The 2026 Boston University Regional Brain Bee will be held on:
Sunday, March 22nd, 2026
10:30 AM – 4:30 PM (tentative)
GSU Auditorium, George Sherman Union
775 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215
Registration:
Please note: Student contestants can only register for one regional brain bee per calendar year.
Participation is free and open to all students who wish to attend. Space is limited so advance registration is required. To register, please fill out this form. → https://forms.gle/VA4csYCVXqBAUFjF8
Registration Deadline is March 16th at 11:59 PM.
Brain Bee Overview:
The BU Regional Brain Bee is a regional chapter of the International Brain Bee, an annual competition for high school students testing their knowledge in the field of neuroscience, sponsored in part by the Society for Neuroscience, the largest professional Neuroscience society in the world.
The winner of our regional competition will represent Boston University at the 2026 US National Brain Bee, which will be held in person on Saturday, April 25 at the University of California, Irvine
National champions from around the world will go on to compete in the 2026 International Brain Bee, which will be held virtually in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in late September.
Event Schedule (from March 2025):
Competition Format:
Round 1: Written Exam
Contestants will give open-ended answers to a 30+ question written exam. All contestants will answer the same questions in a set amount of time.
Lunch Break & Neuroscience Educational Programming
Round 2: Oral Response Round
Students will each answer questions based on the “Brain Facts” textbook orally. After two incorrect answers, students will be eliminated. Top scorers will move on to Round 3.
Round 3: Final Elimination Round
Top scorers will answer questions at the same time using whiteboards. After two incorrect answers, students will be eliminated. The last contestant standing will be crowned the winner!
Please note that specific aspects of the competition format may vary from the above.
Study Guide:
Questions from all three rounds will be based on information contained in the 2018 edition of Brain Facts, a publication of the Society for Neuroscience, which can be downloaded here.
Prizes:
Prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers in the BU Brain Bee. In addition, the 1st place winner may go onto the national Brain Bee in Florida.
Other Important Information:
All students willing to travel to Boston for the Brain Bee are eligible to compete.
Students of all ages are eligible to compete; however, only students between the ages of 13-19 years old will be eligible to move on to the National competition in April.
Students may only compete in one Regional Brain Bee per year.
Contestants and parents may not use any recording devices or take notes of any kind during the competition.
Contact:
For any questions/concerns, please contact prernas7@bu.edu.