You can still participate in iGEM 2020 even if you have limited or no access to your lab this season. Evaluation criteria for medals and prizes have been adapted for this year; a wet lab component is now no longer necessary to obtain medals. In addition, there are still plenty of ways to push the boundaries of synbio with no or limited access to a lab this year.

See below for some inspiration, tools, and resources to help you get started!

Example Project Styles

Cross-Border Projects

Teams focus on the design, modelling, and engineering phase of a project. A wet-lab component is not required. Teams may also aim for special prizes in areas that do not require wet-lab, for example: software, hardware, bioinformatics, statistics, product design, entrepreneurship.

Lab-Acceleration Projects:

Teams spend more time focusing on the process of rational project design, deliberating the plan and saving any unnecessary wet-lab error efforts. They perform only the absolutely necessary experiments in an accelerated time period.

Two-Phase Projects:

Teams needing a longer time frame can opt to do a project in two phases over two iGEM years, where Phase I does not require a wet-lab component. See the Two-Phase Projects page for more information.

Collaboration Projects:

Teams are encouraged to seek for collaborators to work together on their project. This can be achieved either through: 1) collaboration with iGEM 2020 teams, or 2) open-science collaboration with the community. More info coming soon.

We want to also encourage teams to find their own style of project, which may be a mixture of the above or may not even be on this list. Teams should think creatively on how to flexibly combine the wet-lab and dry-lab components that your project needs.

Resources for Teams

Sponsor offers

iGEM's Partners are here to help you! Take advantage of sponsor offers for teams: from complimentary software to help with your modeling and design, to free custom DNA to use when you're back in lab. Special offers for teams.

Software Tools

Browse through a curated list of free software tools to assist with the theoretical aspects of your synthetic biology project. Click here for software tools

Online Community Event Calendar

Get connected and learn from your peers at virtual meetups throughout the season. Find an online event on the new community event calendar.

Global iGEM Slack Channel

Join the iGEM community on Slack for collaboration and discussions. Learn more.

Ambassador “Coffee Hours”

This year we have 26 iGEM Ambassadors representing each sub-region and region of the world. Throughout the season they will help you get connected with your neighbor teams, assist with organizing virtual meetups, and collect your feedback. Connect with your local iGEM Ambassadors at pre-scheduled "coffee hours".

External Collaborations

iGEM X Just One Giant Lab (JOGL)

iGEM is teaming up with Just One Giant Lab to foster efficient collaboration among teams and enhance the accessibility to the skills and resources amidst the pandemic.

Join the iGEM 2020 program on the JOGL platform and be a part of the global effort to achieve Vision 2030 for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Create a JOGL account
Launch your project/ Join one
Participate in iGEM: SDG challenge
Post your needs, navigate resources and collaborate

Learn more about the JOGL X iGEM Collaboration here: https://app.jogl.io/program/iGEM2020

Click to download the starter guide

Competition/New/Resources

iGEMers' Guide to iGEM in the Time of Pandemic