Team:BOKU-Vienna/Team
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Verena Wachtler
Sponsoring/Finances & LabI am a member of our Sponsoring and Finances team, whilst also working in the Lab. My goal for iGEM was to learn new things and to design a project with a diverse group of people. My next educational step is the completion of the Microbiology and Genetics Bachelor, with my final goal being to help people with my knowledge and research.
Field of study
Bachelor Biology (Microbiology/Genetics)
Hobbies
hiking, reading books, videogames
Spirit lab equipment
Autoclave - because I hate them
Job in the team
Sponsoring/Finances, and cloning lab team
Reason to join iGEM
To learn new things and design a project with a group of people.
Best thing about iGEM
To meet so many different people and being able to work with them <3
Personal future goal
A Job in research would be perfect, developing new ways to help people
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Anna Hurt
Collaborations, Human Practices & WikiI am our Collaborations and Human Practices Manager, besides helping with education & project management. I decided to join iGEM to see what it is like to be part of such a massive community of inspiring students. At the moment I am pursuing my master's degree in Molecular Biology, and I hope that by the time I finish, I will still be able to explain my research to my grandma.
Field of study
Master Molecular Biology
Hobbies
Sewing, baking, soccer, hiking
Spirit lab equipment
Vortexer - always there when you need it to lighten up the most boring experiments
Job in the team
Collaborations & human practices team leader, wiki, project management support
Best thing about iGEM
To have students from different backgrounds and experience levels come together to develop and learn from each other
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Lisa Rainer
Lab & WikiI am the Lab-Wiki person, which I fulfilled by being a very involved lab worker and documenting every success and missteps in the lab for the wiki. If I were a piece of lab equipment, I’d probably be the Liquid Nitrogen Tank since I rarely lose my temper and am able to cool down any heated debate. I am a master's student of Biotechnology and like iGEM because of the freedom to come up with new ideas.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Movie theory, travelling, cooking, videogames
Job in the team
Cloning lab team, and wiki
Reason to join iGEM
To see how a project is developed from scratch
Personal future goal
To do something worthwhile while still having enough time for friends, family & travelling (aka the holy grail of work-life balance)
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Sebastian Bayer
I am our research manager. I planned experiments and work in the lab being the go-to person for dry lab problems. I joined our team for the thrilling possibility of designing & carrying out an entire project from A to Z. I am currently finishing my master’s in Drug Discovery and Development and am currently looking for a PhD position. I hope to be part of many more scientific projects in the future while still finding time for my friends and cats.
Field of study
Master Drug Discovery and Development
Hobbies
Squash, Badminton, bouldering, fantasy books, my cats, Magic Cards
Spirit lab equipment
Lukas Narendja
Job in the team
Research, experiment planning, cloning lab team, annoying my lab mates
Reason to join iGEM
Sounded cool I guess
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Marcos Hocevar
Modeling & LabI am involved in both modeling and lab work. My initial interest in iGEM was to see how a project would evolve. Especially in the summer months I enjoyed working in the biosafety cabinet, because of the nice fresh air. Beside my master studies in Biotechnology, I enjoy the activities of boulder, running and hiking.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Spirit lab equipment
Laminar flow- because of the breeze of air
Job in the team
Modeling, lab team, and gut-on-a-chip lab team
Best thing about iGEM
Working together as a group on a subject that is important for us all
Personal future goal
A job in research and working independently + a 7a
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Denise Schaffer
Project Management & WikiI have already finished my master studies and I am working full-time and in shift-work next to iGEM. Due to my prior experience in organization, I am our student project leader together with Wei, I took part at the Science Busters podcast together with Maggie, and I am part of the wiki team. My intentions with iGEM were to learn more about scientific project planning, as well as about the versatile tasks set for the teams, and to possibly help people in the future with science. As I used to be a professional Latin and HipHop dancer, my spirit lab equipment is the centrifuge.
