Dear Colleagues,

As you may have noticed in our previous announcement, BIOMOD, International Biomolecular Design Competition, is back this year and resuming its annual jamboree event in November. This year, 16 teams from 8 countries have registered for the competition, and currently, we estimate 14 will present at the jamboree, either online or on-site. To further regain the momentum and make the event a continuous educational activity for the next generation of researchers in our community, BIOMOD needs your help! Specifically, we would like to ask for your help with two topics:

Call for Judges

We need your help participating in this year’s competition as a judge. The online judging period (webpage and YouTube video) will take place on Oct 28 – Nov 3 (JST), and the live presentation judging at the jamboree will be held as a hybrid style (on-site and Zoom) on Nov 4 (JST). Joining the judging online, even part of the process, is also welcomed.

Future Plans

We are planning to make BIOMOD into a more international and open organization to make it more sustainable for the foreseeable future. As we mark the tenth event and restart after COVID, this timing would be a perfect opportunity to think about the next chapter of BIOMOD. We would like to have your input and form our future with volunteer mentors and judges. Please join the discussion if you are interested. Based on our online discussion, we are planning to hold an on-site meeting after the jamboree on 11/5 at Tokyo Tech.

Registration Form

For registration, please fill out the form (deadline Oct. 14)  (Google Form). Your comments and participation are highly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation.

Best regards,

Shogo Hamada
Chair, BIOMOD 2023
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Computer Science, Tokyo Tech

Jamboree registration and project abstract submission for BIOMOD 2023 starts Aug. 15! We reduced this year’s jamboree attendance fee:

• On-site: 5,000 JPY (approx. 35 USD) per attendee
• Online: Free

We hope this pricing will encourage many participants to join the jamboree on-site in Tokyo this year. Please follow the link below for the registration. Note that registrations are only considered complete when payment is received, and a confirmation email is sent.

Jamboree Registration & Abstract Submission Links

• Jamboree Registration (via Peatix, one ticket per participant)
  • On-site participant: Aug. 15, 2023 - Sep. 15, 2023
  • Online participant: Aug. 15, 2023 - Oct. 30, 2023
• Team Project Abstract Submission Form (one submission per team)
  • Deadline: Sep. 15, 2023 (23:59 JST)

Upcoming Schedule

• Aug. 15 - Sep. 15: Jamboree registration
• Sep. 15: Team project abstract deadline
• Oct. 28: Website/Youtube freeze
• Nov. 4-5: Jamboree (on-site (Tokyo, Japan) and online (Zoom))

Inquiry

Please feel free to contact info@biomod.jp (Steering Committee) for any questions, including visa issues.

Thank you all for joining the online briefing! Here are the slides and recorded video from the session. We look forward to receiving your team registration.

Video (YouTube)

Slides (PDF, via Dropbox)

Download

Inquiry

Please feel free to contact info@biomod.jp (Steering Committee) for any questions.

We are excited to announce that the team registration for this year’s BIOMOD starts on April 29, 2023.

Update 2023/04/29: Team Registration Page (Peatix) is now online!

It has been more than three years since the last international BIOMOD. As a refresher, we plan to do an Online briefing session on April 29 (12:00-13:00 (JST), Zoom). Rules, schedule, jamboree venue, awards, etc., will be covered. The recording will also be available online.

We look forward to seeing you all this fall in Tokyo. Let’s work together to make this exciting event possible!

Online Briefing

• 12:00 (noon) - 13:00 (JST, Japan Standard Time)
  • Zoom Link
  • The session will be in English (auto-generated subtitles are available).

Schedule

• April 29: Online briefing (Zoom)
• April 29 - May 31: Team registration (may close early / extend due to the number cap)
• Aug. 15 - Sep. 15 (may change): Jamboree registration
• Oct. 28: Website/Youtube freeze
• Nov. 4-5: Jamboree (on-site (Tokyo, Japan) and online (Zoom))

Registration and Fees

• Team: 30,000 JPY (approx. 225 USD)
• Jamboree: TBD (see below)

A fee of 30,000 JPY is due at the time of team registration, payable by credit card via Peatix.

This year’s individual Jamboree registration fee will be decided based on the number of teams that are willing to attend on-site. At least we plan to set the registration fee more affordable than the previous jamboree ($220/person in 2019). Online participation also requires an online registration fee to cover streaming etc. We strongly recommend joining on-site to experience the BIOMOD jamboree fully. Jamboree registration starts in August and is due in September, along with your project title and abstract.

Registrations are only considered complete when payment is received, and a confirmation email is sent.

Jamboree

• Date: November 4-5, 2023
• Place:
  • West Bldg. 9 Hall, Ookayama Campus,
    Tokyo Institute of Technology
    Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Tech (Ookayama Campus) is located in downtown Tokyo. There are a plethora of affordable lodging options in Tokyo (from Airbnb to Japanese-style business hotels), so this year, we are not planning to make a contract with specific hotels to secure rooms. Of course, we are more than happy to help you find lodging that suits your needs, so feel free to contact us.

For the teams that require visas to travel to Japan, please check MOFA’s webpage and start the application process early. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for the documents.

Our Team

• Co-organized by BIOMOD Foundation (USA) and Molecular Robotics Research Group (Japan)
• Sponsored by Molecular Cybernetics, MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Transformative Research Areas (A)

BIOMOD Foundation

• Shawn Douglas (Chair)

BIOMOD 2023 Steering Committee

• Shogo Hamada (Committee Chair)
• Yusuke Sato (Vice Chair & Intl. Team Assistance)
• Akinori Kuzuya (Intl. Team Assistance)
• Ibuki Kawamata (Accounting)
• Kan Shoji (Accounting)
• Junichi Taira (Jamboree)
• Kazuhiro Maeda (Jamboree)
• Akifumi Nishida (Jamboree)
• Keita Abe（Japan Meeting, Social Event）

Inquiry

Please feel free to contact info@biomod.jp (Steering Committee) for any questions.

Dear BIOMOD Community,

We are pleased to announce that BIOMOD will officially resume this year as a “hybrid” event, with options for in-person and online participation.

This year’s competition is being organized by the Molecular Robotics Research Group of Japan (MOLBOT), with support from the BIOMOD Foundation. MOLBOT has organized many successful regional BIOMOD.jp events, including online-only events during the past few years.

The jamboree will take place November 4th and 5th at Tokyo Tech in Tokyo, Japan.

We will share more details soon. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
Shawn Douglas Ph.D.
Chairman, BIOMOD Foundation