Judging/Judging Criteria

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Medals

iGEM 2009 will award medals. All teams can earn models. There are three levels of medals, from lowest to highest:

  • Bronze Medal
  • Silver Medal
  • Gold Medal

The requirements to earn a Bronze Medal are:

  1. Register the team, have a great summer, and have fun attending the Jamboree.
  2. Successfully complete and submit a Project Summary form.
  3. Create and share a Description of the team's project via the iGEM wiki (see TUDelft 2008 for a great example).
  4. Present a Poster and Talk at the iGEM Jamboree (watch the Heidelberg 2008 video for a great example).
  5. Enter information detailing at least one new standard BioBrick Part or Device in the Registry of Parts
    • Entered information for each new part or device should at least include primary nucleic acid sequence, description of function, authorship, any relevant safety notes, and an acknowledgement of sources and references. Consider [http://parts.mit.edu/registry/index.php/Part:BBa_J45004 BBa_J45004] as one example (be sure to check Main, Design Page, and Experiences sub-pages for this part).
    • Teams are currently expected to design and contribute standard biological parts that conform to the accepted BioBrick standards for physical assembly. Non-BioBrick parts will not be recognized by iGEM 2009 judges unless they have specific approval. The two specific BioBrick physical assembly schemes that the judges will recognize by default are (i) Tom Knight's [http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/21168 original assembly standard] and (ii) Ira Phillips [http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/32535 fusion assembly standard].
      • [Special Note. A discussion has been initiated by the BioBricks Standards Working Group to consider updating the BioBrick assembly standard in time for June 1. Check back for any updates on acceptable BioBrick assembly standards.]
    • Any new Devices that are based on gene expression are expected to conform to the PoPS device boundary standard. See chapter 3 of the book, [http://openwetware.org/wiki/Adventures Adventures in Synthetic Biology], for more information about common signal carriers and PoPS.
  6. Submit DNA for at least one new BioBrick Part or Device to the Registry of Parts.
    • The submitted DNA must be associated with a Part or Device for which you have entered information describing the part or device, and must conform to the BioBrick standards for Parts or Devices (see above).

The requirements to earn a Silver Medal, in addition to the Bronze Medal requirements, are:

  1. Demonstrate that at least one new BioBrick Part or Device of your own design and construction works as expected.
  2. Characterize the operation of at least one new BioBrick Part or Device and enter this information on the Parts or Device page via the Registry of Parts (see [http://parts.mit.edu/registry/index.php/Part:BBa_F2620 BBa_F2620] for an exemplar).

The requirements to earn a Gold Medal, in addition to the Silver Medal requirements, are any one OR more of the following:

  1. Characterize or improve an existing BioBrick Part or Device that was distributed via the 2009 iGEM BioBrick Parts collection, and enter this information back on the Registry.
  2. Help another iGEM team by, for example, charactering a part, debugging a construct, or modeling or simulating their system.
  3. Develop and document a new technical standard that supports the (i) design of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (ii) construction of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iii) characterization of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iv) analysis, modeling, and simulation of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (v) sharing BioBrick Parts or Devices, either via physical DNA or as information via the internet.
  4. Outline and detail a new approach to an issue of Human Practice in synthetic biology as it relates to your project, such as safety, security, ethics, or ownership, sharing, and innovation.

Grand Prizes

A small number of iGEM teams (between 3-10 teams) will be selected by the judges as iGEM Finalists. These teams will be selected based on the overall excellence of their entire project, from choice of project, to new Parts and Devices, to the quality of the Project Description, Poster, and Presentation, to the success and impact of the project, to consideration of issues of Human Practice, and so on.

A grand prize, first runner-up, and second runner-up will be selected by all the judges from the pool of iGEM Finalists.

Special Prizes

iGEM 2009 judging committee hopes to award the following Special prizes, conditional on the accomplishments presented by the teams. Each prize will be awarded at the discretion of the judges. Below are brief descriptions for each Special prize:

