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Want to stay updated on all the presentations and events this weekend? Bloggers from iGEMwatch will be liveblogging from the World Championship!

Be sure to check their blog frequently for updates!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added several team videos, a Regional Jamboree video, and an opportunity to promote synthetic biology! Recent additions have been from:

• Johns Hopkins
• Colombia
• Paris Bettencourt
• Rathenau Instituut
• SynBERC

The iGEMer’s prize is a chance for you, the participants, to have a say in which project you consider to be the ‘best’ at this year’s competition. It is organized by iGEMers, for iGEMers.

In order to make your decision as to which team you think has produced the ‘best project’, you will need to have a look at other teams’ wikis on the web. This can help you to decide what presentations and posters you might see at the jamboree to help you choose which team you would like to award this prize to. What is it that you liked about the project? What do you think is particularly important in producing an iGEM project, and how does the team you have chosen demonstrate this?

You will be given a voting ballot and instructions for how to vote in your team box when you check in at Registration.

Check out the great workshops scheduled for this weekend! Workshop hosts include:

• FBI
• Autodesk
• Nasa
• AlumniGEM
• Software Division
• and more!

See the complete schedule here!

Remember, judging forms are due tonight at 11:59PM Boston time! Any member of the team can make changes as long as they are logged in. Edits to titles or abstracts should be submitted in the "Changes" box at the bottom.

Complete your form here!

If you haven't already, check out the new main page for the 2011 World Championship Jamboree! It contains all the information you'll need to have a great experience here at MIT this coming weekend! This main page is also where you can find the:

• Jamboree Handbook
• Schedule of events
• Campus map
• Workshop schedule
• and much more!

Be sure to check often for updates!

Autodesk Maya is used by leading biovisualization studios to animate and simulate their 3D designs. Discover how Maya can help you create immersive scientific visualizations to model and analyze your research. We will be hosting a new course on Sunday, November 6th, at 5:00pm to 5:30pm in room 32-141.

Maya software and tutorials are available for free for students and educators. Additional information and resources are available online here.

For the complete schedule of workshops on Sunday, click here.

Judging forms for the 2011 World Championship Jamboree are now available! Any member of the team can make edits to the judging form by logging in and clicking "edit" under the team project abstract. Changes to title, abstract, etc. should be noted in the "Changes" box at the bottom of the page.

The deadline for completed judging forms is Monday October 31 at 11:59PM Boston time. Complete your judging forms here!

Remember to register for the World Championship Jamboree by Friday October 28! Team members must register by Friday. Pre-registration is highly recommended for all other attendees. Complete your registration here!

Also, be sure to make any changes to your team wikis before Friday October 28! Wikis will be frozen at 11:59PM Boston time.

The sign-up sheet for practice sessions has now been posted! Please use this sheet to sign up for a time slot for presentation practice. Rooms for practice sessions are available Friday November 4th from 6pm-10pm. Room numbers and locations will be announced soon!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added several team videos, an app, and a game! Recent additions have been from:

• UNICAMP-EMSE Brazil
• UNAM-Genomics Mexico
• Penn State
• Imperial College London
• Nevada
• SYSU-China
• uOttawa

Attention iGEM 2011 Teams advancing to the World Championship! If you have parts that you would like to submit to the Registry, you can send them to us!

Your new submissions will be considered by the World Championship judges, in addition to your parts submitted for the Regional Jamborees, as long as they are received before the October 28 deadline.

Please note that sending in additional parts is not a requirement. As always please be sure to add and document your parts on the Registry, and send them in pSB1C3!

See the Results from the iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Asia!

Congratulations to ALL of the Asia region teams.

Keep in mind:
• The Asia region team wikis have been thawed
• Registration for the World Championship is open. See the Attendance Fee page for registration details

The iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Asia in Hong Kong is going on now!

For more information about the event see the Regional Jamboree: Asia page.

Not at the Jamboree? Follow along!

• Twitter:iGEM HQ Follow the Awards Ceremony live!
• Twitter: #iGEM2011Regionals

See the Results from the iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Americas!

