Alice is not only a key member of our molecular biology subgroup, but also our team leader. Always organized and ready to help, she brings structure to the team alongside her skills as a molecular biologist – even if gels are not exactly her favorite part! Beyond the lab, Alice has taken charge of handling bureaucratic tasks, organizing events and coordinating meetings, making sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes

Monica is our favorite psychologist! She chose a career in science, but after this adventure, we wouldn’t be surprised if we found her practicing as a psychologist one day. Monica is the mind behind our project—full of ideas and always bringing creativity to everything she does, even from far away (she spent four months in Madagascar, and we still couldn’t get rid of her!). She truly has a talent for leading a team, keeping everyone motivated and supported while guiding the project forward.

Michele is an essential part of our molecular biology subgroup, often taking the lead on experimental activities and problem solving. Smart, quick-thinking, and endlessly curious, he has a talent for turning ideas into action and keeping experiments moving forward. Organization may not always be his strongest point, and sometimes his explanations need a little "translation" but, once decoded, his insights turn into wonderful suggestions!

Giacomo is a true volcano of ideas, always eager to try new approaches and push experiments forward. In the lab, his energy and determination keep everything moving—he never gives up, unless it involves writing a protocol! (Though rest assured, he gets those done too.) His creativity makes him essential not only for running experiments but also for sparking lively brainstorming sessions. Passionate about industrial applications, Giacomo brings to iGEM a valuable practical perspective.

Arianna is our talented social media manager. A creative, determined, and skilled molecular biologist, she discovered through iGEM a knack for making science accessible and engaging. Whether at the bench or behind a screen, Arianna brings clarity and enthusiasm to everything she does—except when she’s talking with Michele. Since they’re both equally stubborn, they can always find something to debate!

Giulia is the heart of our wet lab team—passionate, reliable, and always bringing a smile to the group. She joined our iGEM team as an invaluable resource in experimental work, always ready to lend a hand at the bench. Beyond her skills in the lab, she has a special talent for lifting everyone’s spirits, often suggesting an ice-cream break after the longest lab days. Without her energy and positivity, our team simply wouldn’t be the same!

Andrea is our handyman and a talented bioinformatician, born to be a manager. Even if he might “blackmail” you into attending bioinformatics meetings, he is always kind and supportive. As the lead of the bioinformatics team, he stands out for his excellent communication, teamwork, and reliability — even when he’s away in the mountains! Andrea discovered at iGEM his innate talent: his calm and gentle voice is perfect for explanation videos — guess who’s the “harmful” voice at the end of our promotional video?

Samuele, our coding powerhouse. Samuele is truly the engine of our group. Kind-hearted and always ready to help, he never hesitated to put in the effort needed to make our project succeed—even hosting us at his pool! While his explanations can sometimes feel a little cryptic (mostly because he gets to the solution faster than the rest of us), without him C.A.P.E. simply wouldn’t exist. A true coding beast and tireless workhorse, he wrote the bulk of the code that brought everything to life. On the surface, Samu radiates calm and tranquility—but don’t be fooled. Hidden underneath is a full-on raver, ready for a mosh pit when the music drops. And, as a true “Romagnolo”, he’s always up for a good balotta—hanging out and enjoying time together!

Irene, our spark of energy Irene has been a cornerstone of both our social outreach and our dry lab work. From creating Instagram stories and promotional videos for iGEM, to writing crucial code and content for our wiki and web tool—her contributions are simply beyond measure. But what we value most about her is the warmth she brings: her charisma lights up any room and instantly makes you feel at ease. Sure, you might want to be careful not to get on her bad side (or risk a dramatic pout), but with her there’s never a dull moment. Ask her to go dancing and she’ll always say yes. Just don’t challenge her to pronounce a sentence packed with “C”s—you might not understand a word (she’s Tuscan, after all).

Alice is a quick-minded bioinformatician, fully focused on her tasks in the C.A.P.E. project. Competent and curious, she loves coding and problem-solving, always managing to find optimized solutions in no time. And don’t worry — if she’s not answering you right away, she’s probably busy cooking up new code and ideas! Thanks to her passion for informatics, she has also contributed to creating wonderful wiki pages that showcase the team’s work.

