Regions/Europe/During-Jamboree

VU campus

All iGEM Jamboree activities take place in the main building at the VU Campus (Address: De Boelelaan 1105, Amsterdam).

Jamboree Schedule

TBD

On-site Registration/Check-in

Teams can check-in on Friday afternoon October 5th for the Jamboree beginning at 15:00 h. The registration desk is located near the entrance in the main building, to your right if you enter the building. At the registration desk you will pick up your participant bags. One team member is responsible for picking up the participant bags, and not all team members have to register individually. To receive your participant bags, bring a filled-out release form for each team member that is registered for the Jamboree and give us your presentation and poster as a pdf file.
Guests can check-in on Friday October 5th starting at 14:00 h or on Saturday October 6th starting at 8:00 h, at the registration desk.

Questions and Information

If you have a question or need help at any point during the Jamboree, you can go to the registration desk near the entrance of the Main Building, or look for one of the volunteers or iGEM staff members on site. They wear black shirts with the iGEM logo on the back. If you need to get in touch with someone of the local organization for an urgent matter, you may contact the registration desk: +31 20 598 5793

ParticipantBags

Your participant bag will contain the following:

• Team member badges
• Free drinks tickets, 2 for Friday, 2 for poster session on Saturday, 3 for social event on Saturday. More coupons can be bought at registration desk.
• A booklet for each team member containing Jamboree handbook, program schedule, team specific information, map of the VU campus and sponsor information

Note: One team member is responsible for picking up the participant bags. Please wear your badges at all times.

Badges

You will receive a name badge as part of your participant bag. Please wear your badge at all times during the Jamboree. In this way you make yourself known to other participants, and badges are necessary to enter presentation rooms, as well as for access to food and the iGEM diner and party.

Food

Food will be provided throughout the Jamboree (except for breakfast). Friday night dinner is provided in the Mensa of the main building. For those of you who will practice on Friday and visit the Meeting of Young Minds event, there will be diner tickets at the registration desk, to be used in the University restaurant. Lunch will be served in the poster session areas. Specially requested meals: vegan, and gluten-free, will be available according to the requests during registration.

Wireless internet at VU campus

If you have a laptop, PDA/smartphone or other computer with a wireless ethernet adapter then you can use the wireless Internet of the VU campus. There are two options to connect to this network. The 'Guest account' option will work for anyone. in each bag there will be a log in code for the guest account. The 'Eduroam' option is easier but will work only if your home institute participates in the Eduroam initiative.

Eduroam
Eduroam allows students, researchers and staff from participating institutions to obtain internet connectivity when visiting other participating institutions by using the account details that they use at their home institution. Check here whether your institution participates in Eduroam. You can log in by using the same username and password combination that you use at your institute.

Settings:

• Wireless network: & 802.11 a/b/g
• Network name (SSID): & eduroam
• Network authentication/encryption: & WPA2 Enterprise/AES
• Security protocol: & 802.1x EAP-TTLS/PAP

Guest account
If the option above doesn't work for you then it is possible to use a guest account on the ``guest'' network. Personal guest account details are available in the team bags. You are required to use your own personal guest account details, and you should not exchange account details with other participants.

Team spirit

At the Jamboree you will be representing your team, university and country, so why not show off! Designing team t-shirts is always a good idea. Make sure to distinguish your team and be well visible in the iGEM group picture. Wear your team's logo, or give a nod to your team's sponsors. We also encourage you to find new ways to showcase your team spirit.

Friday = Meeting of Young Minds

On the night preceding the iGEM Jamboree the Rathenau Instituut organizes a Meeting of Young Minds, in which the iGEM participants will debate the future of synthetic biology. The debate will take place in the Aula. You are invited to just walk in, registration is not necessary for iGEM members.

Practice presentation

At Friday, the teams are welcome to practice their presentations. There are a limited number of room’s available, sign up online on the practice sessions page to reserve your time-slot. We cannot match the practice room with the room that you will give your presentation in on Saturday. Practice sessions will run from 15:30 to 19.30 h. Only for teams that cannot arrive in time due to travel schedule, we can arrange an additional practice session. Please send us an email in advance.

Note: There will be no technical assistance. Please leave all presentation rooms in the condition that you found them. A beamer is present in each of the rooms.

Saterday Opening Ceremony

The Saturday Opening Ceremony on October 6 will officially kick off the 2012 Europe Regional Jamboree! You can get coffee or tea in the foyer, available from 08:30 h. The opening ceremony will be held in the Aula at 9:00 h. Make sure to attend the opening to have all updates and changes to the Jamboree schedule, and the events planned for the coming days.

Posters

Each team is required to present a poster at the Jamboree. The poster session takes place on Saturday, starting 16:00 h till 18.00 h. Poster locations have been randomly assigned according to track in one of the three locations, poster areas 1-3. Please see the team specific information sheet, in your program book, for your team’s specific poster number. The locations can be found on the iGEM location sub: Poster-areas. The poster must be no larger than 1.2 m width by 0.9 m height. Each team may only put up ONE poster.

The poster should be hung up on a poster stand. Pieces of velcro adhesive will be provided at the poster stands and are to be affixed to the back of a poster. Please only use these velcro adhesives, do NOT use tape or push pins. Ask a volunteer if you need help or additional velcro adhesives. Teams can hang up their posters beginning at 08:00 h on Saturday, or during the first break. Please have your poster up as soon as possible, because Poster Judges will be roaming along the posters throughout the day on Saturday.

You can leave your poster on the boards after the poster sessions and go the Party. Posters must be removed by Sunday afternoon 15:00 h. Any remaining posters will not be saved.

