FAQs

YES!

Registration for the upcoming BioBuilderClub season will open August 15th. We encourage teams to register as soon as possible, as we expect to reach the cutoff for the number of teams that can register before the Season Opening in mid-October. Registration will close November 1st, and the Final Assembly will be held in mid-March in Boston, Atlanta, and online. 

Specific locations and dates for the Final Assemblies will be announced in the Fall. Project deliverables will be due in February. Detailed requirements and instructions for submission will be provided to registered teams. 

Each team should have 10 or fewer students and a high school teacher or parent as the team leader(s).

If more than 10 students are interested, we welcome participation of multiple teams from the same school. These teams can all be registered by the same team leader(s).

It depends. Homeschooled high school students in the United States can join the BioBuilderClub as their own team. All international teams must be affiliated with a school and led by a teacher.

Small groups not affiliated with a high school can participate if they are in the United States and their high school does NOT have an existing BioBuilderClub team. If a student attends a high school with an existing BioBuilderClub team, they are not permitted to start a non-school-affiliated team outside of school. 

Yes, students attending any high school internationally can participate. International student teams must be affiliated with a school and have a teacher supervising the team.

$400 per team. Up to two teams at Title I schools, where 40% or more of the student body is eligible for free or reduced lunch, may participate at no cost. 

The team is responsible for the additional cost if they choose to conduct laboratory work or travel to attend a Final Assembly in person.

Cancellation Policy: Registration may be canceled up until 10/15/2026. In such cases, a refund of registration fees will be issued, less any incurred payment processing fees. We are unable to refund registration fees for cancellations received after 10/15/2026.

No. Students do not need to register at all for the team to register. Please register the team as soon as possible and have students join later. If the team has roster changes during the season, please contact the program coordinator for assistance. There is no deadline for student registration as long as the team is registered by the team registration deadline. 

No. Each team must have a teacher or other adult leader who registers the team. Teams are encouraged to have a student leader, however, an adult is required to register the team. 

The BioBuilderClub welcomes all teams, regardless of access to molecular biology laboratory facilities.

For teams wanting to DESIGN a biotechnology, you will need:

• A teacher or parent to lead the club.

• At least one student to participate.

• A good idea.

• Some understanding of DNA as the coding language for cells.

• Access to a computer and the internet.

For teams wanting to DESIGN and BUILD a biotechnology, you will need:
All the above plus…

• Some basic biology laboratory equipment such as glassware, pipettes, a water bath or heat block to heat samples, an ice bucket or styrofoam cup to cool samples, 4C fridge and ice-cold freezer (ideally to -20C) to store samples, a stir plate to mix samples, and an incubator to grow samples (though room temperature can work too). Some experiments might need a chemical hood, depending on what you are building.

• Some basic consumable laboratory equipment such as pipet tips, plastic tubes, growth media, petri dishes, toothpicks, spreaders, sterile loops, bleach or the like for decontamination and disposal of bioreagents.

For teams wanting to DESIGN and BUILD and TEST a biotechnology, you will need:
All the above plus…

• Some additional basic biology laboratory equipment such as electrophoresis chambers, spectrophotometer, and PCR machine.

• Some additional consumable laboratory equipment such as gel running buffers, loading buffers, stains to visualize DNA or proteins, cuvettes, PCR master mix, autoclave for sterilizing reagents.

Regardless of a team’s goals, all participants will need to submit a media/photo release and liability consent form. A team photo is requested, and all students will be asked to complete a pre- and post- survey form.

That's completely fine. The BioBuilderClub welcomes all teams, regardless of access to laboratory facilities and supplies. Your team will be able to design a biotechnology, but you won't be able to build or test it in a laboratory. 

Many teams feel intimidated if they don't have the opportunity to complete the hands-on building aspect of the project. We want to emphasize that the design process is just as valuable as the final build. You'll find that at the Final Assemblies, everybody loves discussing a solid biodesign concept. 

The BioBuilderClub offers current biological engineering challenges so that students may experience scientific problem-solving through authentic, meaningful investigations.

Students gain a clearer understanding of STEM education and career pathways. Bioengineer mentors serve as an important resource for teams and provide a real-world glimpse into the possibilities of life science research and careers.

Teams work on projects to be shared with the BioBuilderClub community at the “Final Assembly” event in March. This event provides an opportunity for broad exposure and positive feedback from fellow students and scientists. Some teams choose to work toward publication in a synthetic biology journal for high school students.

The BioBuilderClub engages high school teams around the world who want to use synthetic biology to develop novel biotechnologies. New U.S. teams receive a copy of the BioBuilder textbook. All teams have access to the full online version of the textbook, the BioBuilderClub Handbook and online resource guide, and our Discord server to collaborate, ask questions, and find engaging content such as podcasts, articles, and interviews.

Students explore their ideas in partnership with practicing mentor scientists and engineers in academia, government, and industry. Mentors meet remotely with teams for up to 10 hours, answering student questions, refining project ideas, and offering their expert guidance.

The BioBuilderClub season concludes with an international “Final Assembly” symposium in March to exhibit projects at any stage of completion, from pitch to prototype.

From their first days as a team to the Final Assembly, teams are supported with remote expertise to guide their work. Teams have access to the BioBuilderClub Handbook, recorded webinars, the BioBuilder textbook, and more. 

Teams will be given access to the BioBuilderClub Discord server, where they can collaborate with their team, connect with mentors, ask questions of the global community, and find engaging content, such as podcasts, articles, and interviews.

For teams who are ready to move from the design to the build phase of their project ideas, New England BioLabs provides certain reagents at no cost. Carolina provides a $100 credit on general lab supplies.

Teams will be paired with an industry mentor, who will provide remote guidance and feedback specific to the project the team is working on.

You bet! Check out the Project Library that’s here: http://biobuilderclub-library.org/

You can also download last season's Abstract Book and view the Virtual Poster Gallery. 

Many of our teams go on to publish in BioTreks, a peer-reviewed journal for high school synthetic biologists. Read up on their work here: http://biotreks.org/

Please contact us (chloe@biobuilder.org) with the subject line “BioBuilderClub Mentor Inquiry.”

Mentors include grad students, postdocs, and scientists in the field. Mentors primarily serve as a resource for teams, particularly as they work toward their project to be exhibited at the Final Assembly in March.

The minimum time contribution expected of mentors is approximately 1 hour per month (October – December), and 2 hours per month (January – March), which may include team calls and email correspondence. Mentors spend an average of 10 hours assisting their team during the season through virtual meetings with the team, asynchronous correspondence, and reviewing presentation materials. 

All mentoring occurs virtually due to the diverse geographic locations in which both teams and mentors are located. Mentors are matched with teams in late fall on a rolling basis.