Team Radboud University

Ekaterina Aranovskaia

Student Team Leader of the Radboud iGEM Team

I am the Student Team Leader of the Radboud iGEM Team, studying in the 3rd year of my Chemistry Bachelor. I'm very excited to join iGEM competition, since our team is the first in Radboud University history, participating in this international celebration of synthetic biology. I am honored to be the person to take the initiative and to make this project to happen, to develop multiple new skills and knowledge, and grow alongside with our wonderful team. Together, we showed Radboud and the world that with dedication and enthusiasm, we can achieve remarkable things. I hope that our efforts inspire future students at Radboud to continue this journey and form a new team in 2025. For now, I’m excited to present our project, InfinityF∞, to the global iGEM community and the jury at this year’s finals!

Adrian Belichenov

Head of promotion, Wet Lab activities.

I'm Adrian, I'm 21 years old and come from Bulgaria! I study chemistry in Radboud university, and I'm particularly interested in synthetic organic chemistry. I joined iGEM to challenge myself with a project that is not supervised by the university, and to have the opportunity to truly innovate in a presently relevant field. My strongest traits are my creativity, positive attitude, and my critical thinking.

Maksym Haniev

Head of Research

My name is Maksym, but everyone just calls me Maks. I'm 20 years old and originally come from Ukraine and currently studying at Radboud University to become a Molecular Life Scientist. I've decided to join Radboud iGEM team because I was really into the idea of creating something completely new and bringing innovation to the scientific world together with a group of like-minded students. For me, iGEM is a great opportunity to both get a touch of wet lab scientific research and combine your efforts with people from different backgrounds and with different interests. It has been a wonderful opportunity to work in such a great team and I hope to do it again one day!

Lea Omtzigt

Head of Video Production, Literature Research and Wet Lab.

I am a 3rd year bachelor student at the Radboud university. I study Molecular Life Sciences with a focus on molecular biology. In my studies I am interested in gene expression and regulation. iGEM for me is a way to apply theoretical knowledge in a real research environment and a way to learn many new skills, like new lab techniques, but also communication and presentation skills. I love being creative; drawing, writing stories, making videos. I don’t get to use my creative skills often in my day to day studying, so I was very excited to take on the job of creating our promotion and presentation video as well as designing our team logo. I would love to make an effort to keep next generation at Radboud interested in iGEM and synthetic biology.

Thijmen Isken

Head of Local Community Interactions

I am Thijmen, I am 21 years old, I study applied biology and I am from the Netherlands. I wanted to join iGEM because it looked like a fun challenge, a way to develop myself more within the molecular field of science and to become better at working in a lab. Something which I really liked was that the project gave me the feeling that I was working on a real research project. This is because we had to do everything ourselves from arranging sponsorships to get funding to doing the experiments in the lab. Within our project, I am the head of interactions with local community and part of the research (including performing wet lab experiments) and sponsorship teams. Outside iGEM I like to go on hikes in nature, watch some football games and spend time with family and friends.

Vasilis Krassas

Head of Sponsorship and Wet Lab Experiments

My name is Vasilis, and I am currently a third-year Bachelor's student in Molecular Life Sciences. I consider myself an easy-going person with a passion for cooking, travelling and spending quality time with friends. I joined the iGEM team because I wanted to apply my knowledge on a real research project and not just a regular course. Within the team, my primary role was securing sponsorship and funding, but I also had the opportunity to contribute to wet lab experiments. Being part of iGEM not only deepened my understanding of scientific research but also taught me the value of teamwork, collaboration, and mutual respect in working toward a common goal.

Henriete Ķere

Sponsorship/Promotion, Wet Lab Experiments

My name is Henriete Ķere, and I am a third-year Molecular Life Sciences student with a passion for exploring and applying new knowledge. For example, hiking and pausing to admire a plant I’ve read about, or delving into the molecular intricacies of organisms. My curiosity drives me to understand and appreciate the natural world on both a macroscopic and microscopic level. So, my enthusiasm for molecular biology, and especially genetical engineering, led me to join iGEM, where I have engaged in various roles, including wet lab work focused on biological synthesis, as well as contributing to sponsorship and promotion efforts. This experience has significantly enhanced my lab skills and tested my capabilities. I believe iGEM offers a valuable opportunity for students eager to deepen their understanding of the molecular realm and hone their research and teamwork skills.

Timofej Paramonov Bliki

Lead of Wiki Development, Promotion Team member

Hi, I'm Tim! I am a second-year Computing Science bachelor in Radboud University, and I'm always ready to learn more and take on challenges. This is precisely the reason I decided to join iGEM - It's a unique way to diversify my skill-sets and help create a project with real-world implications. I knew close to nothing about web development before joining iGEM, but when I was offered to help make the wiki I couldn't refuse trying. From then on, I've learnt so much about not only HTML, CSS, and Javascript implementation in the wiki, but also about hemophilia, synthetic biology as a whole, and about working efficiently in a team. I can say with certainty that I'm proud to be a member of our Radboud University team, and hope that our team and I inspire future Radboud Computing Science students to take on this interdisciplinary challenge in future years!

Dr. Luc-Jan Laarhoven

Primary PI

Educated at Leiden University in physical organic chemistry. I got to work in Nijmegen, Radboud University, on the interface between biology and laser physics. Already more than 20 years I am education coordinator for the Molecular Science programmes at this university. And I teach academic skills and (in a small elective course) valorisation projects. When students asked me “what can I do as an extra challenge” I challenged them to find something to sink their teeth in. We do not have a large tradition in scientific student competitions and I am glad they took up that idea. And eventually asked me to act as PI in their iGEM team. I am impressed by the way they operated their project, as second year bachelor’s students. They needed very little guidance and were very self-reliant, reaching their goals. My main involvement was (logistic) support and providing feedback. Having seen the project and what it can yield to enthusiastic students, we will certainly think on making this a returning opportunity for our students.

Frank Nelissen

Instructor

My name is Frank Nelissen, and I am working as a research associate at the department of Biophysical Chemistry of the Radboud University for over 20 years. I am experienced in working with nucleic acids, proteins and enzymes and modifying / labelling them for different kinds of research purposes. I am also involved in a couple of practical courses for 1st and 2nd year students of the Molecular Life Sciences program from which the affinity of working with and educating of students comes from. I see iGEM as a particularly well suited challenge for students who want to explore and learn how to work on a larger-than-a-lab-course synthetic biology project where deliverables have to be met and multiple disciplines of science and society come together. I am happy to fulfil my role as instructor for the Radboud iGEM team and together try to find solutions for the research questions.

Tom Bloemberg

Advisor

I am in charge of the Education Labs for Molecular Sciences and was asked by the students setting up the iGEM team if I could contribute. I liked their initiative and have tried to help the iGEM team by facilitating them with lab space, equipment, basic chemicals and a lot of critical (but hopefully helpful) comments... During the last year, I have learned quite some new things, both scientifically and about 'student learning' in the process. I am very impressed with how far the team have managed to come with a rather ambitious plan and how they have managed to secure help and support from a lot of persons.