20 Years of communicating with the world through iGEM Team Wikis
“Research does not exist in a bubble; scientific work must be communicated in order to add it to the body of knowledge within a scientific community, so that its members may ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ and benefit from all that has come before.”
The iGEM team wiki is the primary means by which teams communicate their entire project to the world. The wiki is essentially a website that provides background information, describes project goals, and shows experimental results. Like other forms of scientific publication, the wiki also includes references to acknowledge the work of previous iGEM teams and other research groups that have helped inform the current project. Importantly, the team wiki has been a key deliverable since iGEM first became an international competition in 2005, and is archived so it can be accessed by future teams and iGEM community members.
DID YOU KNOW
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DID YOU KNOW ?
All of the team wikis for the iGEM Competition were created using MediaWiki, and hosted on a single server up until 2021. While the single server worked well enough for many years, there was always the risk that everything could be lost if the server went down and it was problematic to increase the server capacity. That is why in 2022 we chose GitLab and cloud servers as way to host iGEM team wikis (read more about our move to GitLab here), where we have access to thousands of servers and can more easily accommodate the online needs of iGEM teams in real time.
Over the years, the format and content of the team wikis have continued to evolve to reflect advances in technology and updates to the competition requirements. The team wikis also have become ever more impressive with time as iGEM teams have shown tremendous creativity and ingenuity in designing their wikis, and have openly shared their techniques so that future teams could benefit from their experience.
In honor of iGEM’s 20th Anniversary, we thought we’d take a look back on the award winning team wikis:
2005
First year all teams created wikis using MediaWiki to document their projects
ETH Zurich 2005 (Switzerland), Best Wiki, Most Sensitive Super Model Award, Precision Engineering Award, George W. Bush Geography Award.
2008-2010
“Best Wiki” officially became a Special Prize for the competition
TUDelft 2008 (Netherlands), Best Wiki, Gold Medal.
Heidelberg 2009 (Germany) Best Wiki, 1st Runner Up, Winner of the PoPS Prize, Best New Standard, Gold Medal.
Cambridge 2010 (United Kingdom) Best Wiki, Finalist, iGEMers Prize, Gold Medal.
2011
Calgary 2011 (Canada) Best Wiki, Best Experimental Measurement Approach, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Americas.
Imperial College London 2011 (United Kingdom) Best Wiki, Safety Commendation, Grand Prize Winner, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Europe.
HokkaidoU Japan 2011 (Japan) Best Wiki, Bronze Medal, Asia.
2012
Calgary 2012 (Canada) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Best Model, Safety Commendation, Regional Finalist, Advance to Championship, Best Human Practices Advance (Americas West and Championship), Gold Medal, Americas West.
Cornell 2012 (United States) Best Wiki, Best Human Practices Advance, Regional Finalist, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Americas East.
Colombia 2012 (Colombia) Best Wiki, Best Model, Best New BioBrick Part Natural, Safety Commendation, Grand Prize Winner, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Latin America.
LMU-Munich 2012 (Germany) Best Wiki, Best New Application Project, Finalist, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Europe.
Peking 2012 (China) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, 1st Runner Up, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Asia.
Slovenia 2012 (Slovenia) Best Wiki (Europe and Championship), Advance to Championship, Best Health & Medicine Project, Best Model, First Runner Up, Gold Medal, Europe.
UNAM Genomics Mexico 2012 (Mexico) Best Wiki, Advance to Championship, Silver Medal, Latin America.
2013
Calgary 2013 (Canada) Best Wiki, Best Food & Energy Project, Regional Finalist, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, North America, Undergrad Division.
Colombia Uniandes 2013 (Colombia) Best Wiki, Best Model, Silver Medal, Latin America, Overgrad Division.
Hong Kong HKUST 2013 (Hong Kong) Best Wiki, Regional Finalist, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Asia, Overgrad Division.
Lethbridge 2013 (Canada) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Regional Finalist, Security Commendation, Advance to Championship, Grand Prize Winner, Gold Medal, North America, Overgrad Division.
Paris Bettencourt 2013 (France) Best Wiki, Best Health & Medicine Project, Second Runner Up (Europe), Advance to Championship, Grand Prize Winner (Championship). Gold Medal, Europe, Overgrad Division.
