Our Principles
1. Scientific basis: All information given on our events are backed by modern research.
2. Ease of understanding: All our events are specially tailored to the audience we are trying to reach. We strike a balance between providing scientific detail, while not overwhelming our audience.
3. Allowing for discussion: We always strive to engage in critical discourse with our audience, encouraging them to voice their concerns and form their own opinions.
Summer festival in the botanical garden of Ruhr-University Bochum
On July 5th our iGEM-Team participated in the annual summer festival hosted by the botanical garden of Ruhr-University Bochum. Guests can look forward to a varied program for the whole family - with nature experiences, art, music, culinary delights, and hands-on activities. Our mission was to give children and their families insights into different fields of microbiology and biotechnology. For this, we used a variety of experiments, such as color chromatography and the visualization of GFP.
Why?
Each year, the Botanical Garden's summer festival offers a wide range of entertainment as well as educational stations for young and old alike. Our team decided to combine both aspects equally in order to leave a strong and lasting impression on the visitors.
How?
Our station was divided into 3 main parts: for our youngest visitors we prepared the color-chromatography station. For that we used filter paper and water-soluble markers. The children then drew on the paper and used a pipette filled with water to let the magic happen!
Secondly, we prepared a memory station where the goal was to find the matching model organisms. Lastly, we extracted GFP (green fluorescent protein). With the help of a UV flashlight we could see the fluorescence.
Final thoughts
The participation at the summer festival was a great opportunity to show children and adults aspects of the world of biology. Most children showed genuine interest in our prepared experiments and the parents told us that it was really interesting to get these insights as well. Moreover, the staff of the botanical garden was also genuinely happy that we were part of this event since educational stations are a big part of the event.
Open House Day at Ruhr University Bochum
Our team took part in the Inside RUB OpenDay, a yearly event that invites high school and college students, as well as members of the general public, to visit the university and discover ongoing research and student projects.
We used this opportunity to introduce visitors to our current synthetic biology project and explain what iGEM is all about. Throughout the day, we engaged with curious visitors, answered questions about our work, and shared our enthusiasm for synthetic biology and its potential applications in sustainability and innovation.
The event was a great success, allowing us to connect with interested students and community members while raising awareness about synthetic biology and the iGEM competition. The strong interest and thoughtful questions we received demonstrated genuine curiosity about our field and reinforced the importance of public engagement in scientific research.
School visits
Why?
The current school curriculum doesn’t really allow students to dive deeper into specific topics like synthetic biology. That’s why we visited schools to show students the opportunities synthetic biology offers to address the major challenges of our time and help build a better future. With our school visits, we aimed to inform high school students at an appropriate level of difficulty, addressing typical questions and concerns young people often have about biology. Our ultimate hope is that today we may have inspired some young minds to pursue a career in biological research. A field that we really love and are deeply passionate about.
How?
Our visit was split into three parts.
Firstly, we talked about basics like: “What is Biotechnology?” and “What is synthetic biology?”. Afterwards we gave a general overview about the history of biotech and how biotechnological inventions accompany us in everyday life. Our talk concluded with a brief and easy to understand summary of our iGEM project.
Secondly, we conducted simple experiments to show the students our field of study.
During our first visit to the school, we did an imprint experiment with the students. This experiment introduced them to the use of agar plates in microbiology. By observing the results, the students also learnt how disinfectants and soap can reduce the number of microbes on our hands. At the same time, we emphasised that microbes are harmful only in very rare cases.
At our second school visit, we led the students through a DNA precipitation experiment using bananas and strawberries. By extracting DNA from fruit, they learned that DNA is present in every living cell and carries the instructions for building and maintaining organisms. We also explained that similar techniques are still used in laboratories today, which gave the students a clear idea of how researchers study DNA in real experiments.
Lastly, we held a Q&A with the students, where they could ask all questions coming to their mind. These ranged from questions about the talk or the experiments, to general questions about studying biology, and questions about the ethical use of GMOs.
Final Thoughts
Our school visits were a huge success. The students showed genuine curiosity, especially regarding more ethical topics. Engaging in discussions regarding topics like “Use of GMOs”. Further, some of them showed real interest in internships at our faculty and in studying biology in general.