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Welcome to the Summer of Synbio! Sponsored by Flow Genomics
Flow Genomics offers
$20 CAD per plasmid.
Fast sequencing. Accurate results. Bacterial genome sequencing now available!
The Summer of Synbio is a summer-long event and our community’s FIRST-EVER sponsorship and award opportunity for synbio students across Canada!
We’re awarding $3,000 across three awards this summer. Each award is $500 in cash and $500 in sequencing credits with Flow Genomics.
Our community is loaded with superstar scientists, and we wanted to create an opportunity to celebrate that, and feature some unique work being done nationwide.
We’re keeping things simple for the application. Send us a poster for your work and a short personal statement. Our judges will review the entries. We announce the winners at the end of the month and send money.
Here are the steps:
Become a member of Synbio Canada
Fill out the application form before one of the deadlines this summer.
Chill, it’s summertime :D
Watch out for announcements for awardees!
Join us at the award ceremony in September!
In the form, you’ll also find that we’re asking for summer fun photos to feature along with the award announcements. This is not part of the judging criteria. Have fun with it! Maybe it’s just enjoying a cool beverage outside the lab, maybe it’s chilling on a board somewhere warm, maybe it’s hanging out with your fav dog/cat/moose/goose/person in the sun!
You only need to apply once to be considered for one of the three awards. You may submit more than once, but please only do so if you have an updated poster to submit! We’ll judge your most recent submission. However, you can only win one award, but you can always post your latest work to our community slack and we’ll all be very impressed :D
The winners will all be asked to give short presentations for the awards ceremony to wrap up the summer and get us all inspired for the fall and winter season.
Important dates:
June 15th, 2025 - Deadline for the first award
June 30th, 2025 - First award is announced!
July 15th, 2025 - Deadline for the second award
July 31st, 2025 - Second award announced!
August 15th, 2025 - Deadline for the third award
August 31st, 2025 - Third award announced!
September (Date TBD) - Awards ceremony (online!)
Flow says: “Hurry up and apply!”
What we’re looking for:
Impact of the work
Enthusiasm for synbio
Quality of the poster in terms of organization, graphics, text and aesthetic
Eligibility:
Must be a current student (at any level) located anywhere in Canada
Must be residing in Canada and studying at a Canadian institution.
FAQ:
I am a foreign student residing in Canada for my undergraduate or grad studies. Can I apply? Yes! Don’t forget to become a member of Synbio Canada. You must be a resident and have a Canadian bank account to receive the funding.
If I apply once in June, do I need to re-apply in July? No, you can apply once in June and we’ll keep your application in the pool for each judging round. If you have an updated poster with significant changes to the one that has been originally uploaded, you should re-upload that and tick the box to let us know it’s an update.
I’m not enrolled at an institution but I am studying on my own time or working with a community lab. Am I eligible? Probably! Email us in advance to let us know. We have many members from community labs and love to support anyone enthusiastic about synbio.
What if I have work that hasn’t been published anywhere else yet? This is a non-confidential process, but anything you upload here will only be accessible by our team reviewers. Do not upload anything that needs to be kept confidential for intellectual property purposes. You can submit data and information that has not yet been published elsewhere.
Will I be getting feedback on my poster? We won’t be giving feedback as part of this competition, but a great place to ask for feedback and support on poster work is our slack channel!
I applied to be a member of Synbio Canada, but I haven’t received my membership approval yet. Is my application still valid? Yes! Your membership will be approved soon and if you’ve applied to be a member before the deadline for the prize you’ll still be considered for a prize.
Where can I ask other questions? Feel free to reach out to us directly!