The IgNITE Medical Case Competition is a new research conference and competition offered to high school and university students worldwide.
For most, it can be hard to identify a professor willing to take on a new student (a student lacking prior research experience at that). The IgNITE competition offers students that first experience to get into research and fuel their biomedical careers. In early 2020, the competition plans included in-person research exposure, mainly limited to students in Ottawa and nearby Ontario institutions. However, when the pandemic hit, the competition’s direction had to be adapted. Co-founder and co-president Bianka Bezuidenhout explains, “the shift to a virtual format has allowed us to offer more opportunities to students across Canada and around the world.”
Bianka Bezuidenhout is a 4th year honours student in the Translational and Molecular Medicine (TMM) program at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine. She has been involved in neuroscience research for many years, spearheading various experiments. She aspires to become a clinician-researcher in neuroscience in the coming years.
Since 2020, co-founders and co-presidents Bianka Bezuidenhout and Danny Bojic have assembled a large team of leaders and ambassadors across several Canadian universities, making this opportunity available to hundreds of students. The competition consists of developing a research proposal, writing a scientific abstract, presenting a poster, and giving an oral presentation. All students are also offered an experienced mentor to support them throughout the competition.
“We initially hoped to enrol 50 teams in this year’s competition, but we were soon shocked to see over 180 teams register!” says Bianka.
This really shows the enthusiasm of young, inspired students to gain experience in the research sector and the impact such an opportunity can make in countless students’ lives. IgNITE’s success showcases the importance of STEM accessibility in an incredibly competitive area of academia. Such an experience allows students to train their scientific intuition, get exposed to research, build their CVs, and gain insight from an experienced mentor. Furthermore, the competition offers a complete experience, including writing workshops, monetary prizes, journal publications, and the opportunity to listen to keynote speakers during the conference.
“None of this would be possible without our incredible team of executives, ambassadors, mentors, sponsors, and all our competitors”, says Bianka.
With all the progress shown this year, future plans include growing the competition to reach more people and establishing more university branches to offer in-person activities once these become safe.
For more information visit: ignitecompetition.org
Comments