Presentation

There are a total of six presentation rooms (capacity for 200 persons). Your team’s scheduled presentation time, slot, session, and room have all been randomly assigned within your track. Please see your program book or the program tab: sessions for information, on when and where your team will be presenting. Each parallel session consists of three presentations. With a few exceptions, each of the three presentations given during a session will be of the same track. If you are attending the presentations, please stay for the whole session and only leave the room during the scheduled breaks.

Each team has 20 minutes of presentation time, 5 minutes for questions and answers, and 5 minutes to switch with the next presenters. Please be present 10 minutes before your session to save the presentation and poster (a crew member will welcome you). You can also test your equipment, video and sound connection. Make sure to bring the necessary equipment for your presentation, such as your laptop, cables/adaptors, and power supply, as iGEM will not provide these.

We need your Poster and Presentation

In an effort to capture all of the hard work that teams have put into their iGEM projects, we ask that each team give us a copy of your presentation and a copy of your poster.
To submit your files follow the instructions below:

• Save your presentation and poster as a high resolution pdf file and give this to the registration desk during your team registration.
• Ten minutes before the start of each session, there will be an iGEM crew member at the front of each presentation room.
• Bring your laptop with the files on it to the front and the iGEM staff member will transfer your presentation and poster to a USB key that they will have with them.

Important: Please make sure to do this in the 10 minutes prior to the start of the session and NOT prior to your presentation time!

Career event

Are you looking for an internship, PhD position or a job in a life science company? Among the project posters, you can find stands from companies and Universities in the life science sector. There will be a board available with vacancies and internship possibilities at the entrance of the poster area. Check the boards, there may be an interesting opportunity waiting for you!

Social Event

On Saturday night after the poster reception, we will be hosting the iGEM Europe Jamboree Diner and Party at Lexion from 19:00 to 01:00 h. There will be food, music and dancing. Each person will receive three drink tickets as part of the participant bag. We highly encourage all iGEM participants to attend. Relax and have fun! From 18.00 h, buses will bring you from the square at the VU-campus to the social event.
Note: You must have your iGEM name badge in order to gain access to the social event.

To bring you back, a shuttle service will be driving all night back and forth from the party location to the following drop-off places:

• VU Campus, Boelelaan 1105
• Bastion Hotel Amsterdam/Centrum Zuid, Hendrikje Stoffelstraat 60
• Bastion Hotel Amsterdam/Amstel, Verl. Van MarwijkKooystraat 30
• EMB Memphis Hotel, De Lairessestraat 87
• Ibis Hotel Amsterdam City Stopera, Valkenburgerstraat 68
• Ibis Hotel Amsterdam City Centre, Stationsplein 49
• Park Plaza Vondelpark Hotel, Koninginneweg 34
• Ramada Apollo Hotel Amsterdam Centre, Staalmeesterslaan 410

Important: The last buses back leaves at 1.00 h!

Awards Ceremony

The awards ceremony will be held on Sunday at the Aula and will start at 08:30 h. The judges will first announce three regional finalists who will then be asked to give their presentations to all judges and teams. All teams should be prepared to present at the Aula, so be sure to bring the necessary materials with you. The judges will then announce the medals, special price winners, qualifications to the iGEM World Championships and the European winner. hen the 2012 iGEM Europe Jamboree will officially end.

iGEM Europe from above

After the finalists have given their presentations on Sunday, we will be taking the 2012 iGEM Europe from Above group picture! The picture will be taken outside at the VU campus or in the Aula (depending on the weather). Please follow instructions of volunteers. Make sure to wear your iGEM team t-shirt!

Medals

This year iGEM is designating achievements for documentation of your project and contributions to the synthetic biology community. These achievements are signified by a bronze, silver or gold medal seal, which each team member can adhere to their participatory certificate. These designations will be based on their performance in the online judging round (online judging occurs in the week directly before the Jamboree). Look here for the criteria.

Special Awards

Awards will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday October 7th. The regions hopes to award the following prizes conditional on the accomplishments presented by the teams.

• Best Human Practices Advance (apply via judging form)
• Best BioBrick Measurement Approach (apply via judging form)
• Best Model (apply via judging form)
• Best New BioBrick Part, Natural
• Best New BioBrick Device, Engineered
• Best Software Tool
• Best New Standard
• Best Wiki
• Best Poster, Regional Level
• Best Presentation

Each team that wins an award will receive one trophy for the team as well as award certificates for each team member. Personalized award certificates will be sent to you from iGEM HQ. These award certificates are separate from the participation certificates. 17 teams will be selected to advance to the World Championships at MIT. The jury in Boston will be different from the one at the regional Jamborees, so chances of winning an award will be open again for all teams!

Sunday Workshops

After the award ceremony on Sunday, rooms will be available for teams to discuss/deliberate various topics (of their own choice) with each other. In this way you can exchange ideas before the World Championships Jamboree. Check the schedule for times, locations and topics. Don’t hesitate to submit a topic and invite other teams to participate.

Picking up awards and medals

Your award box, to be collected at the registration desk on Sunday after the Award Ceremony will contain participation certificates, medals and, if applicable, award certificates for each team member on the official roster. One team member is responsible for picking up the award box.

Luggage

If you need to check out of your hotel on Sunday morning and need to stow your luggage somewhere, you can bring it to the registration desk. We cannot be held liable in case of loss or damage! The registration desk closes Sunday afternoon 16:00 h, so it is absolutely critical that your luggage be picked up by that time.

Transportation

The city of Amsterdam has a public transportation system that is comprised of trams and subways. Information is provided here for getting around in Amsterdam.

Emergency Situation

If there is an emergency (medical emergency, fire, police, etc.) please contact VU campus emergencies numbers:

• From a campus phone: 22222
• From a cell phone, pay phone, or off-campus:112