Anatomy of an iGEM Team
“Good teammates make you learn and grow. We had gone from being a team to being a family.”
You may or may not be familiar with iGEM’s history – beginning in 2003 as a class at MIT and developing into the premier international synthetic biology competition. From the beginning, students participating in iGEM have worked as a team. The first 16 students to participate in iGEM in 2003 worked together as a team to design biological systems to make cells blink. In 2004, iGEM grew to 5 teams and was officially set up as a competition. iGEM has continued to grow, and now hundreds of teams from around the world use synthetic biology to solve local problems and tackle global challenges.
But what exactly is an “iGEM team”? Over the years, iGEM has evolved and expanded to accommodate new groups that want to participate, and to improve the iGEM experience by refining the kind and composition of teams, the roles of team members, and the sections in which the teams compete. We’ve put together some guidelines to help you understand the anatomy of an iGEM team:
Team Kind
When you register for iGEM, you will register as one of four team "kinds". Though requirements for individuals who serve as PIs is determined by the kind of iGEM team, the role of the student team members remains the same for all team kinds (see Team Roles). The four team kinds are:
Collegiate
Student team members are usually collegiate students. You may also have postgraduate students and/or high school students on a Collegiate team.
High School
Student team members are only high school students and students who will graduate high school in the current school year. High School teams compete with other High School teams in the High School Track and Section. All High School teams must submit additional paperwork to be approved, including consent forms for each team member.
Community Lab
Student team members are members of a community lab. This can include anyone. Community Lab teams compete with Collegiate teams in the Traditional and Special Tracks and in the Undergraduate and Overgraduate Sections based on the team members' ages. All Community Lab teams must complete additional requirements and send the applicable documentation to documents [AT] igem [DOT] org:
demonstrate access to a BL 1 lab
demonstrate an adequate safety training program
must be an incorporated entity (for profit or not-for-profit)
must have a legal entity which has the ability to sign contracts
Commercial
These are teams run by companies, including companies contracting to run teams for high schools, colleges, universities, as well as companies recruiting individual members. Commercial teams can include anyone. All teams run by companies must register as commercial teams. Commercial teams registering as other kinds (Collegiate, High School, or Community Lab) may not be eligible to compete. Commercial teams will need to meet some additional requirements and must email commercial-teams [AT] igem [DOT] org to begin their registration process.
iGEM teams consist primarily of undergraduate students at an accredited college or university. Teams may also be composed of postgraduate students, high school students, or community lab members.
Team Composition
iGEM teams consist primarily of undergraduate students at an accredited college or university. Teams may also be composed of postgraduate students, high school students, or community lab members.
All iGEM teams must include at least one Principal Investigator or “PI” who is in a position of authority and is responsible for the team. We recommend, but do not require, that teams have more than one PI.
In addition to the student team members and PIs, an iGEM team may include Instructors and/or Advisors who can help with technical training in lab protocols and support the team in understanding and meeting competition requirements (e.g., previous iGEMers, graduate students, post-docs, and/or lab technicians). If there are none around you, you may be interested in signing up for the Mentorship program.
Based on previous competitions, we strongly recommend the following for the composition of your iGEM team:
Teams should have between 8 and 15 student team members.
Teams with more than 15 student team members should consider splitting into two teams and taking advantage of the multiple team discount. This also gives a larger team adequate wiki space and presentation time to cover the work generated by more team members.
Teams should be gender-balanced, having approximately as many women as men on a team.
Teams should be composed of an interdisciplinary group of students from different majors and with different skill sets.
Team Roles
Similar to sports teams, iGEM team members have different roles and responsibilities:
Student team members
Student team members brainstorm project ideas, choose a project idea, and build and test their chosen biological system. Students are also responsible for documenting their work and for meeting the various iGEM deadlines throughout the iGEM season.
Principal Investigator
Principal investigators (“PIs”) are individuals in a position of authority who are responsible for the team. For example, in a university setting, they are authorized to have lab space, grants, and hiring privileges. Team PIs are responsible for the official team registration, the team roster, certifying the safety form, payment of the team’s fees, and any other official aspect of the team.
They also provide guidance and support throughout the season, including assistance with fundraising, lab support, and help with school bureaucracy and regulations. Each team must have at least one PI on their team roster at all times throughout the competition. We strongly recommend (but do not require) that each team also has a Secondary PI. Specific requirements for each team kind are:
For Collegiate teams, the primary PI must be a professor. If the team wishes to have more than one PI, the other PIs may be a post-doc or above.
For High School teams, the primary PI must be either a principal or teacher.
For Community Lab teams, the primary PI must be the director of the community lab.
For Commercial teams, the primary PI must be authorized to make binding commitments for the company and be able to authorize the necessary payments.
High School teams and Community Lab teams may have a professor as one of their team PIs if they wish.
Instructor
Team instructors provide day-to-day support for the team, and are aware of team activities and experimental plans. Instructors are also be responsible for the technical training of the team members in lab protocols
Advisor
Team advisors include graduate students, post-graduate students, post-docs, and/or technicians who support the team.
The Team Roster is the official record of everyone who is involved with the iGEM team, including professors, teachers, instructors, advisors, and the student team members. We strongly recommend that you fill out the Team Roster to the best of your ability on the same day that you register your iGEM team.
Team Roster
The team roster is the official record of everyone who is involved with the iGEM team, including professors, teachers, instructors, advisors, and the student team members.
New in 2023, the team PI is the person responsible for editing the team roster. We strongly recommend that the team roster be filled out as much as possible on the same day that you register your iGEM team. Be sure to include the ages of all student team members, otherwise the system will default to placing your team in the Overgraduate section even if you are an Undergraduate team (see Team Sections).
The team roster is a competition requirement and must be completed by the Team Roster Freeze. You can add or remove team members until the time of the Team Roster Freeze. (We’ll cover competition requirements in another blog post).
Team Sections
Each iGEM team competes in one of three sections:
Undergraduate Section
All student team members are age 23 or younger on March 31st.
Overgraduate Section
One or more student team members are older than 23 on March 31st.
High School Section
All student team members are high school students on March 31st, including students who will graduate from high school before July 1st.
All High School teams (including Commercial teams composed of high school students) compete in the High School section.
All other teams compete in either the Undergraduate or Overgraduate sections, depending on the ages of the student team members. Your team's section will be calculated automatically by the iGEM software based on the ages of the student members on your team roster.
Being part of an iGEM team is a uniquely rewarding experience.
Being part of an iGEM team is a uniquely rewarding experience. Many iGEM alumni have expressed sentiments similar to those of Alba Iglesias Vilches – you will learn from your teammates, experience personal growth, and come together as family. Whether this is your first time participating in iGEM, or whether you are returning as an iGEM student team member, PI, Advisor, Instructor, Mentor, or an iGEM alumni offering your expertise and support for teams, your iGEM team experience may be one of the most exciting and influential experiences of your career and life.
Registration for the 2023 iGEM Competition is coming soon!
