BioCoderDojo Timisoara is a free, open-access, non-formal education context in fields at the junction of life sciences and information technology (bioinformatics, computational biology, medical technology, exobiology), dedicated to upper secondary school teenagers and high school students. BioCoderDojo activity includes weekly sessions, visits to research centres, university departments and relevant companies, meetings with invited experts, participation in national and international competitions and initiation activities in schools and high schools in Timisoara, organisation of hackathon events, participation in invention fairs, attendance at events such as Researchers' Night. Within the framework of the activities, practical experiments are carried out with the use of own equipment (sets of micro pipettes, electrophoresis tanks, PCR devices) or equipment from third party laboratories. BioCoderDojo Timisoara is the first implementation of its kind in the global network of over 2000 CoderDojo clubs dedicated to teaching programming to children and young people.
BioCoderDojo Timisoara was initiated in 2019 by Radu Ticiu, an expert and practitioner from Timisoara in areas such as non-formal STEAM education, development of communities and events for IT specialists, general support for startups, development of investment tools for private investors such as business angels. In the development of the BioCoderDojo Timisoara project, Radu has benefited and continues to benefit from the support of passionate professors, students and pupils, from the collaboration with specialised academic and research organisations.
BioCoderDojo Timisoara activities are carried out on the platform represented by the One Source Association and hosted by the Faculty of Mechanics of the Polytechnic University of Timisoara.
