Amalia Ephrat – MSc student in Educational studies

Amalia Ephrat is a MSc student in Educational studies at Leiden, she did a short stage/internship focused on collaborative learning activities between students with an international background within the learning context of the university.

When students of diverse backgrounds participate in a project where collaborative learning is important, the individual differences can pose a series of challenges to the group processes. This is a well- known challenge for many Dutch universities, which makes it a relevant topic for educational research to investigate the means for intervention and the effects of those interventions on collaborative learning processes and outcomes. Her plan is to improve collaborative learning amongst students of different backgrounds, by designing research and conduct measurement during the brainstorming phase of the project. Research shall consist of qualitative exploratory methods using observational methods and interviews and quantitative research using several questionnaires, including collaborative skills, empathy and intercultural conflict management. The main focus of her research is the collaborative process in the iGem group and the efficacy of the interventions of the supervisors to support the collaborative process in a culturally diverse group of students.

Frank Theys – Film Director

Frank Theys is a film and theatre director and visual artist. His work has been shown worldwide and belongs to the collections of a.o. the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and the Centre National de la Cinématographie (Paris). He received several international awards and the honourable title of Cultural Ambassador of Flanders. Currently he works on a documentary film called 'Lab-Life' in which he follows the daily life around a few scientific research projects. One of these projects is the iGEM team of TUDelft that he considers as an ideal project to introduce the world of science to a broad audience. Frank Theys has an MD in Philosophy and is currently doing a PhD in the Arts at the KULeuven. He teaches media art at the St-Lucas Art Academy in Ghent and art philosophy at the ArtScience Interfaculty at the Royal Art Academy in Den Hague.

Daan Schuurbiers - Embedded Humanist

Daan Schuurbiers is director of the Pilot Plant (De Proeffabriek), consultancy for responsible innovation. Daan studied chemistry and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and has a PhD in ethics of technology from Delft University of Technology. His work centers on the social and ethical dimensions of newly emerging science and technologies. Daan's research efforts have focused on the design of new forms of dialogue between social and natural scientists, enhancing socio-ethical reflection in early stages of research. In addition to teaching and research, Daan has extensive experience in project management and consultancy, particularly in the area of dialogue and engagement with science and technology. He has published in academic journals as well as the popular press and has been involved in the organization of a range of teaching courses, master classes, competitions, workshops and other events throughout Europe. He now combines his writing, teaching, research and management skills in his work for the Pilot Plant, advising on ways to encourage reflection in research and to strengthen stakeholder engagement.

Single-Cell Model

The single-cell model of our system consists of three connected but easily separable modules: the sensor, the band detector and the filter. The sensor detects toxic substances from cigarette smoke. The band detector produces green fluorescent protein upon a detection of a certain range (band) of toxic substance concentration. After the toxic substance concentration crosses a certain threshold, the filter turns the system red (red fluorescent protein is expressed). The single-cell model helped us understand in detail whether and how our synthetic circuit works, especially to explore the characteristics of the GFP band and get a feeling of how it is related to concentration of our input substance.