iGEM Judging Begins — Heading to Paris

The online judging phase for iGEM 2023 had been underway for a while — participants following the competition closely probably have a good sense of how the projects and judging criteria are structured. Here is a quick look behind the curtain at what the judge interface actually looks like.

When I applied to be a judge, I listed Simulation and Physics-related projects as my areas of focus. After being accepted, the first thing you see inside the judge portal is a simple schedule.

Next is a resources section, which helps all judges calibrate to a consistent evaluation standard.

Then comes the list of teams assigned for review.

The principle is straightforward: evaluate what was submitted, in the categories it was submitted under. Clicking into any team brings up the detailed rubric — specific criteria with multiple evaluation dimensions.

Overall, the judge interface is considerably more user-friendly than what I have seen at Conrad or ISEF. The evaluation factors and corresponding options are clear, and the workload feels manageable — unlike ISEF, where judges must read every project in a given category and then rank them relative to each other.

Good luck to all the competing teams. Paris is next.