Greta, our backend dynamo Greta brings sunshine and energy to the team. Always curious and never afraid to dive into the unknown, she has been the driving force behind the backend of our web tool. But her contributions don’t stop there—she also took on graphics and coding for our project wiki and Human Practices, proving her creativity and initiative. Hard-working and adventurous, she’s always ready to push forward and take on challenges, whether it’s debugging stubborn code or experimenting with new designs. Her energy extends beyond the project too: challenge her to a one-on-one basketball game and you might be surprised (and possibly defeated!). Greta combines dedication with playfulness, making her a teammate you can always count on—whether it’s for tackling tough work or, true to her Venetian roots, enjoying a well-deserved Spritz break.

Egle is our chill girl, bringing calm and a touch of humor to the team. She plays a key role in developing our biosensor — without her, we wouldn’t be able to measure the TAGs from our H.E.R.O., poor baby! Beyond the lab, she collaborates with Arianna and Irene on our social media platforms, sharing scientific news with our followers. Always caring and supportive, she’s a precious presence for us, even if deadlines don’t always fit her chill vibe — she’s still always in our hearts!

Our connection with industry experts is Iolanda, a driven chemistry student who is always ready to help. Even though she joined the team later, she made an impact from day one, thanks to her supportive and kind character and her willingness to take on whatever tasks are needed. She is a precious mind behind our biosensor, turning the biotech team’s ideas into reality. Always full of ideas (sometimes too many to keep up with!), she brings creativity and energy that help get things done and keep the team moving forward. At first glance, Iolanda may seem very formal or reserved, but in reality, she’s warm, approachable, and thoughtful. Discussing ideas with her is always constructive, and she manages to challenge the team in ways that make everyone grow.

Martina is our primary support, guiding us in creating the team, pointing us to the right projects, helping with brainstorming, and connecting us with the university administration office. Even though she travels frequently — between caves, mountains, and conventions — she is always ready to listen to our problems!

Andrea is the most patient assistant of our team! He has seen so many things that didn’t work (unbelievable as they were), yet he was always ready to give us advice, trying to figure out the mysterious problem coming along the lab way. He is our spirit guide, and we are so grateful for him.

Davide is our calm and peaceful instructor, always thinking positively and believing in us — really, anytime! He generously lets us use his lab and is always ready to offer help and advice based on his experience. We are especially grateful for all the orders he placed to get our primers throughout the year — we went through an enormous number of PCRs.

Elisa is the mind behind the H.E.L.M.E.T project. She was always available for us despite her many commitments and kept us going forward thanks to her determination. We were always met with a calm and kind smile and carried away by her distinctive optimism. We believe that her expertise and guidance in the biosensing field was crucial in our journey.

Francesco, aka Cocco, has assisted us throughout the entire software development process — often by judging the chaos on our GitHub repo! Plus, he helped us thinking like true software engineers, providing us with valuable knowledge about this bewildering world. Thanks to his industrial background, he provided invaluable suggestions during our scale-up process, helped create our business plan, and guided us in planning our sponsor approach.

When it comes to communication, Stefano has been our compass, always pointing us toward creativity and impact. As a science communicator with a strong presence on Instagram, he knows how to bridge the gap between complex ideas and broad audiences, often with a touch of humor. In fact, memes are his favorite language, and thanks to his guidance we’ve learned that sometimes a clever joke can make science more powerful than a long explanation. Stefano never just gave us “tips”—he challenged us to think about how our work could resonate outside the lab, encouraging us to find the right words and the right tone. His energy and passion for outreach turned our communication efforts into something truly engaging and memorable.

Marilisa has been much more than an outside supporter—she followed our work with genuine curiosity and commitment, always trying to understand exactly what we needed and how to overcome our roadblocks. She truly embodies the role of an advisor: never giving quick fixes, but instead offering thoughtful suggestions grounded in meaningful research and her broad expertise. Rather than stopping at surface-level input, she consistently shared her knowledge in depth, as if she were a full member of our project team. Her guidance and problem-solving spirit made her an invaluable ally on our journey.

Robert has been a constant presence and an invaluable help for the chemistry team. He kept our morale high by cracking a lot of jokes even when the lipase essays were failing and encouraged us to try again. Robert had some hours to dedicate every day to us and our project even though he is committed to multiple research projects. With his direction we learned a lot about the most efficient and meticulous execution of several lab techniques helping us to become more skilled scientists.

Pietro has been a true hero for our bioinformatics team, and biology is not even his primary field of competence! By opening the doors of the department’s servers to us, he gave our project the computational resources it desperately needed. More than that, he never shied away from our endless explanations of genes, proteins, and pathways—listening patiently and even trying to make sense of it all. His willingness to dive into unfamiliar territory and support us every step of the way made a huge difference, and we couldn’t be more grateful!