Congratulations to ALL of the Americas region teams.

Keep in mind:
• The Americas region team wikis have been thawed
• Registration for the World Championship is open. See the Attendance Fee page for registration details

The iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Americas in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA is going on now!

For more information about the event see the Regional Jamboree: Americas page.

Not at the Jamboree? Follow along!

• Twitter:iGEM HQ Follow the Awards Ceremony live!
• Twitter: #iGEM2011Regionals
• IBE's Mark Riley blogs live from the Regional Jamboree: Americas on the IBE blog

Registration for the World Championship Jamboree is now open.

See the Jamboree Attendance Fee page for instructions on how to register for the Jamboree being held at MIT, November 5-7, 2011.

For iGEM teams that advance to the World Championship, be sure to register by the October 28 deadline!

Asia region wikis have now been frozen!

Wikis for the Asia region will be thawed on October 16 to allow teams to make changes before the World Championship Jamboree in November. See the calendar of events for a complete schedule!

See the Results from the iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Europe!

Congratulations to ALL of the Europe region teams.

Keep in mind:
• The Europe region team wikis have been thawed
• Registration for the World Championship will open shortly

The iGEM 2011 Regional Jamboree: Europe in Amsterdam, Netherlands has begun!

For more information about the event see the Regional Jamboree: Europe page.

Not at the Jamboree? Follow along!

• Twitter:iGEM HQ Follow the Awards Ceremony live!
• Twitter: #iGEM2011Regionals
• Regional Jamboree: Europe LIVE blog, brought to you by Christian, Mark, & co.

A major announcement for all registered iGEM 2011 software teams:

In order to further develop the iGEM Software Division, all registered iGEM 2011 software teams are invited to automatically advance to the World Championship. To find out more about this decision and read the open letter to software teams see more details here.

Americas region wikis have now been frozen!

Wikis for the Americas region will be thawed on October 10 to allow teams to make changes before the World Championship Jamboree in November. See the calendar of events for a complete schedule!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added several team videos as well as a sponsor video! Recent additions have been from:

• Team Lyon-INSA-ENS
• Team UNITS Trieste
• Team TU Munich
• Team Bielefeld-Germany
• Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures

Europe region wikis have now been frozen!

Wikis for the Europe region will be thawed on October 2 to allow teams to make changes before the World Championship Jamboree in November. See the calendar of events for a complete schedule!

Judging forms are now available here! Be sure to review the criteria the judges will be using before completing your team's form.

Edits to the judging forms can be made by any member of the team until the wiki freeze.

Check the calendar of events for the date of your region's wiki freeze!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added some more team videos, meetups/events, and even a comic book! Recent additions have been from:

• Team Meetups/Events page
• Team TU Munich
• Team UANL Mty-Mexico

It's almost time for the Regional Jamborees so keep an eye on the Calendar of Events and Requirements so you're prepared! But don't forget about your...

• Hotel Reservations - Make sure you have a place to stay!
• Team Spirit - Don't forget your team t-shirts, team mascots!
• Parts - Make sure your parts are added and well-documented on the Registry
• Visas - You should have your visas ready for the Regional Jamborees and the World Championship

Check out our video tutorial on sending parts to the Registry! DNA submission deadlines are coming up, so please be sure to follow the instructions for submissions carefully.

Also, don't forget that...

• your parts must be in pSB1C3
• its quality over quantity! Be sure to send us well-documented parts!

Want to connect with other iGEMers? Come to the forums!

• Have ideas for locations of iGEM Regionals 2012? Post them here!
• Questions and comments regarding iGEM 2011 can be posted in this section.
• Have a great project or wiki you want other iGEMers to check out? Set up a forum for your team!

First time setting up a forum? This section is here to help!

There's just one week left till the September 2 deadlines!

