The Brain Bee Challenge Rounds - 2025 Information

There are 4 Rounds to the Australian and New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge;

Round 1 - Online Quiz

Students access study material for the Brain Bee competition through Education Perfect. For students who would like extension reading (not directly assessed in the competition) on neuroscience and the brain, please see our resources page. The material may also be useful for teachers wishing to develop lesson plans for the neuroscience curriculum.

Round 1 of the Brain Bee Challenge takes place during the month of March. It is a 40 minute assessment that is completed on Education Perfect and must be sat between March 3 - March 31 2025 (no exceptions).

Teachers will need to allocate an hour of time for students to sit the online assessment through EP during school hours, under exam supervision, within these dates.

Teachers can enrol students for the competition through a dedicated link.

Registration for 2025 is now available through Education Perfect through the below registration link:

Please note that Round 1 will take place over the month of March so it is advisable to register as soon as possible so that students can get access to the Round 1 learning materials on the Education Perfect platform.

Round 2 - Regional Finals

Students who achieve a high score in Round 1 are invited to take part in Round 2 of the Brain Bee Challenge by their state/regional Brain Bee coordinator. This involves further study of additional material through the EP platform before students sit the Round 2 online assessment. Students may then be invited to attend a full day of activities at a university campus/research institution in their capital city that includes further exploration of neuroscience topics (subject to regional coordinator's discretion).

Round 3 - National Finals

Round 3 is the National Final where 8 Australian students (one from each state) and 2 New Zealand students (one from each island) compete against each other to become the Australian Brain Bee Challenge Champion, or the New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge Champion. This round is held online.

In the finals, students compete in 4 challenges, held over 2 days including an anatomy challenge, a written short answer challenge, a patient diagnosis challenge and a live question and answer challenge. Further details are provided to the finalists closer to the time. 

Round 4 - International Finals

Round 4 is the International Brain Bee (IBB). To be eligible you must have won the National Final. The IBB is held at an international neuroscience/psychology conference and in the past has been held in places such as America and Italy. In 2012 the IBB was in South Africa and was won by the Australian representative, from Brisbane, Teresa Tang. In 2013, the IBB was held in Vienna, Austria and was won by Australian representative, from Brisbane, Jackson Huang. In 2018, the IBB was held in Berlin, Germany and in 2019, the IBB was held in South Korea. 

Since 2020 the IBB has been held virtually and will be held virtually again in 2024. You can visit the IBB website here.

Brain Bee National Coordinators for Australia and New Zealand

• Jennifer Rodger - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Bruno van Swinderen - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Brain Bee Australia - State Coordinators 

Brain Bee New Zealand - Regional Coordinators