Field of study
Master Technical Chemistry (Biotechnology & Bioanalytics) Finished
Hobbies
dancing, training, Sci-Fi and Thriller movies, videogames, riddles
Spirit lab equipment
centrifuge - circling around crazily, but putting everything into its correct place
Job in the team
Co-project leader, project management, wiki, podcast spokesperson, social media support, support where needed
Personal future goal
Job in research or in a scientific field that helps other people while having a work-life-balance
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Tam Dan Pham
Project ManagementI am our time master and make sure that no deadlines are missed, and everything runs according to plan. iGEM intrigued me because it pushes teams to become innovative and to support, rather than trying to outcompete, each other. I work to live and live to work for the good of the community.
Field of study
Bachelor Biology
Hobbies
Traveling, basketball, football, writing, animals, documentaries
Spirit lab equipment
Microscope - you see what you cannot see
Job in the team
Time management, project management
Reason to join iGEM
iGEM is providing students with such opportunities to connect with each other and grow to become more knowledgeable. I would regret not being part.
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Hannah Beneder
Lab, Human Practices & ModelingI am strongly involved in the areas of Lab/Research, Human Practices and Modeling. Having to do a lot of our PCR experiments, I started to really appreciate the 1-10 µl pipette. I am currently doing my master's in molecular biology, and my goal for iGEM was to learn all the skills necessary to plan a whole project, from idea to the lab and onward.
Field of study
Master Molecular Biology
Hobbies
Running, Hiking, Board games, Skiing
Spirit lab equipment
1-10µl pipette - always there for you and your PCRs
Job in the team
Cloning lab team, collaborations, and modeling
Reason to join iGEM
To be part of the whole amazing and crazy experience of a student's science project
Personal future goal
The most important thing for my future job is to actually enjoy the work and look forward to every new day in my job.
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Wei Guo
Project Management, Lab & SponsoringBeing the Co-student leader for our team, I not only had to keep an overview of everything going on, but I also am the main person responsible for our scaffold lab. I am currently in the Bachelor program Food Science and Biotechnology. My reasons to join iGEM are to get hands-on-experience to develop a science project from scratch and to using theoretical knowledge like project management, research results and 'creating' something out of it.
Field of study
Bachelor Food Science and Biotechnology
Hobbies
Reading, cooking, baking, bouldering
Spirit lab equipment
Timer - always there to remind you to not lose the track of your experiment, time and mind
Job in the team
Co-Project leader, project management, sponsoring/finances-team, scaffolds lab team, support where needed, mooching of/recycling free bread
Reason to join iGEM
Sounded exciting to develop a science project from scratch and experiencing something new (and stressful)
Personal future goal
a 4-day job which is useful for the community, is personally challenging and interesting and I even earn enough to not only survive
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Sarah Schelmbauer
Project Management, Lab, Human Practices & SponsoringMy passion for food and microorganisms led me to my bachelor’s degree in Food- and Biotechnology, which I am pursuing alongside iGEM. Since I want to help people around the world by giving them hope with our scientific approaches, iGEM was the perfect opportunity for me to take a small step in that direction. Thanks to that, i learned a lot about teamwork, organization and perseverance. Since I like to play with fire, my choice for my spirit lab equipment immediately fell on the bunsen burner.
Field of study
Bachelor Food Science and Biotechnology
Hobbies
Reading fantasy novels, writing, baking, food (everything), all sorts of games (playstation, computer, nintendo, card games), watching anime
Job in the team
Sponsoring/Finances, project management, lab work coordinator, cloning lab team, collaborations support, wiki support
Personal future goal
Dream big: coming up with new therapeutical approaches for so far incurable diseases, but still have time for family and friends of course
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Lisa Kainacher
Sponsoring/Finances & ModelingI am our treasurer also known as Sponsoring team leader. I keep track of our purchases, talk to sponsors and try to keep the cash flow going. What I like about iGEM? The iGEM competition may be a competition towards the end as the jamboree approaches, but so far, I exclusively see it as an amazing, global team effort to make the world a better place with the means of hundreds of years of eager science as the foundation.
