Growth, Challenges and Leadership: How Madeleine Bourseul led the INSA Lyon1 team for the 2022 iGEM Competition
Interview with: Madeleine Bourseul, INSA Lyon1 (2022)
Team Project: FIAT LUX
Blog by: Dimitris Eleftheriou, Synthesizing Synergies
Edited by: Hassnain Qasim Bokhari
The iGEM 2022 INSA Lyon-1 team secured the First Undergrad Runners-Up Prize for their project, “FIAT LUX” at the 2022 iGEM Grand Jamboree. They also went home with multiple nominations and awards.
How did the team achieve such impressive results? To find out, we interviewed Madeleine Bourseul, the team leader for INSA Lyon1 iGEM team. Minutes into our conversation, it became clear why the team was successful.
Initially, the team had no designated leader. Having prior experience made it easy for Madeleine to step forward and take the wheel. Her responsibilities covered a variety of aspects of the project, including dealing with scientific, administrative and interpersonal issues.
Deciding on an iGEM Project
The team's journey began with more than 20 interested students from their class. 16 ultimately committed to work on the shared goal of: “building an impactful project.”
During the project brainstorming phase they realized that the increasingly grave and unaddressed consequences of the climate crisis were a serious concern. Food resource mismanagement, overproduction and excessive pesticide use have made the situation worse. These issues motivated them to improve today’s agricultural practices, by providing a non-intrusive in situ tracking tool of bacterial propagation within living organisms.
Their project not only aligned with iGEM’s mission of enabling local solutions to local problems, leading to global impact through synthetic biology, but it also took four Sustainable Development Goals into account:
Zero Hunger: Preventing crop losses
Responsible Consumption and Production: Promoting sustainable agricultural practices
Climate Action: Reducing pesticide reliance
Partnerships for the Goals: Collaborating with previous iGEM teams and stakeholders
As Madeleine noted, “The exchanges we had with different stakeholders demonstrated how needed FIAT LUX would be to address these goals.”
Building a Team and Navigating Challenges
Even though for the first two months the team was working on a different project, that didn’t stop them from getting to know each other and collaborating. As Madeleine already knew some of her colleagues, she had the advantage of already having some insights into their strengths, weaknesses and interests. She both observed and directly asked each team member what motivated them, to both identify their inner drives and to assign suitable tasks to each one.
She admitted there were moments when stress overwhelmed her which she inadvertently transferred to her colleagues: “Personally, I made a lot of mistakes and learned from them. iGEM is all about making mistakes and developing soft skills.”
She explained that she wished that she had more stress management capabilities, which showed her ability to identify her limitations, as well as her efforts to mitigate them. She wanted to lead by example. After all, how could she put the right people in the right roles, create synergies between them, and properly manage the team if she was not able to develop important skills for herself while preparing for this leadership role? What also helped Madeleine improve her skills as a leader was seeking regular feedback. This allowed her to reflect on her performance. Moreover, the team held weekly meetings to stay updated and engaged in team-building activities such as shared meals and gatherings at each other’s homes.
Like any project, theirs came with its share of challenges. Midway through their iGEM journey, the team members faced reduced motivation, fatigue and confusion about their direction. These issues varied in intensity among members, sometimes leading to misunderstandings and conflicts. Madeleine’s approach was to avoid imposing uninspiring tasks or strict deadlines. Instead, she focused on motivation and transparency. During meetings, she highlighted the team’s achievements and reminded them of their shared goals and aspirations, and encouraged them to share issues with each other.
The Long-Distance “Relationship”
There was a time when the team members were even continents apart; the team members were in France, Germany, Sweden, Korea and Mexico. Open communication and transparency were the keys to developing healthy team dynamics during this period. They relied on online team meetings, catch-ups or even voice messaging, due to the time differences. The fact that they were so spread out geographically also gave them an advantage: they were able to connect with iGEM teams and a variety of stakeholders from many parts of the world, gaining diverse viewpoints, insights and ideas.
They were also able to compete in and win international entrepreneurship competitions, they managed to attract the interest of investors and companies, and they secured financial support. Madeleine added that this external support even encouraged their university to become more involved. For example, another department contributed to the Dry Lab’s work.
As the iGEM Grand Jamboree approached, iGEM’s weekly reminders helped the team realize how far they had come as they were nearing the finish line. They worked as a motivation booster. She emphasized the importance of communicating these deadlines with the rest of the team, making clear what needed to be done, as well as what was expected from each team member.
One specific thing that she was particularly proud of was that the team created a software tool that they decided to make open-access! This decision aligned with iGEM’s values of sharing knowledge to foster the use of synthetic biology and of creating global impact. It’s clear that their initial goal of creating a project that would have impact was realized <3
Who knows what the future holds for this software, this project or this team. But one thing is certain: They did a great job and should be proud of their accomplishments!
Madeleine’s Tips for a Successful iGEM Journey:
Start early with your wikis.
Keep everyone motivated and properly informed.
Distance can be a problem. So, when you do have the chance to get together, work together and do things together, it can strengthen the team, even if it’s done virtually.
Do not forget to enjoy the process.
iGEM is an opportunity to learn.
Always be flexible and make compromises.
Self-awareness is key, especially for leaders.
Connect with each team member as an individual.
Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your team.
The team continued this project after the iGEM Competition and built Inlux Biotech, an agritech startup.
Are you an iGEMer planning to start your biofounder journey? Check out the iGEM Startups program.
Do you want to compete in the world’s largest annual synthetic biology competition? Register for the 2025 iGEM Competition.
This blog-post is a part of a series of blogs by the project Synthesizing Synergies on decoding successful iGEM Competition teams and their projects.
