About us

What is iDEC?

The International Directed Evolution Competition (iDEC) is an international public welfare initiative dedicated to building a scientific community to facilitate education, technology sharing, and academic exchange.

Directed evolution represents the powerful irrational design method based on a rational foundation, which will fill in the shortcomings of rational design methods and reshape genetic engineering development in the next 10 years.

By encouraging young students to harness the power of evolution creatively, we aim to disseminate the skills and knowledge required to tomorrow’s bioengineers, which enable them to tackle real-world problems.

The combination of directed evolution technology, young talents' creativity and desire for exploration will significantly expand the technical innovation and application fields of directed evolution. In turn, it will bring new forces to the scientific and industrial circles.

iDEC is committed to organizing an international competition and building a directed evolution science community relying on the power of students and young talents.

The ethos of iDEC is Innovation, Diversity, Equality, Co-construction & Co-operation.

Where do we come from?

The organizers of iDEC come from all over the world, working together to realize this idea. The first iDEC will be held at the University of Edinburgh, which is to commemorate the adventurous voyage of Charles Darwin, an outstanding alumnus of the University of Edinburgh.

Darwin’s journey 190 years ago was one of the most critical scientific events in human history. By harnessing the power of evolution, we hope that the same adventurous spirit can also inspire contemporary scientists to expand into the unknown.

Who are we?

iDEC is initiated by scientists and students engaged in genetic engineering research. Our initial volunteer team includes members from different countries and cultural backgrounds.

jamie_davies_idec Prof. Jamie Davies Executive Committee Member
tom_ellis_idec Prof. Tom Ellis Executive Committee Member
chris_frenc_idec Prof. Chris French Executive Committee Member
shan_jiang_idec Shan Jiang Executive Committee Member
nadanai_laohakunakorn_idec Dr. Nadanai Laohakunakorn Executive Committee Member
yang_liu_idec Yang Liu Executive Committee Member
zakie_tnimov_idec Dr. Zakir Tnimov Executive Committee Member & DE community designer
ye_chen_idec Prof. Ye Chen Executive Committee Member
trevor_ho_idec Trevor Y. H. Ho Web engineer & designer
katherine_martin_idec Katherine Martin Web engineer & editor
felipe_millacura_idec Dr. Felipe A. Millacura Web team leader & engineer
chong_teng_idec Chong Teng Web engineer
rounan_tian_idec Ruonan Tian Web engineer
yinan_ren_idec Yinan Ren Web engineer
yinan_ren_idec Samuel Shum Web engineer
yinan_ren_idec Lucy Song Web engineer
mingzhe_chen_idec Mingzhe Chen Sponsorship assistant
isaac_larkin_idec Dr. Isaac Larkin Sponsorship planner
junhao_lu_idec Junhao Lu Sponsorship assistant & Event designer
alex_perkins_idec Alex Perkins Event designer
jiayi_zeng_idec Jiayi Zeng Sponsorship assistant
kening_chen_idec Kening Chen Art designer
tong_lyu_idec Tong Lyu Art designer
huandi_xu_idec Huandi Xu Promotion team leader
stefan_bassler_idec Stefan Bassler Promotion Ambassador
shiyuan_li_idec Dr. Shiyuan Li Promotion assistant
heyuan_ni_idec Heyuan Ni Promotion assistant
yeqing_zong_idec Dr. Yeqing Zong Promotion assistant
joshua_atkinson_idec Dr. Josh Atkinson DE community designer
fankang_meng_idec Fankang Meng DE community designer
diego_pesce_idec Dr. Diego Pesce DE community designer
svenja_vinke_idec Svenja Vinke Ethics, Biosafety, and Biosecurity commissioner & DE community designer
gokul_bhaskaran_idec Gokul Bhaskaran Ethics, Biosafety, and Biosecurity commissioner & Regional Public Relations Officer
levin_joe_klages_idec Levin Joe Klages Ethics, Biosafety, and Biosecurity commissioner
irina_rais_idec Irina Rais Ethics, Biosafety, and Biosecurity commissioner
caua_westmann_idec Cauã Westmann DE community designer

Equality and Diversity Policy

Our Goal

The iDEC HQ is committed to creating an equal, cooperative environment so that all members can enjoy a safe and warm atmosphere. We oppose discrimination of any kind and no discriminatory behavior will be tolerated by the iDEC HQ.

Code of Practice

  • We will have systems in place to ensure that every member of iDEC HQ enjoys the same rights to express opinions publicly.
  • The iDEC HQ will ensure that the HQ members have the right to participate in the work meeting of any group and consult on the relevant content of the meeting.
  • We plan to arrange training to help new members understand the underlying causes of discrimination and to advocate measures that prevent discrimination.
  • We promise to consider the needs of different individuals based on gender or sexual orientation, race, age, disease, religion, or cultural background in our work and will arrange flexible work requirements according to those needs.
  • We do not tolerate harassment and discrimination of any kind. We will set up a grievance-handling channel and ensure that inappropriate behavior will be penalized.
  • Members who, under unfortunate circumstances, experience harassment or discrimination in the competition are encouraged to file a complaint to their supervisors. If the issue cannot be resolved, the iDEC Executive Committee will step in and make a final decision.
  • The equality and diversity policy will be explained to every HQ member.

Code of Conduct

  • All HQ members, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, race, age, disease, religion, or cultural background, should not be subjected to derogatory, mocking, or offensive jokes in communication.
  • At the iDEC HQ, no one should use gender or sexual orientation, race, age, disease, religion, or cultural background as reasons to make negative comments, harassment, or other unfavorable behavior against one another.

Handling Complaints

  • The iDEC Executive Committee is responsible for responding and handling all complaints. The Executive Committee shall assign a supervisor to be responsible for handling complaints.
  • The communication process between the complainant and the supervisor will be carried out under safe and confidential conditions.
  • Access to complaint content and records is limited to the Executive Committee members that exclude all relevant parties and other stakeholders.
  • The committee shall decide on the measures to be taken based on the principle of safeguarding the safety and sustainable development of the victims.
  • Persons who have a conflict of interest with the complaint shall not intervene in the complaint case handling process.

Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed every year.