The Brain Bee: How the Neuroscience Competition Works and How to Prepare
Updated: 15th October, 2026
TL;DR
The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition for students ages 13 to 19, and you move through three stages: a local Bee, a national championship, and a world championship. You start with one free book, Brain Facts, then answer questions on brain anatomy, disorders, and research. Many local Bees are free, and in 2025 the USA championship drew 48 regional winners from 26 states. If you'd rather build your own neuroscience project than memorize facts, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a research mentor.
What is the Brain Bee?
The Brain Bee is a neuroscience competition where teens study the human brain, then answer questions about it live. It has nothing to do with spelling or with insects. The International Brain Bee says Norbert Myslinski founded it in 1998. Its site lists more than 25,000 competitors a year from more than 50 countries. The goal is to get students excited about how the brain works and what goes wrong in brain disorders.
Application deadline: Each local chapter sets its own. Chapters host competitions from November through March.
Duration: Each Bee is a live event. The USA championship runs about two days.
Location: Local Bees take place at universities and schools around the country. The 2026 USA championship was at the University of California, Irvine, and the 2026 world championship is online.
Eligibility: You need to be 13 to 19 years old. For the USA championship, you must be or have been enrolled in an accredited U.S. high school.
Cost: Many local Bees are free, including the ones at Michigan State University and James Madison University. Ask your chapter about its own rules.
Selectivity: You have to win a local Bee to reach nationals. In 2025, 48 regional champions from 26 states competed in the USA championship.
Who can compete in the Brain Bee?
You can compete if you're between 13 and 19 years old, and most competitors are in high school. The International Brain Bee FAQ says Brain Bees are "typically open to students who are between the ages of 13 and 19." National champions can't be older than 19 at the world championship.
Rules change a little from one local Bee to the next, so check with the chapter near you before you plan. The USA championship adds two rules of its own. You must have won a local Bee, and you can enter the USA championship only once in your life. You can also enter just one local Bee a year.
The USA Brain Bee chapters page lists each chapter, its host school, and a coordinator to contact.
How does the Brain Bee competition work?
You compete in three stages, and each one is harder than the last. Win your local Bee and you advance to your national Bee. Win that, and you represent your country at the world championship.
Stage | Who runs it | When | What happens |
Local Brain Bee | Universities and volunteer chapters | November through March | Each chapter runs its own competition. The winner advances. |
USA Brain Bee Championship | USA Brain Bee, hosted at UC Irvine in 2026 | Saturday, April 25, 2026 | Written rounds, a station-based round, and finals. The winner represents the USA. |
International Brain Bee World Championship | International Brain Bee | November 6 to 11, 2026, online | National champions compete for the world title. |
The 2026 world championship runs alongside Neuroscience 2026, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Top winners also earn a spot in the 2027 IBB NextGen program in Chicago, held during the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in July 2027. 2027 USA championship dates aren't posted yet. The 2026 championship was April 25.
What topics are on the Brain Bee?
The USA Brain Bee covers six topic areas, and the main study source is a free book. Its championship page says the written test draws on BrainFacts and Chapter 1 of the Open Neuroscience Initiative. You can download Brain Facts: A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System for free. Michigan State and James Madison University both point students to it too.
Human neuroanatomy: the names and jobs of brain structures.
Neurohistology: what brain tissue looks like under a microscope.
MRI: reading brain scans.
Patient diagnosis: a set list of 20 neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Neuroscience research: the scientific method, experiment types, and reading data.
Core neuroscience facts: how neurons and brain systems work.
If this reading pulls you in, Lumiere's guide to neuroscience research opportunities for high school students shows where to take that interest next.
What kinds of questions does the Brain Bee ask?
The 2026 USA championship used four kinds of questions, from written recall to live elimination. The format comes from the USA Brain Bee championship page. Local Bees can differ, so ask your chapter how its rounds work.
Round 1: 50 written-answer questions on neuroscience facts and concepts.
Round 2A: 25 written-answer questions at stations. You name the structures and functions you see on human brains, tissue slides, and MRI images.
Round 2B: 25 multiple-choice questions, 10 clinical and 15 on scientific reasoning.
