On Saturday 21 March 2026, Paris Brain Institute hosted the 8th Neuroscience Olympiad: France Brain Bee. Secondary school students from across France were competing for a place in the prestigious international final of the International Brain Bee.
A stepping stone to scientific careers
Created in 1998, the aim of the International Brain Bee competition is to introduce young people to neuroscience and encourage them to pursue careers in this research field.
Since 2019, the French version, France Brain Bee, has been enthusiastically supported by Paris Brain Institute, which organizes this stimulating and rewarding competition each year.
A day of intensive competition
After several months of preparation (from September to March), candidates took part in several challenges during the event:
- A diagnostic competition focused on brain conditions
- A multiple choice test on basic neuroscience knowledge
- A competition to identify structures in neuroanatomy and neurohistology
The top five participants then took part in a final live Q&A, which led to the winners being crowned.
A brilliant victory
Congratulations to Eva Kownator, a student from Jeannine Manuel school in Paris, who won the 2026 competition!
She will proudly represent France in the world final:
- When? 6 to 11 November 2026
- Where? The International Brain Bee World Championship (online, as part of the Society for Neuroscience’s 2026 Neuroscience conference)
The program will include online competitions, interactive social activities and a live final.
Inspiring discussions with researchers
Beyond the event itself, this competition enabled young people to interact with dedicated and experienced scientists. This year, Antoine Bergel, CNRS researcher within our MOV’IT team discussed his career and research with participants.
A committed organization team
The competitions and analysis of the results were designed by a multidisciplinary committee coordinated by:
- Jacobo Sitt, Inserm Research Director (PICNIC team)
- Nikolas Karalis, Inserm Research Director (Neural Circuits and Brain Dynamics team)
- Antoine Bergel, CNRS Researcher (MOV’IT team)
With participation from the Open Brain School team
Coordination and overall management:
- Brian Silvera, Digital Education Project Officer
- Clarisse Marie Luce, Head of Education – Open Brain School.
The team of volunteers:
- Minh Anh Dang, medical student at Sorbonne University Mariana Martini, teacher at ICS Paris secondary school
- Janan Arslan, senior research engineer
- Gabriel Michaux, research bioinformatician and PhD student (BRIGHT team, Paris Brain Institute)
- Camilla Mannino, PhD student (NERV team, Paris Brain Institute)
- Steven Rico, PhD student (NERV team, Paris Brain Institute)
- Ayda Durubal, medical student at Université Paris Cité, winner of France Brain Bee 2024
- Céline Mallet, final-year student at Louis Le Grand secondary school, winner of France Brain Bee 2025
Join the adventure!
Our goal is to promote the competition in all schools in France.
Rejoignez l’aventure !
Notre objectif : faire rayonner ces olympiades dans tous les établissements scolaires de France.
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