IGEM lab

Summary

An interdisciplinary EPFL student team will design and build genetic circuits with novel functionalities. Students learn to develop a project and carry it out to completion in a concrete manner. Their creativity and critical thinking are highly encouraged.

Content

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Discuss the definition of synthetic biology and how this discipline enables the engineering of biological systems
• Develop a project/idea and generate a roadmap on how to execute this project
• Conduct independent experiments in a research lab
• Organize themselves to finish a research project
• Present and defend a research project in front of a panel of international judges
• Operate in a multidisciplinary group having acquired both leadership and team spirit-oriented skills
• Assess / Evaluate project and to contribute to this project in creative fashion
• Discuss synthetic biology, clarifying its pros and cons

Transversal skills

• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Set objectives and design an action plan to reach those objectives.
• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.
• Give feedback (critique) in an appropriate fashion.
• Demonstrate a capacity for creativity.
• Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
• Make an oral presentation.
• Write a scientific or technical report.

Assessment methods

Written report and oral presentation.