• Regional Jamboree attendance fees due - All iGEM team member attendees are required to register by September 2!
• Track selection due - Tracks are assigned in the order they are received. Send in your track choices soon!
• Project title & abstract due - Project abstracts and titles will be included in the Jamboree Program.
• Team roster due - Finalize your team roster! You need to be on the roster to receive an iGEM participation certificate!
• Safety questions due - Judges will be looking for the answers to your safety questions. Make sure your wiki has a dedicated safety page!

Be sure to pay attention to the requirements for each deadline! Check out the calendar of events too!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added some more team meetups/events, and team groups. Recent additions have been from:

• Team Meetups/Events page
• Team Dundee
• Team Cambridge
• Team SDU-Denmark

Several deadlines are coming up on September 2!

• Regional Jamboree attendance fees due
• Track selection due
• Project title & abstract due
• Team roster due
• Safety questions due

Click on the above links for more information.

The full calendar of events is here.

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community. We've added some more team videos, team meetups/events, and team groups. Recent additions have been from:

• Team Meetups/Events page
• Queens Canada
• Colombia
• NYMU-Taipei

Life Technologies has joined the iGEM 2011 competition as a sponsor! They are also offering a discount program for relevant products to all registered iGEM teams. To see more details on how to take advantage of the Life Technologies offer, see the Life Technologies sponsor page.

The iGEM Judging Committee has some important news!

Be sure to check the Judging announcements as there are a few requirements and guidelines that differ from previous years.

The deadline for Regional Jamboree registration is only four weeks away!

Visit the Jamboree Attendance Fee page for instructions on how to register for your Regional Jamboree.

Remember, the deadline for registration is September 2!

The iGEM Community page is growing! Check out what's happening in the community and what your fellow iGEMers are up to. See what these teams are sharing:

If you want to add something to the community page, send us an email. We'll add your details to the list.

The BBC is working on a documentary about synthetic biology and would like to feature an iGEM team in the film. For more details including contact information see the BBC Documentary page.

Registration for the Regional Jamborees is now open!

See the Jamboree Attendance Fee page for instructions on how to register for your Regional Jamboree.

Be sure to register by the September 2 deadline!

Check out the iGEM 2011 Community page where you can see what fellow iGEM teams are up to. If you want to add something to this page, send us an email. We'll add your details to the list.

Take a break from the lab to make sure you're ready for the upcoming deadlines: preliminary project descriptions and safety proposals are due on July 15. See the project description page and the safety proposal page for more details.

We've been taking a look at the iGEM wikis and we're happy to see how much effort has gone into them. As you continue to work on your wikis make sure that they comply with the iGEM 2011 wiki requirements.

The MathWorks, makers of MATLAB and other computing software, have once again joined as an iGEM sponsoring partner. They will provide iGEM teams with MathWorks software to use during the competition. To see more details on how to take advantage of the MathWorks offer, see the MathWorks sponsor page.

Announcing the iGEM forum system & the new iGEM videos series!

iGEM HQ has put a lot of work into creating custom forum software that will enable the iGEM community to ask questions, keep in touch, share ideas, and more. The system is a combined comment/forum system so you can comment on any page and your comments will be linked directly to the forum, or you could just post topics in the forum. Either way you use it, check it out and let us know what you think. For more information, see the Forum Help page.

Wondering where to test out this new forum system? Leave a comment on a video on the new iGEM videos page. In order to communicate out more iGEM HQ has made, and will continue to make, a series of videos -- informational, instructional, at-the-bench, and others. There is even a collection of community videos. Want to learn something new? Share your team's video? Learn about iGEM? See the Videos page.

Preliminary project descriptions and safety proposals are due on July 15.

See the project description page and the safety proposal page for more details.

In previous iGEM Jamborees, there were several teams that were not able to attend due to visa problems. In order to avoid a similar problem this year, we are asking that all teams apply for visas by June 30 at the latest. If you plan to attend a Regional Jamboree and require a visa, apply as soon as possible! The wait time for visas is typically 3 months, but it can be longer.

Details on how to apply can be found here.

