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Over the years, our participants have shown us time and again that you don't need to be an expert microbiologist to make beautiful agar art—it's something anyone can create with access to a basic laboratory. If you're looking for a great way to engage your community with microbiology, consider hosting your own Agar Art workshop!

Workshop partners will receive logistical support from ASM, get access to our official Agar Art Workshop Facilitator’s Guide and become eligible for up to $150 to help cover workshop costs. You can host a workshop at any time prior to the contest end date (Oct. 27).

To host a workshop, you need:

• A space that is BSL-1 compliant, such as a high school or college biology laboratory.
• Materials and equipment for cultivating microbes (a complete list is in the guide).
• Someone with the appropriate experience to lead the workshop.

Interested?

You can host a workshop at any time. Encourage your participants to check ASM's social media for contest notifications (and refrain from posting their work online, so they don't disqualify themselves) and they can enter their creation when we open submissions!

Albergue Las Memorias Asociacion Civil provides quality care, human care and warmth to people living with HIV/AIDS and educational activities for the prevention of HIV and STDs. (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science-Michigan branch, among other goals, aims to be responsible for providing educational programs in the clinical laboratory and related sciences and to assist at maintaining standards of competence at all levels. (Years participated: 2021—2023).

The College of Science at Auburn University at Montgomery offers students a scientific education to meet the needs of the 21st century, allowing them to compete for a variety of careers in an increasingly complex and evolving world. (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

Baltimore Underground Science Space (BUGSS) is a nonprofit public laboratory offering classes, seminars and lab access, so that anyone can safely and affordably investigate the living world. (Years participated: 2017-2019, 2021—2023).

BioHub Israel (BioHub IL) is a nonprofit group with a common vision: Safe practice in biology should be available to everyone. Everyone? Yes, to everyone! The group appeals to anyone who wants a practical experience in biology, whether it is for study, hobby or an idea for a product. You are invited to follow their activities and join them for their monthly meetings! (Years participated: 2017).

Bioriidl is the first community biolab in India/DIY and a bio-incubator in Mumbai. We help students, faculties, scientists and biotech entrepreneurs in their research work, developing ideas and products by providing economical lab facilities, biotech community and a number of services to accelerate their success. (Years participated: 2019).

BosLab's mission is to democratize biotechnology for everyone, outside of academia and industry. We offer classes, educational workshops and a laboratory to support community-driven research that is in the public interest. We advocate for scientific transparency through engaging all members of the community in scientific discussion in an inclusive, fun, safe and innovative environment. (Years participated: 2018, 2019, 2021—2023).

Capital Area BioSpace is a group for anyone interested in working on a DIYbio community biotechnology space in the Washington, D.C., area. We want DC to have a space to promote public engagement in biotechnology and synthetic biology. (Years participated: 2017-2019, 2021—2023).

In 1988, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory established the DNA Learning Center (DNALC) as the world’s first science center devoted entirely to public genetics education, operating 7 teaching laboratories in New York, in Cold Spring Harbor, Lake Success, Manhattan and Brooklyn. The DNALC popularized several methods for delivering genetics instruction, including: student laboratory field trips and summer camps, educator workshops, biotechnology kits, laboratory textbooks, equipment-sharing consortia, student DNA sequencing, educational interfaces to bioinformatics tools and multimedia learning materials for biology education. (Years participated: 2017—2019).

Counter Culture Labs is a community of scientists, tinkerers, biotech professionals, hackers and citizen scientists who have banded together to create an open community lab—a microbiology lab built in the spirit of 'hacker spaces' and 'maker spaces,' supported by the community it serves to educate. (Years participated: 2018, 2019, 2021).

Denver Biolabs is a community of interdisciplinary individuals—biologists, engineers, artists, computer scientists, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs—working together to learn about new technologies, share expertise and create solutions to pressing problems. (Years participated: 2018).

FamiLAB is Central Florida’s provider of space, tools and community for creative technical learning and projects. FamiLAB’s mission is to be a community that fosters learning and creativity through hands-on projects, collaboration and the sharing of skills & tools to improve ourselves and enrich the world around us. (Years participated: 2018).

Genspace is the world’s first community biology lab—a place where people of all backgrounds can learn, create and grow with the life sciences. Since 2009, we have served the greater New York area by providing hands-on STEAM education programs for youth and adults, cultural and outreach events for the public and a membership program to support New York’s community of creatives, researchers and entrepreneurs (Years participated: 2017—2019, 2021—2023).

°®¶¹´«Ã½ Club, Department of Biological Sciences, NC State University. From Microbes to Dinos, the Department of Biological Sciences at NC State University focuses on interdisciplinary education and diverse research opportunities to explore some of the most pressing scientific issues facing our world. (Years participated: 2019).

Ohlone College is a California community college with university transfer programs, career/job skills training and more. Campuses in Fremont, Newark and online. (Years participated: 2019).

Open BioLab Brussels. Start your experiments at the Open BioLab located in Brussels! Open for everyone with an interest in biosciences and biotechnology. (Years participated: 2019, 2021—2023).

The Otterbein University Student Chapter of the American Society for °®¶¹´«Ã½ offers a wide range of opportunities to get involved within the scientific community. (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

Peshawar 2.0 is a nonprofit social enterprise that works at the intersection of technology, design and art and aims to engineer and foster the innovation and startup ecosystem in the City of Peshawar, Pakistan. (Years participated: 2019).

RAIN Incubator is a Tacoma, Wash.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit life science incubator growing local companies, talent and jobs in biotech. We are the collaborative, boundary-crossing environment that serves to spark creativity and help innovators overcome the challenges they face by providing direct access to the people and resources needed to succeed. (Years participated: 2019).

The School of Visual Arts: Bio Art Lab is a BSL-1 laboratory that enables artists working with biotechnology and the natural sciences. While the facilities are primarily utilized as a studio space for producing art, we also collaborate on more rigorous research and design projects that harness the intersecting resources. Our curriculum relies on project-based learning, as we work backward to lay the technical groundwork and conduct understanding through visual and visceral applications. (Years participated: 2019).

Shepherd University is a public university committed to the training of the next generation in the fields of biological sciences. (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

The mission of TheLab is to make science accessible to people of all ages and educational backgrounds. We do this by providing laboratory equipment and workspace, resources which are typically out of the reach of the amateur, to anyone passionate about learning. (Years participated: 2017, 2018).

The University of Karachi Department of °®¶¹´«Ã½ provides a conducive learning environment and a student-friendly atmosphere that allows students to achieve academic excellence in all aspects of microbiology (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

The Institute of °®¶¹´«Ã½ and Molecular Genetics at the University of the Punjab has as its missions to enhance the research capabilities of students, to solve local problems through a collaborative approach and to provide a safe research environment without contamination. (Years participated: 2022, 2023).

The Veterinary Laboratory of Chalkis functions as the Veterinary National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella and AMR, supporting the official controls of the Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food and other additional scientific activities, such as trainings, laboratory networking, participation in the EU and national scientific workshops, etc.(Years participated: 2022).