the faculty of Chemistry of the UCM

With the same objective as the presentation in the Faculty of Biology, a talk will be held at the Faculty of Chemistry of the UCM during the month of November. In this talk we will tak again about the bases, the operation and the purpose of iGEM, the formation of the team and the trajectory that this has had. But we will also tell about the experience in Boston during the Giant Jamboree. All this will be done in order to obtain sufficient impact to engage future members of the next team in Madrid.

María Teresa Villalba Diaz helped us a lot to organize this presentation.

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