Field of study
Master Molecular Biology (Molecular Medicine)
Hobbies
Low carb baking, hiking in the alps and elsewhere, cycling, running ... from time to time
Spirit lab equipment
Shaker - you can see the heat on the dance floor
Job in the team
Treasurer, team leader sponsoring/finances, modeling support, support where needed
Reason to join iGEM
To get to know young, creative and brilliant people during socially isolated Covid-19 times and to set up a non-profit synthetic biology project from the beginning... with all ups and downs.
Personal future goal
Finding the research area of my dreams and becoming an expert scientist in that field.
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Soma Gnagni
Lab, Collaborations & Project ManagementI started as part of the Collaborations and Project Management ending up working in the lab as well. I am currently doing my master’s degree in Molecular Biology and love working in a lab. I joined iGEM to be involved in a research project organized by students from the initial idea to implementation in the lab.
Field of study
Master Molecular Biology
Hobbies
Travelling, hiking, reading, dancing
Spirit lab equipment
Pipette boy because I like pushing buttons
Job in the team
Cloning lab team, collaborations, project management, wiki support
Best thing about iGEM
iGEM unites students from all around the world
Personal future goal
Work in research and obviously win a Nobel prize for curing cancer
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Laetitia Schwarz
Lab & CollaborationsI am part of our scaffold lab team, as well as supporting our collaborations work. I joined iGEM to be part of a talented and motivated group working towards the same goal. Starting the Food Science and Biotechnology Bachelor during the pandemic, I was happy to finally work together in person with other students while learning a lot of new things
Field of study
Bachelor Food Science and Biotechnology
Hobbies
Hiking, swimming, reading
Spirit lab equipment
Freezer - stops time for a moment
Job in the team
Scaffolds lab team, collaborations support
Personal future goal
Learning a lot of interesting new things while enjoying my time as a student
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Julia Mayer
Lab & ModelingI worked on our model, in the research team and was always the first to volunteer for long night shifts in the cloning lab – even if it wasn’t ABBA Tuesday. I am a Biotech Masters student who joined iGEM for a good challenge setting up a project from scratch, what it takes to develop a new project idea, and get to know many people from different backgrounds working on one and the same project.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Baking, handicrafts, camping, going to concerts, caring my plants to death
Spirit lab equipment
Agarose gel- jelly wobbly thing that can separate tiny DNA fragments
Job in the team
Cloning lab team, modeling
Best thing about iGEM
Being challenged by the tasks and to work together with a bunch of people
Personal future goal
I just want to enjoy my work while still being able to have enough time for my hobbies, friends and family
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Sophia Horak
Graphics & Social MediaI am one of our creative heads and, therefore, part of the graphics and social media team, where I was strongly involved in the writing of the screenplay of our promotion video. What I love about iGEM is the freedom that you have with what project you are pursuing and how. My goal in life is to create art and to save the planet.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Jazz Dance, Hip Hop, Oboe, Painting, Drawing, Basketball
Spirit lab equipment
Shaker - always dancing, also in the lab
Job in the team
Graphics and design, social media
Reason to join iGEM
To be creative and realize new ideas
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Alina Sophie Destinger
Graphics, Social Media & WikiI am currently studying Biotechnology at the university of life sciences and natural resources. I joined iGEM to experience all steps necessary for starting a new project. The fact that I’ve met so many motivated students and learning new skills kept me motivated throughout. I am the leader of the graphics team and joined Maggie as a co-leader of social media. I focused on managing and creating content for social media, our wiki, the promotion video as well as the presentation video. During our wiki hours I made sure everybody’s coffee levels did not drop.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Climbing esp. outdoor bouldering and rock climbing, drawing, spending time with my friends, playing board games
Spirit lab equipment
Petri dish - a place to grow and embrace the beauty of science
Job in the team
Graphics and design team leader, co-leader social media, wiki team leader, research, and gut-on-a-chip lab team
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Anna Magdalena Ambros
ModelingI am the team leader of our modeling group. My motivation to join iGEM was to gather further experience in project organization and management, meet new people and to see how the input of many different people from different backgrounds influences the workflow of the project. In the future, I want to work at Boehringer Ingelheim developing anticancer agents and still be able to go to Nova Rock until I am at least 40.
