National and international
BaSyC is a strongly integrated programme, building on close interactions between the research groups. Through the BaSyC consortium, we create a broader, multi-disciplinary community of scientists across the Netherlands committed to the same goal: creating a synthetic cell.
In the past years the consortium deployed a number of activities in order to facilitate communication and exchange of knowledge and expertise on all levels, among all staff, from PI’s to junior researchers. Besides our progress meetings in the spring and fall, we organize internal workshops & seminars, kick-start meetings for the newly hired staff, and we organize a summer school.
In 2018 BaSyC organised an international symposium, which hosted the then just initiated European Synthetic Cell Initiative (SynCellEU).
Since then, the European Synthetic Cell Initiative has grown considerably, and organizes international events such as the yearly SynCell conference, in collaboration with the US ‘twin’-community “Build-a-cell”. BaSyC as the Dutch hub of SynCellEU is involved in the organisation of this conference and other international activities and participates massively. More information about BaSyC’s national and international activities can be found at the bottom of this page.
Outreach
Our BaSyC scientists are constantly looking for opportunities to generate outreach, because it remains important to share our research passion and experiences with others, inspire those who wouldn’t normally engage with academia, and enlarge our research with public engagement.
The BaSyC consortium encourages PhD’s, Postdocs and PI’s to train their outreach skills. Examples of recent outreach activities are:
- interviews and podcasts
- participating in a cool Science Show for kids and completing a two-day outreach training
- joining a stand of the Rathenau Institute at the Dutch Design week
- participating in Dutch science festivals, like ‘Pint of Science’, ‘Weekend van de Wetenschap’ and ‘Expeditie NEXT’
Our PhD’s can also train their outreach skills by following graduate school courses at their university.
Activities:
The BaSyC Spring and Fall meetings are held annually in spring and autumn. During these meetings PI’s, PhD students and postdocs present their current research findings, while new BaSyC members give a short pitch to introduce themselves. There is also time for discussion, announcements and questions and during the breaks, attendees can network with each other and exchange knowledge.
During the BaSyC Retreat, there’s time to get together with the PhD students and postdocs to brainstorm, discuss and make new plans for the coming period at an external location.
In 2023 BaSyC started organizing BaSyC Workshops.
The University of Groningen hosted the first workshops in February with the topics Modelling and Membrane Protein Reconstitution. In May Delft University of Technology was host for the workshops eDICE and the PURE system.
Wageningen University will host a workshop about MAGE.
These workshops proved to be popular among the BaSyC staff and filled up quickly. In this way the practice could be shared in a pleasant way and mutual contacts were strengthened.
In 2022 BaSyC started giving BaSyC seminars in the Build-a-Cell seminar series. Our speakers from various universities and institutes share their current knowledge on synthetic cells with a broader audience.
These seminars are co-organized with the Build-a-Cell organization in the USA.
To join the seminars or watch the recordings, go to this website: https://www.buildacell.org/seminar
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The first BaSyC Summer School took place in September 2020. Inspiring presentations, lively discussions and fun activities provided a good variety while the BaSyC members were together on Texel.
Impression of the Summer School
Newly hired staff at BaSyC is required to follow the BaSyC Kickstart Meeting. This meeting aims at offering the new staff members an overview of the research lines and lab facilities at the consortium partners’ locations. It is also intended as an “icebreaker” for new staff, as it offers the first opportunity to meet in person with colleagues within the consortium.
The BaSyC Kickstart meeting takes place every year in February/March. The programme and training material are available for the staff here (password required)
Impression of the Kickstart Meeting in March 2019
For two days, the Science Centre at the Delft University of Technology was the international epicenter for the research on building a synthetic cell. The 2018 BaSyC International Symposium brought together top researchers in the synthetic cell field, as well as representatives of the industry and ethicists. During the symposium, 160 participants from 10 different countries attended 21 presentations, covering all aspects of building an autonomous, self-reproducing synthetic cell. Impression of the BaSyC International Symposium.
One day before the International Symposium, members of the BaSyC consortium gathered for the first time at the faculty of Applied Sciences of the Delft University of Technology. Representatives from all six partners of the consortium (the AMOLF Institute Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, VU Amsterdam, University of Groningen, Radboud University Nijmegen, and Wageningen University) gave a presentation with an update on their research. At the poster session, BaSyC-researchers showed the background, results, and conclusions from their research projects. The Consortium Symposium was being concluded by Tom de Greef from Eindhoven University of Technology with a masterclass, “Engineering Bioinspired Molecular Networks and Synthetic Cells”. Impression of the BaSyC Consortium Symposium.
The yearly SynCell International Conference brings together researchers from all over the world to present the latest research results in bottom-up synthetic biology and the prospects for scientific and technological development.
The programme of the conference will include plenary sessions, parallel sessions and poster sessions.
BaSyC as the Dutch hub of SynCellEU is involved in the organisation of this conference and participates massively.
Link to the 2024 edition of SynCell: https://syncell2024.sciencesconf.org/
