iGEM Competition August Newsletter

In this issue...

• Deadline: Track Selection Freeze August 24
• Giant Jamboree Updates:
  • Team registration ends August 31
  • Keynote Speakers for Sunday announced
  • Save the Date! Special Monday Activities for Jamboree Attendees sponsored by After iGEM
  • Important Sheraton Hotel announcement 
• Promega Online Q&A Workshop available on demand now!
• Collaborations highlight
• Spotlight on Documenting Your Project
• Upcoming dates to consider

Message from iGEM Headquarters

July and August seem to have flown by. With just a few months until the Giant Jamboree, we've seen teams hard at work on their projects and wikis. Our After iGEM Ambassadors have been visiting current iGEMers at meetups and learning all about what teams are up to for this year's competition. The Interlab data deadline came and went with a record number of participants around the globe. 

Looking forward, teams should ensure that they have submitted visa applications and look at plane tickets and accommodations. Check out the hotel announcement below. While planning your itinerary, be sure to get ready for our Keynote Speakers on Sunday and learn about the exciting Monday Schedule. 

We are always on the lookout for team stories and photos to feature on our social media. Tag #iGEM2018 and you might see yourself on our homepage. We can't wait to hear what you've been up to - especially if you're meeting for a collaboration!

Lastly, teams should remember to declare their track selections by this Friday, August 24. Read about this year’s available tracks then select the appropriate track(s) on your team’s profile page.

Best wishes,
The iGEM Headquarters Team

Check out our News Archive to see what else happened this month.

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Community/News_Archive

Giant Jamboree Regular Registration Closing Soon!

Register to attend the Giant Jamboree! Each team MUST register at least one team member by August 31 to secure a poster and presentation slot. In addition to this, a $100 per attendee late registration fee is applied after August 31. Secure your team's place and save money, apply today!

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree/Register

Don't forget...

If you're traveling internationally for the Giant Jamboree, apply for your visa as early as possible! Information about travel visas and instructions on accessing the iGEM visa application letter system are available on the Visa Help page.

Sunday Schedule - Keynote Speakers Announced

This year iGEM is pleased to introduce our new Keynote Session. Our three main speakers this year are all notable iGEMers:

• Ingrid Swanson Pultz, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of PvP Biologics
• Jason Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Ginkgo BioWorks
• George Church, professor at Harvard & MIT, co-author of 480 papers, co-founder of dozens of startups, and much more.

Read their full profiles and learn more about our Sunday Schedule below!

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree/Schedule/Sunday

Monday Schedule - Special After iGEM Event, Industry Tours, and More

Finishing up the iGEM season marks your entrance into our exciting community - After iGEM. Join us for a day of special events and learn what comes next... beyond the competition.

Click the link below to see more about our 2018 Monday schedule. 

Direct link: http://2018.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree/Schedule/Monday

Hotel Announcement

Attendees at the Giant Jamboree have the opportunity to book hotel nights at a discounted rate at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, conveniently located directly above the Giant Jamboree venue. While the main nights for the Giant Jamboree remain available (October 25-29), our rooms for October 23, 24, and 29 have already sold out.

We encourage all attendees to be close to the action; consider taking up alternative accommodation on auxiliary event days, and join your fellow iGEMers at the Sheraton during the main event days! Book before September 25 to secure your stay at the Sheraton from October 25 - 29. 

See the Accommodations page for alternative recommendations. 

Direct link: http://2018.igem.org/Giant_Jamboree/Accommodations

Sponsor News

Last week, Promega hosted their second online Q&A Workshop as part of their "Ask the Experts" series. Promega's technical experts addressed iGEMers' questions about using advanced techniques in their projects. View the video on demand here!

Thank you,

Don't forget...

• IDT is giving FREE 20kb of custom DNA through synthesis OR Alt-R® CRISPR Genome Editing products to ALL teams
• GenScript is offering 20% off synthesis and cloning services to all teams
• Promega is supporting all teams with free technical support all year
• MathWorks is giving complimentary MATLAB software (includes 13 products) and technical support to all teams
• Opentrons is offering $2000 off a team's first OT-2 Robot (equivalent to 50% off)

Collaborations Highlight

We now officially have 50 collaborations listed on the collaborations page. The list is constantly changing. Here are the last 10, all added in the past week!

41. Verifying Degradation Switch Model - Team Edinburgh UG
42. Working with Bacteriophages: A Primer - Team IISc-Bangalore
43. London Synthbio and iGEM outreach - Team Imperial College
44. London iGEM trouble shooting meet-up - Teams Imperial College, UCL, KCL UK, and Westminster UK
45. Team Communication and Issues Survey - Teams Imperial College, UCL, KCL UK, and Westminster UK
46. Push Your Push Via Our Platform - Team ECUST 
47. Building an interactive website for Protein Sequence Space Exploration! - Team Vilnius-Lithuania-OG 
48. The iGEM Plastic Lab - Team Westminster UK 
49. Help us Build Our Promoter Tool - Team Manchester 
50. Variability crushes the system - Interlaboratory Collaboration - Team Thessaloniki

To see the rest of the collaborations on offer, check out the collaborations page:

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Teams/Collaborations

Don't forget...

Meetups and Collaborations are ongoing! Check out Collaborations at (http://2018.igem.org/Teams/Collaborations) and the Meetups page at (http://2018.igem.org/Teams/Meetups).

Documenting Your Project

Have you started working on your wiki? Sharing your team project with the rest of iGEM community and with the world is one of the core features of iGEM. As iGEM continues to grow, the people and projects that come out of the competition are becoming increasingly recognized and valued. Don’t wait until the last minute to start your wiki. Be sure to check out the Telling Your Story page which provides useful tips for working on your wiki.

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Resources

Don't forget...

Safety Check-In Forms should be filled out any time your team is considering using organisms that are NOT on the White List of pre-approved organisms and parts. In addition to this, the *NEW* Animal Use Form has been created for teams wishing to use ANY vertebrates OR higher-order invertebrates.

Remember to update your Final Safety Form to reflect information from Check-In and Animal Use Forms before the September 7 Deadline.

If in doubt, email the safety committee as early as possible with your questions: Safety [AT] iGEM [DOT] org. 

Upcoming Dates

• August 24: Track selection freeze. More...
• August 31: Giant Jamboree regular team registration closes (at least one team member must be registered by this date in order to reserve a presentation and poster assignment for the team); late registration fee increases by $100/attendee to a total of $795/attendee. More...
• August 31: Giant Jamboree Volunteer Applications Due More...
• September 7: Final Safety Form due at 11:59PM Boston time; the form must be signed off by team PI. More...
• September 14: Title and Abstract Freeze. More...
• September 21: Roster Freeze. High school teams should prepare to send in consent forms the week or two before the deadline to allow for processing time. More...

Direct Link: http://2018.igem.org/Calendar