Hi! I’m Leyla, a senior at Saint Joseph High School. As the team leader, I spent this season organizing our group and keeping everyone motivated, which has been both exciting and challenging. My iGEM journey has been an incredible experience that helped me discover what I want to do in my future career and taught me how to balance leadership and teamwork. In my free time, I love experimenting with new recipes and enjoying a cup of coffee with my friends.

Hi! I’m Azra, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a member of the iGEM team, I contributed to both the wet lab and human practices. In the lab, I gained hands-on experience in synthetic biology and learned the importance of precision and teamwork while experimenting. Through human practices, I had the chance to share our project with the community, connect with people, and see how science can have an impact beyond the lab. iGEM hasn’t only strengthened my passion for biology but also taught me how to combine science with communication and creativity. I’m so grateful for everything I’ve learned and for the amazing friendships I’ve made along the way. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, meeting my friends, and exploring new places.

Hi! I’m Derya, a junior at Saint Joseph French High School. This year in our iGEM team, I worked mainly on Human Practices and Wiki. In Human Practices, organizing workshops and helping design and build our team’s website, making our work accessible and engaging. iGEM has been a place where our team combined creativity with science, while I also had the chance of improving my teamwork and communication skills. Outside of iGEM, I would say I am interested in science communication, as well as artistic pursuits such as writing and music.

Hi! I’m Dila, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. Within our team, I primarily focused on human practices, where I worked to bring new ideas, manage social media, connect with new people, and support various other tasks. This experience not only allowed me to contribute to the project but also strengthened my organizational and communication skills. I believe iGEM has played a key role in improving my time management throughout the year. Outside of academics, I enjoy staying active through sports and exploring new places by traveling abroad.

Hi! I’m Duru, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a member of the iGEM team, I worked on the animations and illustrations for our Wiki page this season. I also spent part of my summer working at school, which was a great experience. Being part of iGEM has taught me how to do research and collaborate with others as a team. In my free time, I love staying active with sports, watching movies with my family and hanging out with my close friends.

Hi, I’m Idil! As a senior, my love for science, specifically biology comes from where I grew up. Since I was a little kid I was surrounded by nature and animals that live on my grandparents' farm. I am also into music with my favorite band being The Strokes. For me, iGEM is an opportunity to learn and solve the problems in our world. This is my second time participating in this prestigious competition. I am very happy to have the chance to take part in this year’s Jamboree with my beloved teammates.

Hi! I’m İpek, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a team member, I was a member of both human practice and lab teams. During this time, iGEM, improved my teamwork skills , developed my social connections through human practise activities such as podcast, while also gaining higher academic knowledge and lab practice. In my free time, I love listening to music and spending time with my friends.

Hi! I’m İris, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a team member I was involved in both human practices and the wet lab process. Through my experiences in human practices, I improved my communication and teamwork abilities, while my wet lab experience equipped me with valuable laboratory skills which will support my future education. The iGEM experience is an opportunity I will never take for granted, and I am deeply grateful for the knowledge and skills I have gained. In my free time, I enjoy baking and watching movies.

Hi! I’m Lal, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a team member, I worked on both the human practices part and the lab process. During my iGEM journey, I learned many laboratory skills that will definitely help me in my future career. I really enjoyed working with the team this year, and I also improved my social skills while communicating with different people who had different stories to tell. I am truly grateful for this wonderful experience, through which I not only learned things for my career but also gained lessons for my future life. In my free time, I enjoy listening to music, going out with my friends, and doing sports.

Hi! I’m Batu, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. This season, I worked across three departments: Benching, Wet Lab, and Human Practices. Through Benching, I stepped into the world of hardware and software—fields I had never explored before—and gained valuable engineering and technical skills while developing our project. In Human Practices, I improved my communication abilities by organizing meetings, reaching out to institutions, and delivering pitches to introduce our work. However, the area where I felt most confident and impactful was the Wet Lab. My long-standing passion for chemistry and lab work truly came to life during our experiments. Throughout this journey, I’ve collected countless memories and experiences, and I feel incredibly honored to be part of this team and project.

