2022 Timeline
Expression of Interest open
December 2021
Academics from universities around Australia are invited to submit an expression of interest to reserve a place in the Challenge.
Registrations open
February 14th
Team registrations are officially open! Each team supervisor is invited to submit a registration form for their team. Registration for the 2022 Challenge is completely free!
Registrations close
March 21st
Team registrations close. The team rosters for all teams intending to participate in the 2022 Challenge must be finalised
Late registrations close
April 25th
Teams facing difficulties with student recruitment, or who need more time to organise the integration of the Challenge into the curriculum must submit their registrations by now, to ensure they have enough time to prepare for the Design Extravaganza
Intro to the AusSynBio Challenge
Week beginning March 28th
The Challenge officially kicks off with a welcome seminar for all team members! In this session, teams will be briefed on the requirements of the Challenge, hear from past participants and will hear all about what's on offer for the 2022 season
Webinar: Wicked Problems workshop
April 21st
Challengers will participate in online workshops that are part of the EXPLORAMENT program, run by Jestin George through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. Workshops focus on the value that design brings to synthetic biology
Webinar: Traditional Ecological Knowledge workshop
April 28th
Challengers will participate in online workshops that are part of the EXPLORAMENT program, run by Jestin George through the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology. Workshops focus on the value that design brings to synthetic biology
Webinar: Intellectual Property
May 5th
FB Rice will present a session on IP, covering everything from protecting IP as a student to the nuances of IP in the biology world.
Webinar: Twist Bioscience
May 11th
Our sponsor, Twist Bioscience, talk to teams about how to use their products, and how to optimise cloning plans before teams get started in the lab
Webinar: Benchling
May 17th
Benchling will show teams how to use their platform to design sequences and plasmids
Design Review
May 22nd
The first submission of the Challenge, teams must submit their Design Review. This is a document providing an overview of their project, including experimental plans and safety considerations. Reviews are distributed to each team's assigned Reviewer for feedback after the first event
Design Extravaganza
May 25th
The first main event of the Challenge season, the Extravaganza will see teams present their designs and introduce their projects for the first time. Expert reviewers from the field will be there to provide advice and give feedback to help each team tailor their ideas.
Webinar: IDT
June 27th
Our sponsor, IDT, shows teams how to access their sponsorship offerings and gives advice on smart DNA design
Webinar: NEB
July 18th
The NEB seminar gives teams a chance to learn how to use NEB products, from enzymes and polymerases to online design tools, to help them achieve their project goals
Webinar: Google Cloud
July 26th
A webinar run by our sponsor, Google
Webinar: Commercialisation 101
August, TBC
As teams work on their projects in the lab, they should also be thinking about what could be the end goal of their work. This seminar will teach teams everything they need to know about launching a start-up
Pitch party
September
In preparation for the teams' final pitches, teams are invited to join this session to receive tips on how to deliver a great pitch
Team logo and abstracts due
October, TBC
The second main deliverable for the Challenge, teams are required to submit a logo representing their project alongside a short abstract. These will be displayed on the website.
Pre-recorded pitches due
October, TBC
Teams must submit a 3-min long pitch ahead of the final event, as if they are intending on presenting their concept to a panel of investors
The Final Showcase
October 13th and October 14th
The second and final major event of the Challenge, the Final Showcase spans two afternoons and marks the end of the Challenge. Teams will give a presentation with Q&A from the audience. Team pitches will also be played, and guest speakers will talk about synbio opportunities in Australasia and career pathways