Organized by us
Charity Campaign — iGEM4KiTZ — Supporting Children with Cancer
As part of our project, we partnered with the KiTZ (Children's Cancer Center) Heidelberg to support children with cancer globally. KiTZ is a therapy and research center for oncological and hematological diseases in children and teenagers. They provide its patients with promising research approaches and patient care while emphasizing pediatric cancer research and new approaches in cancer therapies. Through our charity campaign, we aim to combine scientific innovation with community engagement to aid in the fight against childhood cancer. Thanks to private donations and fundraising appeals during our public events, we have raised over 600 € for the KiTZ. For further information, find our charity campaign here.
iGEM Kaiserslautern invited to our Panel Discussion
We invited the iGEM Team Kaiserslautern to our Panel Discussion on July 10th.
Participated in
iGEM x DKMS
As part of our outreach efforts, Team iGEM Heidelberg 2025 supported DKMS (German Bone Marrow Donation Center) in their mission to register new stem cell donors. Some of our team members volunteer with DKMS, and together we helped set up a booth to encourage students and staff to register as stem cell donors with a simple cheek swab. In addition to assisting DKMS in their life-saving work, our team members also took part in the registration process themselves.
iGEM McGill BIOME Book
We collaborated with the McGill iGEM team on their 2025 BIOME Book, a creative collection designed to introduce the public to synthetic biology tools. We provided a description of synKinase and synPhosphatase, which are crucial components of our PHOENiCS project. These synthetic enzymes work together like the comic duo Asterix and Obelix: synKinase is the strong and impactful Obelix, while synPhosphatase is the smart and balanced Asterix. This collaboration enabled us to present our work and share our exciting developments in cancer therapy with a broader audience.
Our project PHOENiCS aims to create a fine-tuned synthetic signaling pathway that could be foundational for advances in cell therapy and its applications in fighting cancer. The main stars of our project are the synthetic kinase and phosphatase (synKinase and synPhosphatase) coupled to our synthetic receptors. This powerful duo works together, one reacting to incoming danger and unleashing havoc on tumors by reacting to positive inputs and giving a green light for a destructive signal, while the other protects healthy cells by undoing his counterpart's activity and preventing a rogue response. This dynamic duo of synKinase and synPhosphatase are much like the famous comic duo Asterix and Obelix. Asterix is smart and cunning, while his best friend Obelix is strong and loyal. These ancient Gauls embark on adventures while ultimately resisting their Roman invaders. The muscle, Obelix, is like our synthetic kinase, taking action with high impact and is balanced out by his reasonable phosphatase-like companion, Asterix.
iGEM Thessaloniki - National Science Appreciation Day
We participated in a collaborative event organized by iGEM Thessaloniki for the National Science Appreciation Day, alongside several iGEM teams from around the world. The event focused on the question "What does science mean to you?", where each team shared their answer in just one word. To contribute, we created a short video of our team holding a cardboard sign with our response "Logic". This collaboration provided a great opportunity to highlight the global impact of science as well as our and other diverse perspectives within the international iGEM community.
EMBL Science and Society Conference "In Science We Trust?"
As part of our outreach efforts, our team attended the EMBL Science and Society Conference "In Science We Trust?". The conference addressed the critical role of public trust in science and explored challenges such as misinformation and ethical concerns, as well as the impact of scientific progress on society. Our team members were able to engage with experts and discuss the importance of fostering societal trust in science, especially in the context of emerging technologies. What we found especially alarming was how easy it is to publish false information, caused by the pressure of getting grants and your name on a publication as well as the lack of verification of accuracy through replication.
Article in BIOspektrum
As part of the 5/2025 issue of BIOspektrum, a leading life science magazine published by the Springer group, we contributed an article about our project PHOENiCS. Alongside contributions from other German iGEM teams, our article showcased how our synthetic signaling platform aims to address challenges in cancer therapy. This collaboration gave us the chance to share our innovative approach with the broader scientific community and contribute to the ongoing dialog in synthetic biology and cancer research. For more details, read the full article here.
Mini Jamboree Eindhoven
In October, our team will travel to Eindhoven to participate in the Mini Jamboree organized by the iGEM Team TU Eindhoven. The event will bring together iGEM teams from Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany to present their projects and receive feedback from professional judges. Our team members will present our project PHOENiCS, share ideas with the other teams, and refine our work as we prepare for the Grand Jamboree in Paris. We are looking forward to using this opportunity to connect with other iGEM teams from across the region.
Social Media
Social Media Strategies
Social media plays an increasingly significant role in our daily lives, shaping our choices, behaviors, and even perceptions. Recognizing its potential as a powerful platform for outreach and science communication, we developed a social media strategy based on consistency, clarity, and precise audience targeting. Our strategy focused primarily on two key target groups: young science enthusiasts, whom we engaged with informative and entertaining short-form content, and students, whom we reached through our "Wetlab Series", a collection of educational videos explaining essential laboratory techniques.
Promega Impact Team
To reach a larger audience, we were advised to tap existing communities, so we partnered up with Promega, a leading biotechnology and molecular biology company. Promega gave us the opportunity of creating video content for their Instagram profile, and taking over their account for 24 hours, which allowed us to engage directly with the scientific community and promote our own project.
The Nerd Länd
In addition, we collaborated with The Nerd Länd, a campaign under the broader initiative "The Länd" that showcases Baden-Württemberg as a leading hub for technology, innovation, and quality of life. The campaign's goal is to inspire young people to pursue STEM studies in the region.
Overall, our efforts showed that proactive and honest communication is a powerful tool. Rather than waiting for complex therapies to be approved and then trying to explain them, we engaged in dialog from the beginning, building a foundation of trust and understanding for the future.