SDU-Denmark 2013 (Denmark) Best Wiki, Most Improved Registry Part, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Europe, Undergrad Division.
Shenzhen BGIC ATCG 2013 (China) Best Wiki, Regional Finalist, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Asia, Undergrad Division.
SYSU-China 2013 (China) Best Wiki, Best Model, Best New BioBrick Part Natural, Advance to Championship, Second Runner Up Championship, Gold Medal, Asia, Overgrad Division.
TU-Munich 2013 (Germany) Best Wiki, Best Environment Project, First Runner Up, Advance to Championship, Gold Medal, Europe, Undergrad Division.
2014
Teams were provided with two pre-populated HTML templates they could use or adapt to build their wikis
Aalto-Helsinki 2014 (Finland) Best Wiki, Silver Medal, Undergrad Division.
LMU-Munich 2014 (Germany) Best Wiki, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
SDU-Denmark 2014 (Denmark) Best Wiki, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
2015
Standard Wiki URLS were implemented for the Judging Forms
Winners for Best Wiki (2015)
UCSF 2015 (United States) Best Wiki, Best Information Processing Project, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division.
TAS_Taipei 2015 (Taiwan) Best Wiki, Best High School Project, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, High School Division.
TU_Delft 2015 (Netherlands) Best Wiki, Best Applied Design, Best Hardware Project, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, Overgrad Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2015)
Undergrad Division: Czech Republic 2015 (Czech Republic) Gold Medal; Heidelberg 2015 (Germany) Gold Medal; Oxford 2015 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Peking 2015 (China) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: Bielefeld-CeBiTec 2015 (Germany) Gold Medal; ETH Zurich 2015 (Switzerland) Gold Medal; Freiburg 2015 (Germany) Gold Medal; Marburg 2015 (Germany) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BroadRun-NorthernVA 2015 (United States) Silver Medal; HSNU-TAIPEI 2015 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; LASATX 2015 (United States) Gold Medal; Slovenia_HS 2015 (Slovenia) Gold Medal.
2016
Winners for Best Wiki (2016)
Imperial College 2016 (United Kingdom) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Best Education & Public Engagement, Best Foundational Advance Project, Best New Basic Part, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, Undergrad Division.
NTU-Singapore 2016 (Singapore) Best Wiki, Best Measurement Project, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
SDU-Denmark 2016 (Denmark) Best Wiki, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
UrbanTundra Edmonton 2016 (Canada) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Best Presentation, Bronze Medal, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2016)
Undergrad Division: NCTU Formosa 2016 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; Oxford 2016 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Sydney Australia 2016 (Australia) Gold Medal; UCLA 2016 (United States) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: Groningen 2016 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; TU_Delft 2016 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; Wageningen UR 2016 (Netherlands) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BroadRun-Baltimore 2016 (United States) Gold Medal; CLSB-UK 2016 (United Kingdom) Silver Medal; LambertGA 2016 (United States) Silver Medal; TAS Taipei 2016 (Taiwan) Gold Medal.
2017
Winners for Best Wiki (2017)
Heidelberg 2017 (Germany) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Best Poster, Best Foundational Advance Project, Best Software Tool, Best Integrated Human Practices, Finalist, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division.
Wageningen UR 2017 (Netherlands) Best Wiki, iGEMers Prize, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
TAS Taipei 2017 (Taiwan) Best Wiki, Finalist, Gold Medal, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2017)
Undergrad Division: CSMU NCHU Taiwan 2017 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; Glasgow 2017 (United Kingdom) Silver Medal; INSA-UPS France 2017 (France) Gold Medal; Vilnius-Lithuania 2017 (Lithuania) Gold Medal; Oxford 2017 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: Edinburgh OG 2017 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Freiburg 2017 (Germany) Gold Medal; Munich 2017 (Germany) Gold Medal; TUDelft 2017 (Netherlands) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BNDS China 2017 (China) Gold Medal; Judd UK 2017 (United Kingdom) Silver Medal; Shenzhen SFLS 2017 (China) Bronze Medal; CLSB-UK 2017 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal.
