Team:BOKU-Vienna/Prizes
Grants & prices
Giant Jamboree
We went for gold – and we succeeded!
But not only did we win a gold medal, our project Friendzyme was also chosen as one of the top three therapeutics projects of 2021.
In total, we were nominated for five special prizes:
- Best Inclusivity
- Best Model
- Best Presentation
- Best Therapeutic Project
- Best Wiki
We are incredibly proud of this result and the experience we gained during iGEM 2021.
We wish next year’s iGEM Vienna team all the best and hope that they can even outperform us with their project!
iGEM impact grant
iGEM Vienna is a proud recipient of the iGEM impact grant 2021!
We were amazed when we first heard about the generous support provided by the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation during the opening weekend festival in May. 90 iGEM teams would be selected to receive a grant amounting to 2,500 USD. The grant opportunity made us once more realize the power of iGEM competition and the potential impact of the projects within.
This was when our full ambition awakened. We conceptualised our project in a way that is as close to the patient reality as possible within our scope. The target group of our conceptual therapeutic approach are people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) – a condition which is estimated to affect 1 in 7 people. So far, no therapeutic intervention has been developed that targets FODMAPs, the suspected main causative agent of IBS. Our digestive helper enzyme mix breaks down a major class of FODMAPs – fructans. Delivered via a biopolymeric capsule containing and entrapping the probiotic expression host lactobacillus, our project also establishes a novel mucoadhesive drug delivery system involving a gram-positive GRAS organism, that can naturally be found in diary products.
Our ambitions were high, and we soon started working on our grant application. Full of hope we finally submitted our grant application on the 28th of June. We were delighted to see that the iGEM jury felt the same way. On the 4th of August, we were notified that we were accepted for the iGEM impact grant 2021. Our team’s emotions were boiling, and the affirmation of our project’s impact pushed us once more to work even harder.
We want to sincerely thank the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation for providing these financial means to us. A huge thank you also goes out to the iGEM Foundation for taking the time to dig through the mountain of applications and carefully assessing every single one of them!
Footprint Award - ÖH BOKU
iGEM Vienna won the Footprint Award 2021 of the ÖH BOKU!
The Footprint Award is given out by the Austrian Students’ Union branch of the University of Natural Resources and Life Science (in German: Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft der BOKU Wien) for projects that aim to fulfil the UN sustainable development goals. When we heard about this opportunity, we immediately felt like it was custom-made for our project - it matches the iGEM vision and spirit perfectly!
This is the 4th year that the award is used to support high-impact student projects which integrate at least one of the 17 sustainable development goals of the UN. Of course, we submitted our project for this great award full of hope. After the review process, we were amazed to be informed that we won the Footprint Award 2021 and were invited to the award ceremony!
The award ceremony was embedded into a special event dedicated to sustainability - the so-called sustainability days at the BOKU Wien. Even the Austrian president Alexander van der Bellen attended and gave a speech. We were stunned to receive such an honorable prize in front of such a large-scope audience and in such a meaningful setting. In line with the motto of sustainability, we received a gorgeous plant as a trophy next to the financial reward of 500€. Our lilly "Curly Berta" is now part of the iGEM Vienna 2021 family and we hope that her descendants will create many more trophies.
We are thankful to the Austrian Students’ Union branch of the University of Natural Resources and Life Science (ÖH BOKU) for supporting young student groups like ours in their efforts of making the world a better place! The fact that so many people share this vision strengthened our resolution to take the future into our own hands.