Round 3 (finals): The top 10 to 12 competitors answer live. You're out after missing 2 questions, and the last three standing are the top three.
How do you prepare for the Brain Bee?
Start months ahead and study a little every day. Past winners interviewed by BrainFacts.org said steady study beat cramming. Here's a plan you can begin today.
Find your local Brain Bee and register. Ask a science teacher or check the chapters list. Michigan State, for example, says "Participation is free for all interested students" on its Brain Bee page.
Read the whole Brain Facts book. One past winner said to study a little every day and not skip any part of the book.
Turn each chapter into flashcards. Past winners made flashcards and a big Quizlet set to lock in terms.
Learn the anatomy with pictures. Use brain diagrams and models so you can point to the hippocampus, not just define it.
Practice cases and oral questions out loud. Saying answers under light pressure is closer to the live rounds than silent reading.
What mistakes should you avoid when preparing for the Brain Bee?
Cramming the night before. Past winners warned against it.
Skipping chapters. Winners said every part of the book can show up.
Only defining terms. The station round asks you to identify real structures, so practice with images and models.
Ignoring the format. One winner described sitting on stage with a marker and whiteboard, so practice answering aloud.
Treat it like training for any biology competition. A little every day beats one long night. The same habits help with other science research competitions you might enter later.
Is the Brain Bee worth it for college applications?
The Brain Bee shows an admissions reader that you chose a hard subject and went deep on it. That signal matters more than the trophy. A placement is one strong line on an application, but it lands harder when you pair it with something you built yourself. A student who wins a local Bee and then runs an original neuroscience project has both the knowledge and the proof they can use it.
The competition rewards memory and recall. Research rewards asking a new question, which is what colleges and labs care about most. If you want a research-style contest next, see Lumiere's guides to psychology and neuroscience competitions and the AAN Neuroscience Research Prize.
Pros -
Many local Bees are free, and the main study book is free to download.
The USA championship pays $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third.
The topic list is set, so you can build a clear study plan.
The USA champion goes on to represent the country at the International Brain Bee.
Cons -
You have to win a local Bee first, and you can enter the USA championship only once.
Local Bees run from November through March, and not every area has a chapter.
The rounds test recall, diagnosis, and reasoning, not an original project of your own.
The USA championship requires enrollment in an accredited U.S. high school.
Frequently asked questions: Brain Bee
How do you find and register for a local Brain Bee?
You find a local Brain Bee by checking the USA Brain Bee chapters list and contacting the coordinator for your area. The list shows each chapter's host school, state, and contact. The site notes that each chapter competition is unique, so ask about the rules, cost, and study materials. A science teacher at your school may also know of a nearby Bee.
Is the Brain Bee individual or team-based?
The Brain Bee is an individual competition. You earn your own score in each round, and each local winner moves on alone. In the USA finals, competitors are eliminated one by one after missing 2 questions. That means your result depends only on what you know.
What do Brain Bee winners get?
USA Brain Bee champions win cash prizes: $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second, and $500 for third. The first-place winner also represents the USA at the International Brain Bee. Local chapters can add their own awards. Michigan State, for example, gives its champion $700 toward the trip to the USA championship for the student and a guardian.
Is the Brain Bee free to enter?
Many local Brain Bees are free. Michigan State says participation is free for all interested students, and James Madison University lists its Bee as "NO-COST." Each chapter sets its own rules, so confirm with yours. The main study book, Brain Facts, is a free download.
Can you compete in the Brain Bee if you don't live in the US?
Yes, since the Brain Bee runs in more than 50 countries. Each country has its own national Brain Bee, and you can find yours on the International Brain Bee FAQ page. If your country has no national Brain Bee, you can enter the IYNA Virtual Brain Bee by emailing virtualbrainbee@youthneuro.org. You may enter only one local and one national Brain Bee each year.
When is the Brain Bee held?
Dates depend on the stage and the place. Local Bees run from November through March, and the USA championship follows in April. The 2026 championship was April 25 at UC Irvine, and 2027 dates aren't posted yet. The 2026 world championship runs online from November 6 to 11.
Want to do neuroscience, not just study it, or don't have a Brain Bee chapter near you? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a research mentor for a 12-week online project that ends in your own independent research paper. Apply here.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.