IllinoisSyntheticBio FAQ

iGEM FAQ
Q. What the heck is iGEM anyway? A. The international competition for Genetically Engineered Machines is an all undergraduate genetic engineering competition. Teams of college students from around the world participate and submit projects tackling some of the worlds biggest problems. Past projects have included cancer treatments, clean energy sources and bacteria mimicking human organs. Learn more here.

Q. What is the application process like? A. The application is available here. It will be due December 3rd at 5 PM! Final decisions will be made before winter break. The application has a few brief essays and we may conduct an informal interviews.

Q. PCRs, running gels, transformations, growing bacteria, I don't know how to do any of that stuff! A. First, that wasn't a question. Second, don't worry, everybody is coming from a different background and we'll have tutorials and lab sessions to get everybody up to speed. Each of the team members will be coming from different backgrounds, engineers, biologists, computer scientists and physicists. The important part is that you have some expertise, skill, or experience that can contribute to the team's overall success.

Q. I don't have a lot of biology or research experience; will this hurt my application? A. No. We are looking for dedicated and motivated team members with a variety of backgrounds. And besides, one of the goals of iGEM is to learn and gain research experience.

Q. What is the timeline for iGEM research? A. In early March we will begin brainstorming and researching project ideas. A project will be finalized by mid April and then we will begin conducting literature research to develop a research plan. Once summer starts we will be in lab putting our plan into action. By the end of summer a large portion of the labwork should be done and we'll then begin writing up our results for the jamboree in November.

Q. How much of a time commitment will iGEM be? A. During the school year we will typically have a weekly meeting along with whatever labwork, literature research, or other tasks need to be done. During the summer we will be working 30-40 hours per week. Think of it as 9-5 but scheduling can be flexible if you are taking a summer class or have a part-time job. Research credit hours will be available for work done over the summer.

'''Have a question that wasn't answered here? Please email illinoisiGEM@gmail.com'''