Hi there, I’m Derin. I’m a sophomore at Saint-Joseph High School. I worked in Human Practices, Wet Lab, and Dry Lab. With the help of my experiences at HP, I improved my public speaking, memorisation, and project pitching skills. During the lab work, I gained hands-on experience in synthetic biology and learnt the techniques necessary to make a project come to life. During my journey with iGEM, I learnt how to collaborate with people, work in a lab, conduct effective research, animate, and so much more, all thanks to the work I took part in. iGEM has also contributed to my passion for synthetic biology and medicine. I’m truly grateful for the experiences and friendships that formed within the team. Other than my scientific activities, I like listening to music, drawing and hanging out with my friends.

Hi! I’m Mina, a 10th grade student at Saint Joseph High School. As a team member, I spent this season working on Human Practice, editing, and contributing ideas. My iGEM journey has been an unforgettable adventure. I made wonderful friends and learned how rewarding it feels to achieve something through hard work. In my free time, I love meeting my friends, working on iGEM, and exploring the world. I’m so glad to be part of this wonderful team and to have the chance to go to iGEM.

Hi! I’m Yusuf, a junior at Saint Joseph High School. As a team member, I took on responsibilities such as communicating with people, arranging meetings, organizing events, and finding sponsors. It was a truly valuable experience for me. No matter what my future career will be, it has already given me important skills—for example, being confident when speaking with people and becoming more outgoing. In my free time, apart from playing sports like tennis and football, I enjoy reading books, spending time with my friends and listening to rap music.

Hi! I’m Simge, a biology teacher at Saint Joseph High School, an alumna of the same school, and the PI of our iGEM team. I completed my MSc in Medical Biotechnology, and this is my second iGEM, but my first time leading the team as PI. It’s been an amazing journey to work with such dedicated and creative students, guiding them as they explore synthetic biology and bring their ideas to life. Outside of the lab, you’ll usually find me in mosh pits at metal concerts, fueled by caffeine and good music.

I am Assoc.Prof. Müslüm Akgöz, a chemist, a biochemist, and molecular biology expert with a strong academic and research background. I earned my undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Department of Chemistry at the Middle East Technical University in Turkiye. After receiving a fellowship from the Turkish Ministry of Education, I pursued my Ph.D. in Biochemistry at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the U.S. Following my doctoral studies, I conducted post-doctoral research at the Washington University School of Medicine. I then returned to Turkiye, where I served as an associate professor at Kafkas University before joining the TÜBİTAK National Metrology Institute (UME) in 2008. At TÜBİTAK UME, I played a crucial role in establishing the Bioanalysis Laboratory infrastructure and served as its director. My work at the institute focused on biometrology, specifically the high-accuracy and low-uncertainty quantification of biomolecules. I made significant contributions to numerous national and international projects, and was involved in many international measurement comparison studies (CCQM). My research interests include the quantification of DNA and RNA using technologies like qPCR and dPCR, the preparation of certified reference materials. I retired in July 2024. I am currently an instructor for the Saint Joseph iGEM Team, helping to design and guide their experiments.

I am Bora, one of the advisors for iGEM Saint-Joseph this year. I participated in iGEM with my high school two times. Now, I am doing my BSc in TU Delft and guiding my old team, Saint-Joseph, through their 2025 journey.

Hi! I am Gizem, one of the advisors of the Saint-Joseph High School iGEM Team. I am a Biotechnology Specialist with 5 years of experience in recombinant protein production in the industry. Currently, I am pursuing my PhD and supporting Saint-Joseph iGEM Team in shaping their project scope and workflow throughout their 2025 journey.

I am Sant Burak Simsekcak, and I have been a proud member of the iGEM Community since my first participation in 2019. I am currently an Undergraduate Student at Ege University, Department of Biology. As a mentor for the iGEM Saint Joseph team, my primary role was to serve as the bridge between the team and the broader iGEM Community, including iGEM Headquarters. I facilitated communication and ensured that the team was well-integrated into the collaborative and dynamic spirit of the competition. Throughout the iGEM journey, I provided guidance on navigating the various stages of the competition. My focus was on helping the team anticipate potential challenges and proactively identify the most simple and effective solutions. I assisted them in strategic planning and troubleshooting, leveraging my experience to help them overcome obstacles and stay on the path to a successful project. I am incredibly proud of the dedication and ingenuity the team has shown, and it has been a privilege to support them in their endeavors.