Field of study
Master Drug Discovery and Development
Hobbies
Cooking, rock festivals/concerts, hiking, camping
Spirit lab equipment
Permanent marker - the most important utility to not mix up your flasks and f*ck up your experiments
Job in the team
Team leader modeling
Best thing about iGEM
Working together with people from different research areas, benefiting from each other's skills
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Nadine Stranzl
Collaborations, Human Practices & ResearchI am part of our Human Practices & Collaborations team and helping out with research. I am studying at the University of veterinary medicine, where I am currently doing my Bachelor's in Biomedicine and Biotechnology. My life goal is to develop new therapies and therapeutics that help many people but still have time for my family and friends and for dancing.
Field of study
Bachelor Biomedicine and Biotechnology
Hobbies
Latin formation dance, meeting friends, going to the scouts
Spirit lab equipment
Vortex - love to dance and to motivate other people to go dancing too
Job in the team
Collaborations & human practices, research support
Reason to join iGEM
To learn something about organizing an own project in a team and to learn more about synthetic biology
Best thing about iGEM
That there are many fields and disciplines compared in one project and everybody helps each other no matter how much experience they have so far
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Johanna Wörtl
Lab & Project ManagementI am the leader of the Lab team, while also participating in research, social media, and project management. What I love about iGEM is that it allows you to acquire so many new skills besides classical lab work and that it brings together so many wonderful, motivated young scientists. Being able to develop and carry out a research project from the beginning to the end is an amazing experience and - for someone who loves science as much as I do – one of the biggest opportunities imaginable. Besides my work for our iGEM project, I am also working on completing my Master thesis and improving my Spanish, which I am hoping to use in my semester abroad next year
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
My favorite hobby is eating, but I also quite enjoy yoga, knitting and learning languages
Spirit lab equipment
Centrifuge - if you overload me I go brrrrt
Job in the team
Lab work coordinator, experiment planning, cloning lab team
Best thing about iGEM
Being a prat of a team of young, motivated people with a common goal
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Helena Cozzarini
Social Media & GraphicsI am our Canva wizard, I created many of our social media post and outreach materials for our team and I introduced Canva as our go to design tool. My main job was presenting our work in a clear, simple, and beautiful way. To me, iGEM is working together in a team of motivated science enthusiasts and experiencing having the responsibility and freedom to create a project that we can completely shape ourselves. At FH Campus Wien, I study Bioinformatics.
Field of study
Master Bioinformatics
Hobbies
Drawing and illustration, Yoga, going to the theatre, reading about the Italian renaissance
Spirit lab equipment
Fluorescent dye - always happy to brighten up someone's day
Job in the team
Canva wizard, graphics and design
Personal future goal
To use my career to help others most effectively e.g., by working in the field of alternative proteins or infectious diseases and pandemic preparedness.
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Maggie Haller
Social Media & LabI am one of two social media team leaders, iGEM Vienna video producer and Crazy Gut Cell Lady™. Besides being guest on podcasts and managing our social media accounts, I also spent a good amount of time in the lab, where I tried to keep the spirits high and leftover bread quantities low with homemade Kipferlschmarrn, and took care of our gut cells in the cell culture lab. At university, we usually only get to know the lab part of research, so I was intrigued by the idea of having to shoulder a whole project by ourselves – and while there were times when I wanted to throw all our experiments out of the window, I am glad I got to experience iGEM and all that came with it: the good, the bad and the weird.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Cooking-Baking-Brewing, Drawing, Fish Keeping, Learning new Languages and Game Nights
Spirit lab equipment
Rotavapor - it's probably Stockholm syndrome
Job in the team
Social media team leader, crazy gut cell lady(TM), video producer, podcast spokesperson, gut-on-a-chip lab team
Best thing about iGEM
The whole package: Working with all our amazing members, solving problems, getting out of our comfort zone when we had to do stuff we’d never done before, finding mosquitoes in our agar plates (what?!)
