San Diego Brain Bee

Inspiring Local San Diego High School Students

About the San Diego Brain Bee 

The Brain Bee is a not-for-profit event held during Brain Awareness Week, an international campaign launched by the Society for Neuroscience and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. The competition tests students' knowledge of neuroscience through a series of challenging questions about brain anatomy, function, disorders, and research. Winners of the local Brain Bee advance to the USA National Brain Bee, and from there, may qualify for the International Brain Bee Championship.

 This is a collaborative event between the San Diego Society for Neuroscience Chapter, San Diego Brain Injury Foundation, and the UC San Diego Neurosciences Graduate Program

Highlights from the 14th Annual Event (2024) 

The 2024 San Diego Brain Bee took place on February 3, 2024, at the UCSD Medical School, with 27 students from 8 San Diego area high schools competing.

• Claire Wang (Junior, Canyon Crest Academy) won first place and represented San Diego at the USA National Brain Bee at the University of Central Florida in April 2024.
• Cole Solomonson (Junior, Classical Academy High School) placed second.
• Jadon Pandian (Junior, Sante Fe Christian Schools) earned third place.

This year's event was made possible with funding from the Society for Neuroscience and the support of the UCSD Neuroscience Graduate Group, including graduate student volunteers and expert judges.

Highlights from the 15th Annual Event (2025) 

This year's event was made possible with funding from the San Diego Brain Injury Foundation, the Society for Neuroscience and the support of the UCSD Neuroscience Graduate Group, including graduate student volunteers and expert judges.

Join Us for the Next Brain Bee

The 16th Annual San Diego Brain Bee is already in the works! If you're a high school student with a passion for science and will be 14-18 years old at the time of the event, or an educator looking to inspire your students, this is a fantastic opportunity to explore the field of neuroscience.

Save the Date:
🗓 Event Date: February 14, 2026 at 10:00AM - 2:00 PM followed by outreach events
📍 Location: Must Be a Registered Participant for Information
🧠 Who Can Participate: High school students from the San Diego area

Note: Nominations are closed for 2026 Brain Bee

Contact and More Information

Adrienne E. Dubin, Ph.D.,  San Diego Brain Bee Coordinator

sdbrainbee@gmail.com

San Diego Brain Bee

More Information

The Brain Bee is a Q & A competition that tests high school students’ knowledge of the brain. Students in grades 9-12 are eligible to participate (ages 14-18 on the date of the event). The main objective of the contest is to introduce students to neuroscience and provide for them an inspiring event that supports their efforts in learning about the subject.  Aims of the Brain Bee include the following.  1) To highlight what the brain does, how it functions and how important it is to everything we do and who we are as human beings. Simple knowledge of this nature provides self-esteem, dispels superstitions and misconceptions (for example topics such as where emotions reside), and explains the importance of enhancing your brain’s potential through learning, safe exercise and avoidance of illicit drugs.  2) To educate teachers and students and to explain how important research and discovery is to our community, as well as to generally improve scientific literacy in our community. 3) To provide opportunities for students from all regions in San Diego and Imperial Counties to participate in the competition and to challenge all students to consider a career in Science and Neuroscience in particular.

Students will be quizzed about the brain and how it relates to intelligence, memory, emotions, sensations, movement, stress, aging, sleep, and neurological disorders. All of the questions are derived from “BrainFacts, a primer on the brain and nervous system”, published by the Society for Neuroscience. BrainFacts is a valuable resource for secondary school teachers and students who participate in the Brain Bee (https://www.brainfacts.org/the-brain-facts-book).  We recommend that The BrainFacts book is the only study guide our students use for the local competition. However, the USA National Bee also recommends a second study guide for the National competition, found here: https://www.bna.org.uk/static/uploads/resources/BNA_English.pdf.

What happens at the event?

San Diego Brain Bee Competition Format

Preliminary Round: (an estimate of the number of questions per section, subject to change)

1. multiple choice written test (~15-20 questions)

2. clinical diagnostic (~2 questions)

3. preliminary oral questions (~15-20 questions)

Oral questions: The moderator will pose a question to all students (aloud and visually on a screen at the front of the auditorium). All students will answer by writing their responses on a whiteboard. At the end of the allotted response time, whiteboards will be turned over to reveal the written responses. The judge(s) then determine whether answers are correct or incorrect and scorekeepers will record scores. All rulings by the judge(s) are final.

Following the preliminary round there is a break for lunch/refreshments, during which time the scores from all sections of the preliminary round will be tallied. Ten students will advance to the final round (unless there are fewer than 20 competitors, in which case, half will advance). The names of advancing students will be revealed after the break.

Final Round:

Scores from the first round do NOT carry over into the final round. The final round consists only of questions answered on whiteboards. The judge(s) will then determine whether answers are correct or incorrect and scores will be recorded by scorekeepers. All rulings by the judges are final.

This is be a TRIPLE elimination round, meaning a competitor is eliminated after getting three questions incorrect. Questioning will continue until only one competitor remains, and that competitor will be the winner.