The Engineering Biology IRC provides university undergraduate, masters and PhD students with a range of opportunities, from skills training and networking opportunities to small-scale funding calls.
The IRC can support students with:
- Networking and social opportunities
- Training in research skills and professional development
- Access to small scale funding calls
- Support for projects and events
- Keep up to date with relevant news from the university and beyond
Support for Students
Read more about how we can support undergraduate, masters and PhD students using the dropdown menu below.
The IRC hosts a range of talks, networking and social events open to students and researchers from across the university and local engineering biology community.
SynBioSocThe Synthetic Biology Society is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students and merges engineering and biology with hands-on projects and workshops spanning molecular biology, hardware construction, and scientific programming. You can find the latest SynBioSoc events on their website and keep up to date via their Slack group.
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Café SynthetiqueCafé Synthetique is the monthly meetup for the Cambridge synthetic and engineering biology community with informal talks, discussion and pub snacks. |
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EngBio ForumsThe EngBio Forums are a series of flagship events with prominent external speakers networking. A great opportunity to learn more about cutting edge synthetic and engineering biology.
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Other EventsThe IRC hosts a number of regular and one-off events throughout the year, including monthly EngBio Postdoc meetings, which are also open to students. You can see our regular events on our Events page and keep up to date with all of our events by joining our Meetup Group. |
The IRC provides a range of training and workshops throughout the year. The majority of our training is open to all community members, including students.
SynBioSocThe Synthetic Biology Society provides a range of training sessions covering areas such as wet-lab skills, bioinformatics, and microscopy. You can find the latest SynBioSoc training opportunities on their website and keep up to date via their Slack group. |
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Biomaker and No-Code Programming for BiologyBiomaker provides funding for interdisciplinary team-based projects at the intersection of electronics, 3D printing, sensor technology, low cost DIY instrumentation and biology - together with workshops and outreach events. Our popular No-Code Programming for Biology training is designed for those with little or no previous experience with coding and hardware to get started building simple DIY prototypes for custom biological hardware. Training is available via regular online sessions, video tutorials and as a self-taught course. |
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Other Training OpportunitiesWe provide a range of training and workshops throughout the year, with events advertised in our newsletter and on our Meetup Group. |
The IRC offers small-scale funding for members’ events and initiatives, as well as sharing relevant external funding opportunities.
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Biomaker ChallengeThe Biomaker Challenge provides funding for interdisciplinary team-based projects at the intersection of electronics, 3D printing, sensor technology, low-cost DIY instrumentation and biology – together with workshops and outreach events. We are currently taking rolling applications for Biomaker Challenge projects. |
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Other Internal Funding CallsThe IRC sometimes offers small-scale funding for events and projects run by IRC members. Current IRC funding calls are advertised on our Opportunities and News pages. We also consider suggestions and proposals from our members on a rolling basis, so please get in touch if you have ideas for small-scale events and projects. |
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External FundingRelevant external funding opportunities are advertised on our Opportunities pages as well as in our monthly newsletters. |
The IRC provides a central hub to learn about synthetic and engineering biology news from across the university and from our local, national and international partners.
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Latest NewsKeep up with the latest news from colleagues and the community on our News page. |
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NewsletterNews stories, events, training, funding and job opportunities are shared in our monthly newsletter. |
The IRC hosts a virtual network of researchers from across the University, as well as associate members from local companies and organisations and national and international partners. Our members are interested in various aspects of engineering biology, from genetic engineering to hardware and instrumentation for biology.
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About the IRCLearn more about the IRC, our areas of interest and engineering biology research going on within our community. |
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Research DirectoryUse our research directory to search members of our community and find potential supervisors, collaborators and partners. |
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EventsJoin our talks and networking events to find out more about engineering biology research at Cambridge and meet like-minded researchers from a wide range of fields. |
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Contact UsPlease feel free to contact the IRC with any questions or queries about our network and it’s members. |