Competition
Everything you need to know about participating in the Brain Bee competition.
Important Dates
| Milestone | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 📝 Registration deadline | 9 August 2026 | Closed! |
| ✅ Confirmation of participation | 8 June 2026 | Sent! |
| 🧠 National Championship | 9 September 2026 | University of Antwerp |
| 🌍 IBB World Championship | November 2026 | Online |
The Rules
The Belgian Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition that challenges secondary school students to demonstrate their knowledge of the brain.
- The Belgian Brain Bee is open to all secondary school students aged 13 to 18 (19 not included)
- The competing student should be enrolled in a Belgian secondary school (middelbare school).
- The competition is conducted entirely in English, so English proficiency is required.
- Participation is completely free.
- You are only allowed to participate once in the International Brain Bee.
We also welcome volunteers! If you’d like to help, you can apply by reaching out to us via our mail address.
Prizes
Just like any other competition, we have foreseen some exciting prices, and not only for the top three students!
- First place: The winner of this national Brain Bee, gets to represent Belgium during the International Brain Bee World Championship, hosted by the US! Other prices include: a cash price of 250 euro, a trophee, a goodie bag, …
- Second and third place will also receive a cash price of 150 euro and 100 euro respectively, a trophee and a goodie bag filled with fun stuff …
- ALL other participants will receive a goodie bag as well!
Competition Format
The format follows the standards set by the International Brain Bee and consists of two rounds: a written test and a live oral quiz.
1. The Written Test
The first round is a written test consisting of (A) multiple-choice and (B) short-answer questions.
(A) Multiple choice
This part consists of 30 multiple choice questions covering the following topics:
- Neuroanatomy: the structure of the brain and nervous system
- Neural pathways: how signals travel through the nervous system
- Neurological and psychiatric disorders: from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to epilepsy and depression
- Neuroscience research: current breakthroughs and discoveries shaping the field
- Neuropharmacology: how drugs interact with the nervous system
(B) Short-answer
This part consists of 15 short-answer questions on neuroanatomy. You will be presented with a neuroanatomical image and will have 2 minutes to identify and describe indicated structures.
2. Oral Quiz
3. Example Multiple Choice Questions
Q1. In the motor cortex, which body parts are represented by proportionally larger areas?
A) Legs and feet
B) Trunk and torso
C) Hands and face, which perform fine movements
D) Arms and shoulders
Q2. Long-term use of levodopa (L-Dopa) to treat Parkinson’s disease can induce dyskinesia. This side effect most likely arises because?
A) L-Dopa is converted to toxic dopamine metabolites that damage cerebellar neurons responsible for movement control
B) Chronic L-Dopa treatment causes excessive dopamine stimulation in motor circuits, dysregulating basal ganglia pathways that control movement
C) L-Dopa crosses the blood-brain barrier and directly stimulates serotonin receptors in the motor cortex
D) L-Dopa suppresses acetylcholine in the striatum, disrupting the cholinergic component of motor control
Using the study resources below, you can optimally prepare for all questions!
Meet the Judges
The oral quiz is evaluated by a panel of leading neuroscientists from Belgian research institutions and science enthusiasts.
Rosa Rademakers
Full Research Professor. Leads the Rademakers Lab at VIB-UAntwerp, discovering and characterizing genes involved in neurological disorders, with a major focus on frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).
Learn more →
Robrecht Raedt
Associate Research Professor. President of BSN. Researches new therapies for brain cancer (glioblastoma) and glioma-associated epilepsy, focusing on repurposed drug combinations and neuroprotection against radiotherapy side effects.
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Lara Bardi
Assistant Professor at UGent. Board member of BSN. Her research lab is interested in understanding how environmental cues and/or the presence of others influence our mental processes in both social and non-social contexts.
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Bart Van Peer
Nerdland podcaster. TV producer (Brain Man, De Ideale Wereld, …) and physicist.
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Natha Kerkhofs
Nerdland podcaster. Works for an IT company and occasionally gets lost in the world of dinosaurs and quantum mechanics.
Learn more →
Study Resources
Want to start preparing? Here are some recommended resources:
- 📘 Brain Facts — the official Brain Bee study guide, published by the Society for Neuroscience. Available for free as a PDF, ePUB, or audiobook. This is the primary study resource and should be studied thoroughly.
- 📕 “Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain” by Bear, Connors & Paradiso — a comprehensive introductory textbook widely used in university courses. Chapter 7 Appendix is a required resource for studying neuroanatomy. A handout will be provided by the organizing committee. The remainder of the textbook is helpful for deeper understanding, but not required.
- 💻 Online courses on Coursera and Khan Academy — free courses covering neuroscience fundamentals. We particularly recommend Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life from the University of Chicago as a great starting point.
Past Winners
As this is the very first edition of the Belgian Brain Bee, there are no past champions yet — but this section will grow as the competition’s history does. Will you be the first name on the list?