Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders Through Biosafety and Biosecurity Infographics

TOP1

Sinukuan Gazette, Philippines

In 2023, SEAOHUN, in collaboration with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), hosted its fourth annual regional student competition, emphasizing the significance of Biosafety and Biosecurity. This competition, themed "Protecting Lives: Promoting Biosafety and Biosecurity," challenged students to create visually engaging infographic posters.

A pre-competition webinar, "Biosafety and Biosecurity in Preventing Diseases," was conducted on August 15, 2023. With DTRA's technical support, it deepened students' understanding of Biosafety and Biosecurity and provided guidance for poster design. This year's competition attracted 39 teams, totaling 195 participants from six SEAOHUN member universities: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Each team comprised four students and a dedicated faculty mentor, collaborating to create an infographic poster with accompanying descriptions.

Top 2 (Left: Sunshines, Cambodia) - Top 3 and Winning Public Pick Award (Right: The Better World, Thailand)

From the country-winning teams in the six participating nations, the competition recognized the top three posters with the highest scores. "Sinukuan Gazette" from the Philippines claimed the top spot, followed by "Sunshines" from Cambodia and "The Better World" from Thailand. As a result, the 12 students from the top three winning teams will be invited to a "Biosafety and Biosecurity" training program in Malaysia by the end of the year.

In an additional engagement, a 24-hour online voting on social media platforms allowed the audience to select their favorite posters among the country-winning entries. The "Public Pick Award" was presented to the three most-voted posters: "The Better World" from Thailand (1765 votes), "Ksatria Airlangga" from Indonesia (979 votes), and "Sunshines" from Cambodia (665 votes).

The SEAOHUN 2023 Regional Student Competition provided a platform for regional students and young professionals to display their exceptional posters and enhance their technical and soft skills, including teamwork, interdisciplinary collaboration, and leadership in conveying the Biosafety and Biosecurity message to a broader audience.