Team:Madrid-OLM/Public Engagement

• Team
  • Members
  • Attribution
  • Sponsors
• Project
  • Description
  • Contribution
  • Improve
  • Demonstrate
  • Judging Form
• Aptamers
  • Overview
  • Discovery
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  • Computational
    Improvement
  • Binding to Electrode
• Device
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  • First Prototype
  • Final Prototype
    • Overview
    • Microfluidics
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• Human Practices
  • Integrated Human Practice
  • Education and
    Engagements
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• Awards
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  • Measurement
• Medals

Education and Engagement

In Madrid, especially inside the university the curiosity to investigated and push oneself to learn out of “your comfort zone” has been settling in during the last years. We started to see this problem when, even though Spain is underrepresented in compared to other European countries, the teams that are established, have years of experience participating and the people around them know beforehand what iGEM is and what represent.

However, in Madrid, there has not been any teams, and only a few people have heard about the competition. Knowing that this a global competition where more than 300 teams from all over the world compete, proves that it was never hiding or hard to access, and yet nobody seems to have heard about it. We not only tried to promote iGEM, but all the small initiatives that could arise, and let the students know that with a little effort everything can be accomplished.

We tried to solve this issue by encouraging students and mainly teachers because they are that can continue promoting in classes and e-mails when we are gone.

1. The lectures about synthetic biology during the meetup we hosted: even though the meetup was only for iGEM participant, we invited anyone the wanted to attend the lectures, to learn what synthetic biology is about and the endless possibilities it has to offer.

Synthetic biology lectures



2. Presentation on the faculty of biology: hosted by the faculty itself, we explain in more detail about of project and our experience participating in the competition.

Presentation in Biology faculty

We thought it was important to stimulate the will to investigate and learn from a young age because we saw a close-up of what high schoolers were able to do if you give them the media and help to star. A good example is Biogalaxy Team (a team from Navarra, a city of Spain).

That´s why we also visited high schools and tried to promote the “ researcher spirit”.

Presentation in TEMS school

When we got back from Boston we also will do an interview in a scientific divulgation radio program called “ A hombros de gigantes”, to share our experience in Boston and spread the news about students initiatives.

Also a another presentation, this time in the chemistry faculty as our final push to settle a new team from Madrid.