Autodesk, Inc., a world leader in 2D and 3D design, engineering, and entertainment software, has joined as an iGEM sponsoring partner. Autodesk will provide iGEM teams with Autodesk Maya®, and virtually all other Autodesk software, to help animate and simulate in 3D their projects. To see more details on how to take advantage of the Autodesk offer, see the Autodesk sponsor page.

The Spring 2011 DNA Distribution is shipping out to teams! All teams should receive their kits early next week. We've made a few changes this year, so when you receive your kits please take a look at our 2011 guide on the Help page.

Important details:
• The distribution is shipped as (4) 384-well plates of dried DNA.
• Kits are shipped via FedEX for US teams and via DHL for non-US teams. Team primary contacts should receive tracking information through FedEx or DHL.
• If you have not received your kit by Friday, May 20th, feel free to send us an email

Do you like making / editing / producing videos?

iGEM Headquarters is looking for an iGEMer to help produce some videos about iGEM including instructional videos, protocol videos, and fun videos about iGEM.

If you have experience in video production and want to work at iGEM HQ, see how to apply on the iGEM Jobs page.

iGEM 2011 Teachers Workshop details have been finalized.

• 27 May: Carmona, Spain

See more details on the Workshops page.

The Oil Sands Leadership Initiative would like to extend an invitation to all iGEM teams, particularly those interested in Energy & Environment, to take advantage of their iGEM 2011 partner offer.

Find out more details about this opportunity on the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative page.

Deadline: May 15, 2011.

Want to get more involved in the world of synthetic biology?

The Fifth International Meeting on Synthetic Biology (SB5.0) will be held on June 15 – 17, 2011, Stanford University, organized by the BioBricks Foundation. Registration is open now and space is limited. The Registration deadline will be coming soon. To guarantee your spot, you are encouraged to register as soon as possible. Visit sb5.biobricks.org for more information on speakers, schedule and registration. Contact Thi Thach ( thi AT biobricks.org) for additional information regarding SB5.0.

We are already halfway through creating the 2011 distribution.

We have been creating the source plates, adding in select parts from the 2010 iGEM competition. This year, we have also been doing all the miniprepping on our robot!

Registration deadline is tomorrow!

Make sure to register your team by Thursday, March 31. After that date the team registration fee increases from $2000 to $2500.

For more information see:

• iGEM 2011 Registration
• Team Registration Fee

iGEM 2011 team registration is now open!

Instructors: register your team today. Students: get your team leader to register your team.

Be sure to read the requirements for participating in iGEM. Need help starting a team? Check out the start a team page.

The deadline to register is March 31, 2011.

iGEM extends into high schools beginning in 2011.

We are pleased to announce the formation of the iGEM High School Division. High school students have different schedules from collegiate teams. The iGEM High School Division is a way for high school students to experience iGEM and synthetic biology based on parts in a way that addresses their different schedules and needs. To find out more about the iGEM High School Division and the 2011 competition, see the High School Division page.

Interested in hosting an iGEM Teachers' Workshop?

Want to show off your regional pride?

We are looking for several groups from all three regions to submit proposals to host a Teachers' Workshop this spring. Find more details on hosting a workshop and submitting a proposal on the Workshop Proposals page.

Following up on the Regional Jamboree announcement, the iGEM 2011 World Championship Jamboree date and location has been finalized:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Cambridge, MA, USA
• November 5-7, 2011

Read more about it here.

iGEM 2011 Regional Jamborees have been finalized.

See the iGEM 2011 Regions page for more details.

Start an iGEM 2011 team at your school!

Interested in starting an iGEM team? Whether you are an instructor or a student, head to the Start A Team page for some pointers on how to form a team at your school.

iGEM Headquarters is always on the lookout for companies that would like to sponsor the iGEM activity. There are several sponsorship opportunities that your group can take part in. Check out the Sponsorship page to learn more.

iGEM 2011 will have a new regional structure

• Overview
• iGEM Growth
• Regional Jamborees
  • Proposal Information
• Regional Committees:
  • Regional Councils
  • Judging Committees
• Regional Branches
• Greater iGEM