SULSA Success at iGEM 2011 European Finals

SULSA are delighted to announce that four SULSA University teams competed this year in the 2011 iGEM Europeean Jamboree held for the first time in Amsterdam at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

The fact that four Scottish teams were competing in the 2011 iGEM demonstrates how committed Scotland is to stimulating interest from young undergraduate scientists for the filed of Synthetic Biology. SULSA is also committed to developing this novel field of research within Scotland. SULSA is thrilled with the fantastic results that were achieved this year in the European Jamboree, which were down to the dedicated team of supervisors and the hard work put in over the summer by the undergraduate students.

• The University of Dundee led by Frank Sargent achieved a Gold medal and have made it through to the finals at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
• The University of Edinburgh led by Chris French won the prize for Best Model, won a Gold medal, and have made it through to the finals at MIT.
• The University of Glasgow led by Susan Rosser won a Silver medal.
• The University of St Andrews led by Anne Smith achieved a Gold medal.

The World championship Jamboree will be held at MIT this year from November 5th to 7th. Good luck to Dundee and Edinburgh!

An acount from Dundee:

The Dundee iGEM team was entering iGEM for the first time and comprised students and instructors from across two of the University’s four colleges, as well as The James Hutton Institute, and was led by Frank Sargent of the Division of Molecular Microbiology. Frank said, “The students have all been brilliant this summer and to win a gold medal in our inaugural competition is fantastic. I’d like to thank the many colleges, institutions and companies who have sponsored us over the summer, especially SULSA, who have really come together to make this project a reality. Engaging undergraduates in research is something Dundee is increasingly seeking to excel at and I am really proud of what the students have achieved this year.”

The Dundee iGEM team was made up of 10 students including seven from the College of Life Sciences, two from the School of Computing, and one from the School of Mathematics. Richard Owen, a biochemistry student, said “The team really performed brilliantly en masse”, while Rachelle Binny, a mathematical biology student, said “We’ve all enjoyed the summer so much – I’m totally inspired and can’t wait to compete in the finals in the USA”.

A quote from the Glasgow team

Hannah Ralph, a 3rd year Genetics student said:"Participating in iGEM has been incredibly demanding but amazingly rewarding.  The skills I have gained as a result are truly invaluable.  It was really inspiring to attend the European Jamboree and I had a great time meeting all the other teams and seeing the projects everyone has been working on.  I am so grateful to have had this opportunity – it’s been a great summer!"

University of Dundee iGEM team led by Frank Sargent.

Highlights of the European results are shown below, a full list of results can be found here.

European Regional Winner: Imperial College London

European Regional Finalists: Imperial College London, Paris Bettencourt, Witwatersrand-CSIR

Best New BioBrick Part, Natural: BBa_K541515, Fatih Turkey

Best New BioBrick Device, Engineered: BBa_K540000, Lyon-INSA-ENS

Best Experimental Measurement Approach: Witwatersrand-CSIR

Best Model: Edinburgh

Best Wiki: Imperial College London

Best Presentation: Paris Bettencourt

Best Poster Witwatersrand-CSIR

Best Human Practices Advance: UPO-Sevilla

Teams that will advance to the world championship: Bielefeld-Germany,  Dundee,  Edinburgh,  EPF-Lausanne, ENSPS-Strasbourg, ETH-Zurich, Fatih Turkey,  Grenoble,  Groningen, Imperial College London,  KULeuven, Lyon-INSA-ENS, METU-BIN, Paris Bettencourt, Potsdam Bioware, TU Munich, UNITS Trieste, UPO-Sevilla, Uppsala-Sweden, Witwatersrand-CSIR.