We are happy to share that you can now apply for the BioHack Academy 2024.
Are you interested in biotechnology, and want to develop skills in biology related technology? Do you like to make things yourself and tinker with technology? Interested in DIYBio but don’t know where to start? Or do you consider yourself creative and innovative and want to work with biomaterials?
Bio-technological developments follow each other at a rapid pace. Inventions, such as the CRISPR-Cas9 technique that allows genetic editing of DNA, can have far-reaching - creative - consequences. The BioHack Academy promotes wider access to knowledge and tools outside institutional science and allows for a wider distribution of biotechnological literacy. In the BioHack Academy the focus is on learning the basics of biotechnology, working with biomaterials and collaborating building your own lab equipment. We will teach you how to join the bio revolution and build your own lab equipment using a local makerspace or Fablab.
Learn and grow
The BioHack Academy is a 12-week course starting March 18th, 2024. After completing the BioHack Academy you will have learned the basics of micro and molecular biotechnology, 3D design, digital fabrication, programming and electronics.
During weekly classes, students quickly gain skills needed to grow their own fuel, food, filaments, pharmaceuticals, fragrances, fungi and much more bio stuff at home. The simplicity and low costs of many techniques make it possible to apply biotechnology outside laboratories or research institutions and to carry out experiments. BioHack Academy students work with biomaterials varying from bio-pigments to bio-textiles as well as with microbes, algae, genetics and other forms of biotechnology.
Build and share
You will learn the principles behind machines, such as incubators, microscopes, PCR and centrifuges, that will enable you to build your own biolab. Along the way you will learn how to operate them and put them to use in your own project.
Whether that’s a new type of bio ink, bio polymer, bio fuel or other kind of biohack is entirely up to you. In addition to gathering new knowledge, the BioHack Academy is also about sharing knowledge. All lab equipment manufactured within the BioHack Academy is open-source. This means that everyone is completely free to improve the design, adapt it according to their own preferences and continue experimenting. Moreover, the BioHack Academy is a truly international course. In the past editions, partner labs from the US, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Europe have followed the course simultaneously via remote video. We expect new partners to join this upcoming edition as well, and grant you the opportunity to collaborate with biohackers from all over the world!
How to apply?
Send an email to biohack [at] waag [dot] org with a short introduction and your contact details. We will register your application and send an invoice for the first instalment of 50%.
We have a first-come first-served policy. Once your first instalment is completed your spot for BioHack Academy 2024 will be guaranteed. Don't wait too long: there are only 10 spots available for this year's edition. Visit Waag's Biohack Academy info page, where you can get inspired by the work of previous BioHack Academy editions.