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Lukas Narendja
Lab & ResearchI am our second lab leader, coordinating the lab work and all the lab members as well as planning and researching our experiments. The reason I joined iGEM was to take part in the process of developing an idea to a real project, acquiring new skills and gaining experience along the way. I love being outdoors and rarely stand still.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Hiking, climbing, inline skating and generally outdoor activities.
Spirit lab equipment
Heat block - I hate the cold and don´t mind a really hot day
Job in the team
Lab work coordinator, cloning lab team, experiment planning, research
Best thing about iGEM
Being part of a project and experience the entire process of idea to finished project
Personal future goal
Making a contribution to science which may result in a benefit for humanity
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Anna Zieri
Lab & ResearchDuring the iGEM year, I have worked for our lab and research teams. I believe you should never stop learning new things, and I love the motivation of our fantastic team coming up with new ideas and solving problems together.
Field of study
Master Biotechnology
Hobbies
Reading, horse riding, derby skating, hiking, festivals
Spirit lab equipment
Pipette boy , can handle a lot at once
Job in the team
Research, cloning lab team
Reason to join iGEM
To get an insight on how to set up an idea into a working project
Personal future goal
Never stop learning new things
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Amin Saoudi
Lab & SponsoringI am part of our sponsoring and lab team, supporting the team by bringing fruit, bread, and happiness. I joined the team to learn more about the different areas necessary to organize a project.
Field of study
Bachelor Biotechnology
Hobbies
Cooking, trolling my lab mates, hiking, going for good, nice evening walks
Spirit lab equipment
Old pipette, according to an online personality test
Job in the team
Cloning lab team, comedian, sponsoring
Best thing about iGEM
The cute fellows of my team
Personal future goal
Be happy
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Sebatian Röder
Wiki & ModelingI have helped here and there, however my main responsibility was finishing the wiki during the last few days before the wiki freeze. My motto is to start late with everything because hardly finishing in the last second after an all-nighter is my thing.
Field of study
Master Logic and Computation
Hobbies
Guitar, running
Spirit lab equipment
Computer - as I am the computer scientist of the team
Job in the team
Wiki team leader, Modeling
Reason to join iGEM
To do something outside the own field
Best thing about iGEM
Learning new things in exciting areas
Personal future goal
Be content and have a meaning in live
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Field of study
Hobbies
Spirit lab equipment
Job in the team
Reason to join iGEM
Best thing about iGEM
Personal future goal
Team members
Team members
Hello! We are the people behind iGEM Vienna 2021.
We are 25 eagerly motivated students from different STEM and life science subjects. Our team members study at the University of Vienna, University of Natural Resources, Technical University, University of Veterinary Medicine, and the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna.
Throughout our iGEM year we were supported by two wonderful principal investigators, a very helful advisor from last years iGEM team and five very committed instructors. We are proud of the work we have achieved with our project and grateful that we could participate in the iGEM 2021 competion.
Click on the profile picture for more information about us!
Alina Destinger
Anna Hurt
Anna Magdalena Ambros
Anna Zieri
Amin Saoudi
Denise Schaffer
Hannah Beneder
Helena Cozzarini
Johanna Wörtl
Julia Mayer
Laetitia Schwarz
Lisa Kainacher
Lisa Rainer
Lukas Narendja
Magdalena Haller
Marcos Hocevar
Nadine Stranzl
Sarah Schelmbauer
Sebastian Bayer
Sebastian Röder
Soma Katharina Gnagni
Sophia Horak
Tam Dan Pham
Verena Wachtler
Wei Guo
Supervisors
Martin Altvater
Hans Marx