The Chicago Brain Bee

The Annual Chicago Brain Bee is being held at Loyola university for for the years 2023-2025 is being held at Loyola University (Chicago). Visit the Chicago Society for Neuroscience website for more details.

The Chicago Brain Bee is a competition that tests knowledge in neuroscience including such topics as cells of the nervous system and how they communicate with one another, neuroanatomy, brain-behavior relationships (e.g. the neural basis of learning and memory, emotion, stress, sleep), and neurological diseases. It helps motivate our youth to learn about the brain, capture their imagination, and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical brain research. 

Every year more than fifty local Brain Bees are held throughout the US in a search for the “best brain.” The winners of the locals are invited to participate in the USA Brain Bee competition. This competition has been so exciting that it has expanded to many other countries and the winner of each national will compete in the International Brain Bee.

CLICK HERE for the Chicago Brain Bee 2022 flyer.

CLICK HERE for the Chicago Brain Bee 2022 program.

The competition itself will involve a paper exam. The top 10 students based on the written exam will go on to compete in the oral exam. It consists of several Oral Question and Answer Elimination rounds. In every round, each student is asked a different question that requires a one-word or phrase answer. Competitors are eliminated when they accumulate three wrong answers until only one is left standing.

Why participate?

The Chicago Brain Bee is more than a competition – it is a daylong event designed to expose high school students to primary neuroscience research and introduce students to professors and graduate and undergraduate students actively leading neuroscience research programs. Participants will hear talks from leaders in the field, meet graduate and undergraduate students, and learn of the many different pathways taken to a career in neuroscience. Tours led by undergraduates and faculty will take participants to see the cutting edge of undergraduate science teaching and research in action.

Who can participate?

Any high school/home-school science enthusiasts and from grades 9 to 12 are eligible to compete in The Chicago Brain Bee. We encourage family, friends, teachers, and other classmates to support participants and join them in the competition. (Please note: there is a cap of 15 students per school; previous Chicago Brain or other Brain Bee winners cannot participate in the Chicago Brain Bee.)

How can you prepare?

Students prepare by studying the PDF Brain Facts,  and the website Brainfacts.org; both resources are published by the Society for Neuroscience.

How can you register?

If you have already registered, please do not fill out the form again. You will receive further communication via email.

For those who have yet to register, please fill out the form below. Registration will close on February 19, 2022, but participants must have received their COVID vaccination, including booster shot, by February 12. We will be limiting the event to 60 participants, and no day-of registration will be accepted.

Click here to register for the 2022 Brain Bee.

For all registration-related inquiries, please contact Lake Forest College Nu Rho Psi chair Dr. Shubhik DebBurman.

What are the COVID protocols?

All participants and chaperones must provide proof of COVID vaccination, including a booster shot, by February 12. There will be no exemptions given. Participants and chaperones will receive instructions on how to upload their vaccination proof via email.

Event Logistics

DIRECTIONS AND PARKING

Click here for directions to campus, located at 555 N. Sheridan Road in Lake Forest. Parking will be in front of the Lillard Science Center ( #7 on campus map). 

CHECK-IN

Check-in will begin at 9 a.m. in the Lillard Science Center ( #7 on campus map).