2018
Winners for Best Wiki (2018)
Valencia UPV 2018 (Spain) Best Wiki, Best New Application Project, Best Model, Best Software Tool, Best Hardware, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, Undergrad Division.
Munich 2018 (Germany) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Best Manufacturing Project, Best Entrepreneurship, Best Software Tool, Bronze Medal, First Runner Up, Overgrad Division.
GreatBay China 2018 (China) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Best Model, Best Product Design, Best New Basic Part, Best New Composite Part, Best Part Collection, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2018)
Undergrad Division: Oxford 2018 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; SZU-China 2018 (China) Gold Medal; UC San Diego 2018 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Utrecht 2018 (Netherlands) Bronze Medal;
Overgrad Division: BGU Israel 2018 (Israel) Gold Medal; Leiden 2018 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; Marburg 2018 (Germany) Gold Medal; TUDelft 2018 (Netherlands) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BNDS CHINA 2018 (China) Silver Medal; Lambert GA 2018 (United States) Gold Medal; METU HS Ankara 2018 (Turkey) Silver Medal; TAS Taipei 2018 (Taiwan) Gold Medal.
2019
Winners for Best Wiki (2019)
TU Kaiserslautern 2019 (Germany) Best Wiki, Best Poster, Best Environment Project, Best Plant Synthetic Biology, Gold Medal, Second Runner Up, Undergrad Division.
Linkoping Sweden 2019 (Sweden) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Best Therapeutics Project, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
GreatBay SZ 2019 (China) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Best Hardware, Best New Basic Part, Best Part Collection, iGEMers Prize, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2019)
Nominees for Best Wiki Undergrad Division: Calgary 2019 (Canada) Gold Medal; NCKU Tainan 2019 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; NUS Singapore 2019 (Singapore) Gold Medal; UCL 2019 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Vilnius-Lithuania 2019 (Lithuania) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: EPFL 2019 (Switzerland) Gold Medal; Exeter 2019 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Sydney Australia 2019 (Australia) Gold Medal; Wageningen UR 2019 (Netherlands) Gold Medal;
High School Division: GENAS China 2019 (China) Gold Medal; Lambert GA 2019 (United States) Gold Medal; Mingdao 2019 (China) Gold Medal; SIS Korea 2019 (Republic of Korea) Gold Medal.
2020
Team videos became an official requirement for wikis
Winners for Best Wiki (2020)
UPF_Barcelona 2020 (Spain) Best Wiki, Best New Basic Part, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division
Leiden 2020 (Netherlands) Best Wiki, Best Diagnostics Project, Best Supporting Entrepreneurship, Inclusivity Award, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, Overgrad Division.
SDU-Denmark 2020 (Denmark) Best Wiki, Best Hardware, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
GreatBay_SCIE 2020 (China) Best Wiki, Best Hardware, Best Model, Best Integrated Human Practices, Gold Medal, First Runner-Up, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2020)
Undergrad Division: Toulouse_INSA-UPS 2020 (France) Gold Medal; Vilnius-Lithuania 2020 (Lithuania) Gold Medal; Waterloo 2020 (Canada) Gold Medal; XMU-China 2020 (China) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: Groningen 2020 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; TUDelft 2020 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; TU_Darmstadt 2020 (Germany) Gold Medal;
High School Division: CLS_CLSG_UK 2020 (United Kingdom) Silver Medal; GreatBay_SZ 2020 (China) Gold Medal; Shanghai_SFLS_SPBS 2020 (China) Gold Medal; TAS_Taipei 2020 (Taiwan) Gold Medal.
2021
TO help celebrate more wikis, The number of nominees for Best Wiki Prize was Doubled to 10 Qualified teams per division
Winners for Best Wiki (2021)
NEFU_China 2021 (China) Best Wiki, Best Diagnostics Project, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division.
NUS_Singapore 2021 (Singapore) Best Wiki, Best Manufacturing Project, Best Part Collection, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division.
EPFL 2021 (Switzerland) Best Wiki, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
TU_Darmstadt 2021 (Germany) Best Wiki, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
LINKS_China 2021 (China) Best Wiki, Best New Basic Part, Best New Composite Part, Best Part Collection, Best Supporting Entrepreneurship, Gold Medal, High School Division.
