What does the competition entail?
International Diversity
IgNITE promotes inclusivity and diversity, as such our competition welcomes high school and university students from all across Canada and the United States.
IgNITE is completely bilingual! All of our materials will be available in both French and English and all teams are encouraged to submit competition material in either language.
Teams
IgNITE competitors are encouraged to make teams of 2-4 members in order to lessen the workload and increase the number of perspectives; however, individual competitors are welcomed!
In-depth Knowledge
Each year the case competition focuses on a field of medical research as the theme of the competition. Teams will be informed on the theme of the competition in our comprehensive case package which provides teams additional information regarding the specified field of research. In addition to this, the case package will include three research techniques that you can apply to almost any lab setting. Our aim is to help you develop your novel hypothesis and present this research to leading professionals within this industry!
i
Proposes a methodology to understand the mechanisms and phenomena which underlie the disease
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Competitors will be asked to identify a problem or health-related issue within the field of interest for the year's competition and develop a research proposal that does one of the following:
Proposes a solution to a problem and investigates the efficacy of the solution using biomolecular techniques
ii
The competition is divided into 2 rounds where students compete for the coveted IgNITE trophy:
Round
1
All competitors will be asked to write a scientific abstract outlining their research proposal and create an elevator pitch video
Top 40 teams will be invited to present their work at the IgNITE Competition Day!
Round
2
Top 40 teams will present their research poster to a panel of industry-leading professionals
Top 3 teams will be chosen as the winners of the IgNITE Medical Case Competition!
The winners of the IgNITE Medical Case Competition will:
Be sketched into history on the coveted IgNITE Trophy
Get the opportunity to publish their work in a scientific journal
Receive some of the largest monetary prizes of any science or medical competition.
Resources available to each competitor:
Our goal at IgNITE is to ensure that all of our competitors leave our conference with translatable skills that they can implement in the lab. In order to maximize competitor success, we have spent countless hours developing a comprehensive support system to ensure that all participants, those with years of experience and those just entering the research industry, learn something new!
IgNITE
Case Package
We will provide you with a comprehensive case package that outlines the specific field of research for the competition and three fundamental lab techniques.
IgNITE Mentors
We will match you with skilled mentors that include graduate and medical students! They will guide you through the competition and help you learn valuable skills!
IgNITE Workshops
We will offer several workshops where you will learn valuable skills including effective scientific communication and critical research appraisal.