iGEM Brno celebrates historic success: first prize in the Overgraduate category!

"As I said, we will win, and we did win! We have proven that the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Brno not only have talent, but also the infrastructure that allows them to achieve results comparable to teams from the world's leading universities," said the head of the iGEM Brno team. 

iGEM is a competition in which more than 400 teams from around the world participate each year, including teams from Oxford, MIT, and Harvard. The key to success is how the team contributes to solving a real-world problem using synthetic biology, which allows us to "program" genes. 

Among others, this year's competition included a team from Heidelberg. This made every detail all the more important. After the first round of evaluation by a five-member jury, the finalists advanced to the second round, where more than 200 judges watched the presentations, asked questions, and voted for the winner. 

Thanks to thorough preparation, precise work, and determination, the iGEM Brno team managed to convince the jury and win the highest award. 

Thanks to partners and supporters 

The team expressed their sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to their success: 

"We would like to thank the Dean of the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University, Prof. Kašparovský, Mgr. Zemene, and the VideoCrew team from MUNI Arts for their collaboration on an impressive presentation that told our unique story," said the team members.  

iGEM Brno would like to thank its main partners: 

the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University, the IOCB Tech Foundation, GreenOnyx, Brno University of Technology, and BioVendor. However, support was also provided by a number of other institutions and individuals around the world. Doc. Pavel Dvořák also represented the faculty. 

Participation in the competition was not only a professional challenge for all 21 students on the team, but also a life experience. "The iGEM Brno project broadened our career horizons and inspired us to contribute to the growth of the Czechoslovak bioeconomy and the global development of duckweed applications," added the team. 

The iGEM Brno team also invites anyone interested in collaborating to join the continuation of this successful project. 

All information and results can be found here: 

https://competition.igem.org/results/2025