Aberdeen Brain Bee

On 21st Feb 2018, students from the University of Aberdeen is going to organize a neuroscience competition for high school pupils, the ‘Aberdeen Brain Bee’.

The competition aims to teach students about the brain, its structure and function, and to provide an introduction to scientific research as a whole. Students prepare by studying a 60-page booklet Neuroscience: The Science of the Brain available on our website, which covers topics such as memory, sleep, stress, how the senses work, and how we move and think.

The competition

The competition will involve a written question-and-answer section and a neuroanatomy and neurohistology section where students identify parts of the brain and their function. The exam questions will fit into the Excellence of Curriculum. We will also arrange activity booths with small neuroscience-related experiments as well as engaging talks by neuroscientists throughout the day.

Prizes will be awarded to the top five winners of the competition, and the winner will be invited to participate in the British Brain Bee competition in London in spring 2018. The winner of the British Brain Bee will be invited to the International Brain Bee competition to be held in Germany in 2018.

To prepare for the contest, students should study Neuroscience: Science of the Brain and Brain Facts book which are both available on  Resources page. Any other neuroscience textbook would further help you prepare for the contest. Keep an eye on ‘Study Resources’ page because in the next couple of weeks it will expand.

The day will be full of activities, talks by neuroscientists, experiments, games and networking opportunities!

If you have any interested pupils, please email us at aberdeen@brainbee-uk.com to register your interest.

Ludmila is psychology student at the University of Aberdeen, currently taking extra courses in neuroscience and neurophysiology. She wants to specialise in neurodegeneration, namely Alzheimer’s, so she started by assisting with the prospective memory research and she aims to be the best neuroscientist in the world, …. or just a scientist, maybe.

Pavel studies MA Business Management at the University of Aberdeen. He reads a lot of books, it doesn’t matter if it is science or fiction, he will read it all. In his free time, he likes dogs and changing the world (he started by organizing this competition and the strategy for Aberdonian Brain Bee, help him out!).

Eva studies Economics and Psychology at the University of Aberdeen. She is a books and movies lover and she would love to become a writer. She is really passionate about music and sports as well and she likes to help others and change the world.

Simona is Molecular Biology student at University of Aberdeen. During her free time, she likes reading books and dissecting brain tumours. She has weird sense of humour and even weirder taste in music. Her natural habitat is library where she studies hard but photoshoots harder.

Malwina is a MA Psychology student at the University of Aberdeen, particularly interested in clinical psychology and currently working on a perception project as a research assistant. She is a passionate photographer and piano player and dedicates her free time to voluntary work with children of different ages and backgrounds.

Vilma is an MA Psychology student at the University of Aberdeen. Several years of extensive volunteering roles, including eye-tracking research, or working with individuals with mental health difficulties,  has taught her the importance of a scientific education. A nice cup of tea with plenty of sugar keeps her so active

Zuzana studies MA Psychology at the University of Aberdeen. She is a future clinical psychologist with a deep interest in the neurological basis of mental disorders. Zuzana is passionate about working with children of various ages, guiding them through their education and free-time activities; so she is patient, most of the time.

Jonas is an MA Psychology student at the University of Aberdeen, and in his spare time he enjoys books, brains, bees & combinig these things. He does our ad hoc office work, and once built a time machine.

Patrycja is a MA Psychology student at the University of Aberdeen. Her work with children taught her the importance of bringing real-life research into schools. She hopes to continue her work in education and develop as a researcher into neurological basis of psychiatric disorders and psychopharmacology. When she’s not rambling about neurotransmitters, she’s watching cat videos.