BioCoderDojo Timișoara

BioCoderDojo Timișoara is a 2019 spin-off from the local network of the CoderDojo clubs initiated in Timișoara in 2013. We are gathering 40-50 high school kids interested in both biology and IT, creating an educational context that translates in organizing 4 hours long weekly sessions addressing topics at the convergence of biology and information technologies, through lectures delivered online or offline by practitioners in the field, academics, entrepreneurs, bio-artists, etc. , practical/lab work, bioinformatics coding, study visits, competition and hackathon participation. Based on our excellent collaboration with the local high-schools, school inspectorate, local universities (four of them developing relevant programs in biotech/biomed/bioinformatics), industry (including medtech R&D and manufacturing players like Hamilton, Flex, or various startups in medtech/e-health) we would like to explore now the possibilities to bring up to date the content and methodologies used for teaching life science in Timisoara high schools, and to also bring ”a bit of bio” as the substrate for the teaching of informatics that is a key subject in about 10 high schools, for probably 3000+ kids enrolled in the Mathematics-Informatics specialisation in the City of Timisoara.