TAS_Taipei 2021 (Taiwan) Best Wiki, Best Model, Best Sustainable Development Impact, iGEMers Prize, Gold Medal, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2021)
Undergrad Division: Gifu 2021 (Japan) Gold Medal; IISER-Tirupati_India 2021 (India) Gold Medal; KCL_UK 2021 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; NU_Kazakhstan 2021 (Kazakhstan) Gold Medal; ShanghaiTech_China 2021 (China) Gold Medal; Toulouse_INSA-UPS 2021 (France) Gold Medal; UPenn 2021 (United States) Gold Medal; ZJU-China 2021 (China) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: Aachen 2021 (Germany) Gold Medal; BOKU-Vienna 2021 (Austria) Gold Medal; Evry_Paris-Saclay 2021 (France) Gold Medal; Groningen 2021 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; Marburg 2021 (Germany) Gold Medal; Paris_Bettencourt 2021 (France) Gold Medal; SDU-Denmark 2021 (Denmark) Gold Medal; UZurich 2021 (Switzerland) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BJEA_China 2021 (China) Gold Medal; CCA_San_Diego 2021 (United States) Gold Medal; GreatBay_SZ 2021 (China) Gold Medal; HK_SSC 2021 (Hong Kong) Gold Medal; iBowu-China 2021 (China) Gold Medal; Lethbridge_HS 2021 (Canada) Gold Medal; NDNF_China 2021 (China) Gold Medal; SZ_SHD 2021 (China) Gold Medal.
2022
iGEM transitioned from MediaWiki to GitLab as the platform FOR team wikis
Winners for Best Wiki (2022)
INSA_Lyon1 2022 (France) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Best Food & Nutrition Project, Best Hardware, Best New Composite Part, Best Education, Gold Medal, 1st Runner-Up, Undergrad Division.
Patras-Medicine 2022 (Greece) Best Wiki, Best Diagnostics Project, Gold Medal, Undergrad Division.
Leiden 2022 (Netherlands) Best Wiki, Best Supporting Entrepreneurship, Safety and Security Award, Gold Medal, Overgrad Division.
Lambert_GA 2022 (United States) Best Wiki, Best Presentation, Gold Medal, Grand Prize Winner, High School Division.
Nominees for Best Wiki (2022)
Undergrad Division: Estonia_TUIT 2022 (Estonia) Silver Medal; HKUST 2022 (Hong Kong) Gold Medal; Imperial_College_London 2022 (United Kingdom) Gold Medal; Ionis_Paris 2022 (France) Gold Medal; McGill 2022 (Canada) Gold Medal; Munich 2022 (Germany) Gold Medal; TU-Eindhoven 2022 (Netherlands) Gold Medal; UBC-Okanagan 2022 (Canada) Gold Medal;
Overgrad Division: EPFL 2022 (Switzerland) Gold Medal; MIT_MAHE 2022 (India) Gold Medal; Montpellier 2022 (France) Gold Medal; Technion-Israel 2022 (Israel) Gold Medal; Thessaly 2022 (Greece) Gold Medal; UCopenhagen 2022 (Denmark) Gold Medal; UNILausanne 2022 (Switzerland) Gold Medal; UZurich 2022 (Switzerland) Gold Medal; WWU_Muenster 2022 (Germany) Gold Medal;
High School Division: BS_United_China 2022 (China) Gold Medal; GEMS_Taiwan 2022 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; ICJFLS 2022 (China) Gold Medal; LINKS_China 2022 (China) Gold Medal; Mingdao 2022 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; Nanjing_NFLS 2022 (China) Gold Medal; NYC_Empire_State 2022 (United States) Gold Medal; SHSBNU_China 2022 (China) Gold Medal; Wego-Taipei 2022 (Taiwan) Gold Medal; YkPaO 2022 (China) Gold Medal.
This year’s teams will no doubt build some truly impressive team wikis as they ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’ to communicate their projects to the world. We can’t wait to see how the 2023 iGEM teams will impress the Judges, and indeed the world at large, when they showcase their projects at the Grand Jamboree!
2023 teams:
Be sure to get ahead of the WikiFreeze Deadline – October 12 at 16:00 UTC – by working on your wikis now!