  • Best New BioBrick Part, Natural
    • Most genetically-encoded functions have not yet been converted to BioBrick parts. In fact, most genes in the natural environment have likely not ever been sequenced. Thus, there are *many* opportunities to find new, cool, and important genetically encoded functions, and refine and convert the DNA encoding these functions into BioBrick standard biological parts. For example, in 2007, the Melbourne team engineered [http://parts.mit.edu/registry/index.php/Part:BBa_I750016 BBa_I750016], a tiny protein balloon that can be used to adjust the buoyancy of bacteria. What else is out there?
  • Best New BioBrick Device, Engineered
    • New BioBrick Devices can be made by combining existing BioBrick Parts. For example, Inverters, Amplifier, Smell Generators, Protein Balloon Generators, Senders, Receiver, Actuators, and so on. What cool or important new Devices can you assemble from existing BioBrick Parts?
  • Best Human Practices Advance
    • Issues? We've got issues! How will you sell your project if you have to give away the parts? What does your family think about your genetic engineering dreams? Will the world be a safe place if we make biology easy to engineer? How do the lessons of the past inform everybody's discussion going forward? Find a new way to help human civilization consider, guide, and address the impacts of ongoing advances in biotechnology.
  • Best Experimental Measurement
    • There are a lot of exciting Parts in the Registry, but most of the Parts have never been characterized. Can you make a great measurement for one new Parts? Or, can you develop and implement a new method for characterizing thousands of parts? Go for it!
  • Best Model
    • Parts and Devices have a lot of details, too many to think about all the time, in fact. Models provide a great way to describe the functioning and operation of Parts and Devices. Show everybody what you can do!
  • Best Software Tool
    • Computers have been around for a long time. How come we don't have more, great software tools for helping everything engineering synthetic biological systems based on standard biological parts? Cadence, Synopsis, Microsoft, Google, will these names mean anything to the future of synthetic biology? Or, will you add a new name at the top of the heap? It's up to you.
  • Best New Standard
    • There's so much work to do in making biology easy to engineer. If we could easily share and build on each other's work, then we could all do so much more. Standards help to make sharing easier. For example, the BioBrick standard for physical assembly of BioBrick parts makes it easier to design and construct parts that can be readily assembled with the parts that everybody else is making. What other sorts of standards do we need? How about standards for measurements? How about standards for different types of parts (for example, what about a standard BioBrick promoter, with a fixed transcription start site? Or, how about a standard phosphorylation motif, for post-translational devices? Or, how about a standard signal carrier for biosynthetic devices? Or, how about a standard model for a class of BioBrick Devices? Or, how about a standard for sharing information about parts across computer networks?). You get the idea.
  • Best Wiki
    • The project Descriptions on the iGEM website provide a great resource for future iGEM students and teams, as well as the rest of the world, so that everybody can see what iGEM is about. For example, check out this Description from the 2007 UC Berkeley iGEM team, [http://parts.mit.edu/igem07/index.php/Berkeley_UC Bactoblood]. Wow! Can you do better?
  • Best Poster
    • Posters are a great way to concisely present your team's work. You can bring your poster to the Jamboree, but also to other meetings and conferences as well. Print out a second copy and post it at your home school so that everybody in your department or school can learn about your team. Show us what you've got.
  • Best Presentation
    • At the end of the day, many people learn best by watching and listening. Online video also provides a wonderful legacy to help others, from students, to teachers, to the general publics. Giving a great presentation is a challenge, and benefits greatly from practice and study.

Area Prizes

iGEM 2009 judging committee hopes to award the following Area prizes, conditional on the accomplishments presented by the teams. Each prize will be awarded at the discretion of the judges. Below are brief descriptions for each Area prize:

  • Best Food or Energy Project
    • People need to eat. Planes, trains, and automobiles need to eat too. Can biotechnology be responsibly used to produce food or energy without causing widespread shortages of either, and without harming the environment that future generations will inherit?
  • Best Environment Project
    • The quality of the air, water, and land, both on Earth and other heavenly bodies, limits the happiness of humans and other creatures. Can biotechnology be used to help clean the air, provide fresh drinking water, restore or enhance soil quality, terraform a near-Earth asteroid, or protect, preserve, or enhance natural biological diversity?
  • Best Health or Medicine Project
    • Many health and medical problems might best be addressed by improved biological technologies. What can synthetic biology do?
  • Best Manufacturing Project
    • Have you ever heard of nanotechnology? Well, biology is a nanotechnology that already exists, and that actually works. The ribosome is a programmable nanoassembler embedded within a reproducing machine. Forget grey goo, we've got green goo, and it has already taken over the planet! Thus, could we responsibly use biology to manufacture useful products, from the nanoscale (atoms) to the decascale (buildings and bridges). What can biology be programmed to manufacture?
  • Best New Application Area
    • We're guessing that you have great ideas that nobody has ever thought about, or if they have they forgot to tell somebody else. Can you imagine an entirely new application area for biological technology? Go for it. We'll celebrate you in front of the entire world
  • Best Foundational Advance
    • Modern biotechnology dates back to the invention of recombinant DNA technology, which lets people cut and paste pre-existing fragments of genetic material. That was only 35 years ago. In other words, biotechnology is a young adult, just entering its prime years. One thing that desperately needs doing is to develop improved tools and technologies that help to make the entire process of engineering biology easier. What foundational advance can you contribute that will take everybody's work forward?

Software Tools

Judging for the Software Tools track will have Area-specific requirements for medals as detailed below (because the work and requirements are different, medals that Software Tools teams can earn are known colloquially within iGEM as "mousepads" but, don't worry, you can tell the world that you earned a medal). Software Tools teams are also eligible for selection as Finalists, Grand Prizes, and Special Prizes.

The requirements to earn a Bronze Mousepad are:

  1. Register the team, have a great summer, and have fun attending the Jamboree.
  2. Create and share a Description of the team's project via the iGEM wiki.
  3. Present a Poster and Talk at the iGEM Jamboree.
  4. Develop and make available via the Registry an open source software tool that supports synthetic biology based on BioBrick standard biological parts (remember, the iGEM judges will be looking for substantial team-based software projects).

The requirements to earn a Silver Mousepad, in addition to the Bronze Mousepad requirements, are:

  1. Provide a detailed, draft specification for the next version of your software tool, or a second, distinct software tools project.

The requirements to earn a Gold Mousepad, in addition to the Silver Mousepad requirements, are:

  1. Help another iGEM team by, for example, analyzing a Part, debugging a Device, or modeling or simulating a System.
  2. Develop and document a new technical standard that supports the (i) design of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (ii) construction of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iii) characterization of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (iv) analysis, modeling, and simulation of BioBrick Parts or Devices, or (v) sharing of BioBrick Parts or Devices, either via physical DNA or as information via the internet.
  3. Outline and detail a new approach to an issue of Human Practice in synthetic biology as it relates to your project, such as safety, security, ethics, or ownership, sharing, and innovation.
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