iGEM Competition 2026
iGEM Foundation
📌 About the Event
The iGEM Competition is an annual, worldwide synthetic biology event aimed at undergraduate university students as well as high school and graduate students. Multidisciplinary teams work together to design, build, test, and measure a system of their own design using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques. The 2026 iGEM Competition season has started, with 100+ teams already registered to tackle global challenges with synthetic biology. Indian teams from IITs, NITs, and private universities have been competing in iGEM for over a decade.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Category: Synthetic Biology, Biotechnology, Life Sciences Competition
- Organizer: iGEM Foundation, an independent non-profit organization, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- Eligibility: High school students, undergraduate, and graduate students worldwide. Teams must be affiliated with a recognized institution. Indian students and teams fully eligible
- Open To: Global including India
- Team Size: Multidisciplinary teams, typically 5 to 15 members with at least one faculty advisor
- Effort Level: Very High, year-long project commitment from spring through October
- Submission Type: Lab project, team wiki, presentation video, and poster submitted online with in-person Grand Jamboree presentation in Paris
📅 Important Dates
- Registration: Open now at competition.igem.org
- Regular Registration Deadline: April 2, 2026 to avoid late fees
- Mentorship Programme Deadline: April 2, 2026 for teams seeking experienced iGEM mentors
- iGEM Grand Jamboree: October 2026, Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris, France
- Mode: Hybrid, online deliverables throughout the year and in person Grand Jamboree in Paris
- Venue: Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris, France for Grand Jamboree
🏆 Prize Details and Value
- Prize Type: Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals, Special Prizes, and Grand Prize
- Prize Amount: At the annual iGEM Grand Jamboree, judges award medals and special prizes to teams, selecting a Grand Prize Winner team as well as Runner-Up teams in each division. Each participant receives a participating certificate.
- Certificates: Yes
🎯 What You Will Do
- Register your team at competition.igem.org before April 2, 2026 and receive access to the iGEM parts registry and biological materials kit
- Choose a real-world problem to address through synthetic biology and design your project across the Design, Build, Test, and Learn engineering cycle
- Conduct lab research, develop human practices engagement, and build your team wiki documenting every stage of your project
- Submit all deliverables including your wiki, presentation video, parts registry contributions, and poster before the October deadlines
- Travel to Paris for the iGEM Grand Jamboree and present your project to 400 judges and 4,000+ attendees from across the global synthetic biology community