Bhupinder Sharma,
Chandigarh, 03 February: The Department of Neurology, PGIMER in association with Indian Brain Bee, International Brain Bee and the Society for Neuroscience (SFN) are proud to announce that 15th Regional Brain Bee was held on 3rd February 2024.
Since its institution in 1999 by Prof. Norbert Myslinski of University of Maryland at Baltimore, the International Brain Bee (IBB) competition has been inspiring young kids to indulge in neurosciences. The Brain Bee Quiz in India is a live question and answer competition about neuroscience for 11th grade. It is conducted as a 3-tiered (Regional, National and International) where young men and women from all over the world compete to determine the “best brain” on topics pertaining to neurosciences such as intelligence, memory, stress, emotions, sleep, and various neurological diseases. The 15th Chandigarh Regional Brain Bee was aimed at developing the knowledge and excellence base among the students through healthy and highly motivating meet. The students crammed themselves up with a lot of knowledge on neurosciences. The Regional champions qualify for Nationals and National winners represent their respective countries at International level. Last year Regional winner from Chandigarh bagged third place in the National event.
The 15th Regional Brain Bee registered 16 students from various schools from tricity. It was co-ordinated by Prof. Dheeraj Khurana, Department of Neurology, PGIMER. 12 students were selected through a written elimination round for the final oral rounds of the quiz. The event was judged by Prof. Parampreet Singh Kharbanda (Department of Neurology, PGIMER), Dr. Manjul Tripathi (Department of Neurosurgery, PGIMER), Dr. Kamalesh Chakravarty (Department of Neurology, PGIMER) - eminent Neurophysicians and Neurosurgeons of the country. The chief guest presiding the event was Prof Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh. The quiz was conducted by the quiz master Dr Riya Sharma (Senior Resident, Neurology, PGIMER). The students were taken through the three levels of quiz with interesting and gruelling questions, testing each aspect of neuroscience. After a display of their exceptional knowledge, the students who emerged victorious were:
Mayank Sinha from Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula was the Brain Bee Champion closely followed by a spirited performance by Aahana from Sacred Heart Senior Secondary, School, Chandigarh the 1st runners -up and Aanya Agrawal from Bhavan Vidyalaya, Chandigarh was 2nd runners -up.
The winner at Regional level shall participate in the National Brain Bee to be held on April, 2024. The National winner will represent India at International Brain Bee to be held likely in Aug-Sep this year.
The Brain Bee Quiz is an attempt to motivate our youth to learn about the brain, capture their imagination and inspire them to pursue careers in biomedical brain research. The awareness and the enthusiasm for neurosciences are growing in India ever since Brain Bee contest is introduced into the country. Indian students are fast catching up with those of the developed countries in neurosciences, as it is evident from how Indian contenders have been doing in the International competition. India is now gearing up to conquer the International Brain Bee Championship-title for the year 2024.