The Deutsche Neurowissenschaften-Olympiade (DNO or German Neuroscience Olympiad) is a series of competitions for young students in the 9th to 13th grades, aimed at promoting their interests in neuroscience. The competition series takes place at two levels: city and national. Each event is a question and answer competition, which is held in English. The winner of the national German Neuroscience Olympiad event goes on to represent Germany at the International Brain Bee competition.
Contents
History
The "Deutsche Neurowissenschaften-Olympiade", is part of the International Brain Bee program, which oversees more than 150 competitions in over 45 countries every year. The program was founded in the 1990s by Dr. Norbert Myslinski in the United States. Over time, the program expanded beyond the United States, supported by scientists and teachers worldwide.
Dr Julianne McCall established the "German Brain Bee" competition in 2011, the first of its kind to take place in Germany. Mainly organized by PhD students, the German Brain Bee takes place in Heidelberg, and has included over 100 high schools across Germany.
Since 2015, the "The German Brain Bee" was renamed the Deutsche Neurowissenschaften-Olympiade and is organized by the Deutsche Neurowissenschaften-Olympiade Association which is run by students, scientists and professors. The association also oversees a biology olympiad called "Jugend-Forscht" as well as the German Neuroscience Society.
In 2016, the board of the DNO began the process of expanding the competition throughout Germany and stated its goals to initiate other projects, such as summer research schools.
Mission
The motto of DNO is "Driving Connectivity". The motto refers to the multiple organizational and functional levels of neuronal activity within the human brain. However, "Driving Connectivity" also underlines the mission and goals of DNO e.V. The organization's mission is to motivate and inspire young people to learn about the human brain and become interested in the various fields of neurosciences. Furthermore, DNO e.V. aims to have more young people pursue careers in basic neuroscience research. Currently, there are more than 1000 known neurological diseases. The philosophy of DNO e.V. is that through encouraging young students to work together to face new and exciting challenges in neuroscience research, can there be a further understanding of brain functions. Therefore, the motto of "Driving Connectivity," is not only about motivating students to learn, but also about developing a positive team spirit and sense of academic dedication.
Competition
The competition, which has only taken place in Heidelberg until 2016, is open to students in the 9th to 13th grades, with the total number of participants limited to 40-45 students per year. Currently, the German Neuroscience Olympiad is expanding into other cities throughout Germany. Next year, in 2017, there will be local student competitions in Berlin, Bonn, and Frankfurt in addition to the finals competition in Heidelberg. Therefore, 135 students (45 in each city) are anticipated to participate in the local Neuroscience Olympiads in 2017. The top 15 students from each local competition will be invited to the finals. The venue of the finals competition rotates each year. DNO e.V. provides travel allowances for student traveling long distances to participate in each consecutive level of the Olympiad. With three local competitions taking place, more schools within Germany have the chance to participate in our German Neuroscience Olympiads and therefore, more motivated students can be supported.
The competition is divided into 5 parts: Two podium sections, where a jury of three professors will ask questions; a short written exam section; a neuroanatomy section with plastic brain models in addition to microscopy slides with real human brain samples; and a patient diagnosis section with patient videos and mock medical history data. The competition is held in English, but the jury can assist in German, if necessary(link to competition format area of DNO website).
Awards
The winner of the German Neuroscience Olympiad finals competition receives a trophy and the opportunity to represent Germany at the International Brain Bee. To do so, the flights and accommodation are paid for each winner and a chaperone of choice. The 2nd and 3rd-place winners are also awarded with smaller prizes. The International Brain Bee always takes place during a prestigious international science conference. For example, the 2016 International Brain Bee competition coincided with the Federation of all European neuroscience societies (FENS) conference in Copenhagen. Therefore, the student participants have the exclusive opportunity to meet and interact with scientists from across the world. In the future, DNO e.V. aims to provide the top 3 students of each local German Neuroscience Olympiad competition with a chance to do a summer internship in a neuroscience research lab. The aim of these internships is to allow students to see what the day-to-day research is like in a typical neuroscience lab.
List of International Brain Bee venues and associated conferences
Source