BUSB ideathon promotes research excellence and student innovation

On December 14th, Brac University Society for Biotechnology (BUSB) in collaboration with the MNS Biotechnology Program organized “NEXT GEN IDEATHON 2025”. It was an intra-university competition designed to showcase innovative ideas in the life sciences. The event was inaugurated by  Dr. David Dowland (Registrar, BracU) and Dr. Munima Haque (Associate Professor, MNS) as they warmly greeted the participants.

The first segment was a poster presentation on Computer Science and Microbiology, and the second segment showcased idea tracks on Biotechnology and Pharmacy. The posters reflected different aspects of biology, notably, combating tuberculosis using in-silico vector design, developing sustainable fish feed using single-cell protein, and studying the impact of artificial light at night on bird behavior using machine learning. One of the participants of the CSE innovation track, Samiyat Rahman (Senior, MNS) said, “Many renowned scientists will emerge in the future from here. I felt lucky to present my project at the event.”

For the closing ceremony and prize distribution, the event was graced with the presence of Israt Jahan (Assistant Scientist, ICDDR,B) and Prof. Dr. Tahmina Shirin (Director, Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control And Research) as the chief guests. Ms. Jahan presented her research on dysregulation of regulatory T cells in Guillain-Barré Syndrome. She was astonished by the level of dedication and the curious minds of each of the participants in their drive towards research.

Dr. Shirin said, “It gives me great hope that participants understand the real-world challenges and are willing to think out of the box to tackle them.” 

The ceremony concluded with the guests presenting awards to the top three poster ideas in each track. The hardworking recipients of the awards in Microbiology track were Maisha Maliha(Junior, MNS) as the winner, Tasfia Zaman(Senior, MNS) and her team as the 1st runners up and Ahnaf Ahmed(MNS) and his team as the 2nd runners up.  In the CSE track, Afia Labia emerged as the winner, with Shaker Islam(Senior, CSE) and his team as the 1st first runners up and Tasnia Mahjabin Maliha(Senior, CSE) and her team as the 2nd runners up. For the Biotechnology and Pharmacy track, the 1st runners up was awarded to Marzuk Shehzad Tahmid(Fresher, MNS) and his team, with Shreya Tabassum(Sophomore, MNS) and her team as 2nd runners up. The winner of the Biotechnology and Pharmacy innovation track was awarded to Niladri (Senior, MNS) and his team, as he described, “It is a huge achievement for us as we worked on this project for about 1.5 years and finally it received the recognition and reward it deserved.”