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Dutch Brain Olympiad 2025:
we have a winner!
The 2025 edition of the Dutch Brain Olympiad (Nederlandse Hersenolympiade) took place on Sunday, March 16th (during Brain Awareness Week), bringing together some of the brightest young minds in the country to learn about neuroscience and participate in a knowledge competition.
Hosted at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University in Nijmegen, secondary school students from across the Netherlands engaged in a challenging competition designed to test their understanding of the complexities of the brain. The Dutch Brain Olympiad, now in its 7th year, is a platform that aims to kindle a passion for neuroscience, the brain, and AI among high school students and to create opportunities for young neuroscience students and early career researchers to showcase their research.
The Olympiad day did not only feature a knowledge competition: the students also got to see a live dissection of a brain by our partner Brein in Beeld, as well as a live EEG recording by students from Tilburg University & TU/e and dr. Tonny Mulder (Psychobiology, UvA). At the Brain Expo, the participants could visit several booths and posters showcasing different neuroscience research projects and even join in a few experiments! And finally, Job van den Hurk (Maastricht University, BrainMatters) gave a fun and inspiring keynote lecture on Mind Reading.
With 46 participants from 24 schools, some of which traveled several hours to the event, the Olympiad shows a wide interest in neuroscience among secondary school students. After three quiz rounds, 10 finalists were chosen from the students to participate in an exciting live Q&A final round. The top three winners of the 2024 Dutch Brain Olympiad were Maria, Cveta, and Luca (photo).
They were awarded a trophy, a ticket to attend the Dutch Neuroscience meeting and a Neuroscience textbook. Each participant also received a certificate of participation, recognizing their commitment to advancing their understanding of neuroscience. Our Brain Champion, Luca, will go on to represent The Netherlands in the International Brain Bee later this year.
