Our upcoming events are listed below. Have an event you want to share? Email synbio@anu.edu.au with the event details and we will publish it for you. 

2023 ANU Engineering Biology Symposium

Mon. 27 November 2023, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm AEDT, Australian National University (precise location to be confirmed.

Join us for the 2023 ANU Engineering Biology Symposium! Explore the cutting-edge world of synthetic biology and its incredible potential to address pressing global challenges. Whether you're a researcher, industry professional, or simply curious about the future of science, this symposium is your gateway to a world of innovation and sustainable solutions. Be part of a dynamic community dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and more. Together, we'll unlock the power of synthetic biology to shape a brighter future. Don't miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and drive change at the 2023 ANU Engineering Biology Symposium.

Please RSVP via this Registration Form

A calendar invite with a program and further details will follow. 

Past events

Australasian SynBio Challenge Showcase

Fri. 29 September 2023, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm AEDT, ANU Research School of Physics Foyer and Auditorium

This national showcase welcomed 80 undergrad students and mentors from around Australia who are participating in the Australasian SynBio Challenge. Students presented their work to their peers and the broader synbio network. 

SynBio Australasia Talk and Movie Night

Talk: Thu. 1 June 2023, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm AEDT, T2 Lecture Theatre, Level 2 Cultural Centre Kambri (ANU Building 153)

Film screening: Thu. 1 June 2023, 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm AEDT, Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive

SynBio Australasia (SBA) are teaming up with the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science to host synthetic biology talks alongside a film night presented by the National Film and Sound Archive on Thursday June 1st. 

4:30pm: SBA talks in the T2 Lecture Theatre, Located on Level 2 of the Cultural Centre Kambri (ANU Building 153).

• Free food, free non-alcoholic drinks and cheap alcoholic beverages
• The first speaker is Felix Weihs, Science and Operations Lead at PPB Technology. Felix will discuss the development of a food diagnostics platform based on Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer biosensors.
• The second speaker is Dan Santos from the Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. Dan is a well-travelled post-doc and will give his experiences working alongside stem cell researchers and for hire synthetic biology laboratories.
• Register for the SBA talk here. After the talk, we'll walk to the National Film and Sound Archive for the movie.

6pm: Free movie screening of Rampage in the Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive.

• Free screening of the 2018 American sci-fi action-adventure monster movie Rampage. 
• After the screening, there will be a panel discussion about new forms of life and the future of life itself with Dan Santos, Aiden Beauglehole and Anna-Sophie Jurgens.
• Register for the film night here.

Everyone is welcome to come to either one or both events. Registration is essential for the film night. Less essential for the SBA talks, but definitely appreciated for catering

ANU SynBio Workshop with Twist Bioscience

Fri. 18 November 2022, 12:00 pm – 5:30 pm AEDT, RN Robertson Lecture Theatre, Australian National University 46E Sullivans Creek Rd Acton, ACT 2601

The technology for gene synthesis has progressed rapidly. The ANU SynBio Network will host Twist Bioscience to explore:

• Synthesis (and cloning!) of wild-type or computationally designed genes you are interesting in testing
• Synthesis of entire biosynthetic pathways (5KB)
• Synthesis of large oligo pools
• Combinatorial assembly libraries (e.g. for TCRs or antibody engineering)
• Combinatorial or site specific or site saturation mutagenesis, etc.

Learn more about some of the tools and techniques used in synbio. and how to order genes/gene library design through Twist Bioscience.

The ANU SynBio Network is offering early career researchers (cross-discipline groups of at least two) who attend this workshop up to $5,000 to support quick gene synthesis projects. For more information, contact Colin Jackson (colin.jackson@anu.edu.au).

Drinks and nibbles will be provided, please advise of any dietary requirements when reserving your ticket.

Register here for this free event.

Questioning Responsibility: uncertainty, participation, and sustainability in the governance of emerging innovation

Thu., 20 October 2022, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm AEDT (Virtual)

Steep gradients of power and privilege drive turbulent ebbs and flows in the politics of research and innovation. Contrasting idioms around ‘sustainable development’, ‘ethical research’, ‘smart solutions’, ‘clean technology’, ‘inclusive engagement’, ‘precautionary regulation’ and ‘responsible innovation’ vie for attention and traction. Variously associated with competing disciplines, cultures and institutional interests across different policy ‘markets’, each follows others in disparate ways, enjoying brief episodes of ‘mainstream’ status in the language and practice of particular settings.

Despite many significant differences, all these ostensibly divergent idioms share a crucial trait in common. Each provides an arena within which incumbent and subaltern interests contend to shape onward developments. By modulating processes of churn, privilege can be leveraged to ratchet contingent gains or neutralise losses. As a result, a series of inconvenient contradictions are concealed in ways that help justify the most powerfully favoured orientations for change. These cliental pressures are intensified by policy patronage and academic incentives for ‘impact’ and ‘relevance’.

Register here for this free event.

AusBiotech Conference 2022

26 - 28 October, Perth, WA

Australia’s largest life sciences conference at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, 21 Mounts Bay Road, Perth WA 6000. We’re breathing new life into the biotech industry after two years of disruption and change.
Reconnecting and recharging the biotech community to ignite what’s next.

This event is not run by ANU, we are sharing it here as it may be of interest to our network. 

Tickets available at https://www.ausbiotechnc.org/. 

Australasian Synthetic Biology Challenge 2022 Final Showcase Event

Thu. 13 and Fri. 14 October 2022, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm AEDT (Virtual)

The Australasian Synthetic Biology Challenge gives teams of undergraduate students from across the region the opportunity to work together on Synthetic Biology lab-based projects. Join us on Zoom as the teams present their projects and pitch their ideas to us. There have been some incredible teams and projects this year (including one from ANU who are working on a nanobody production platform!), so it’s bound to be a great event. 

Register here for this free event.

The Future is Biological, Not Digital : Now Innovate

Thu., 6 October 2022, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm AEDT (Virtual)

Digital technology is today widely understood to be the most transformative creation by human beings and advancements in innovation are viewed as inevitably changing the way the world operates for the better. But this is a myopic view of humanity, the planet and the future. The next era of innovation requires a rejection of this imminent surrender to a dystopian digital future. If the global pandemic has taught us any lessons, surely the most important is the need to recognise that in the next chapter of human awareness and development “the future is biological and not digital”. Human beings will need to desist the march of the algorithm and its capture of human societies. This will require bold innovations.

Chandran Nair will outline his views on why the future is biological and not digital, bringing together existential threats of climate change together with the future of work, the role of purposeful technology and food and security issues. He will outline why we need to move from our obsession with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) to Insured Resilience 1.0 (IR1.0) based on the scientific reality that the future hinges on managing the biological realm of our existence.

Register here for this free event.