Neuroscience Fundamentals

Prepare for National and International Competitions
By Dr. Anwesha Banerjee and Dr. Roopa Holehonnur 

Every Sunday, January 26th to April 13th 2025 , 11.30 AM to 12.30 PM CST

For Middle and High School Students - Grades 6th to 12th

Register for the Course here

Neuroscience has never been more relevant to pushing the boundaries of humanity's potential. By studying the mechanisms of the mind, the roots of behavior, the causes of disease, and the capacity to grow and change throughout one's life, neuroscience opens a window into what makes us human.

Currently, 53 nations are engaged in coordinating Brain Bee programs, and the number progressively increases. About 50,000 students participate across all six continents every year, and more than 600 neuroscientists have been involved with organizing and judging the events.

About the Workshops

Workshops are designed to prepare the students for the Brain Bee Contest by North South Foundation and Regional Contests by International Brain Bee. Classes are offered online by Neuroscientist Dr. Anwesha Banerjee using latest Technology Tools for collaborative leaning.

Only 20 Slots are available for the registration. Total cost of the program is $500, which is tax exempt. Fees can be paid in full (preferred) and in two installments - $300 as the first installment and $200 as the second installment.

All participants need to thoroughly understand the concepts from the book published by the International Brain Bee. Students in 6th - 12th Grades will be taught all the chapters in the book for the Junior and Senior Brain Bee to ensure complete readiness to regional level and National level contests.

Workshop Schedule:

Workshop will begin on Sunday, January 26th, at 11.30 AM CST. All sessions will be on Sunday’s from 11.30 AM to 12.30 PM CST. Program ends by April 13th 2024. Workshop is available in both Live Classroom and Asynchronous format. In Asynchronous format recorded content will be made available along with all the material accessible in one place

Takeaways:

You will receive a Course Completion Certificate upon successful completion of the course. Participants in the workshop will also get an opportunity to participate in a iStart Valley's Brain Bee Challenge. Winners will take home cash prizes worth $750. Contest will be right after the completion of the course.

This program is also super beneficial for the students to compete in many National, International Brain, Neuroscience competitions and also Science-related Competitions.

Neuroscience-Related Competition

• USA Brain Bee (Some states have separate websites)
• International Brain Bee
• AAN Neuroscience Research Prize
• Neuroscience Research Prize
• Neuroethics Essay Contest

Science-Related Competitions

• Envirothon
• Google Science Fair
• Intel International Science & Engineering Fair
• International BioGENEius Challenge
• National Science Bowl
• National Science Olympiad
• Regeneron Science Talent Search
• Stockholm Junior Walter Prize
• TOPPS Competition for High School Psychology Students
• Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge
• ExploraVision
• National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 

Meet the Instructor - Dr. Anwesha Banerjee and Dr. Roopa Holehonnur:

Dr. Anwesha Banerjee is a trained Neuroscientist completed her doctorate from University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and currently working at Emory University, Atlanta. Her other degrees include a Masters in Biotechnology from Bangalore University and a Masters in Neuroscience from UTD. Anwesha has been the recipient of Women in bio behavioral scholarship in 2013 by UTD and has been awarded with a fellowship by Myotonic Dystrophy Foundation/ Wyck Foundation in 2017 to conduct her own independent research in finding a cure for Myotonic Dystrophy. She has authored multiple publications and presented at national and international conferences.

Apart from Science, she loves public speaking and has been an active member of Toastmasters International for 7 years now. She is the current District Director in District 14 Atlanta where she helps and manages over 3500 members achieve their communication and leadership goals. Anwesha has spoken at many conferences and is a featured TEDx Speaker.

Dr. Roopa Holehonnur has over 8 years of research experience in understanding the molecular basis of Neuropsychiatric and Neurodevelopmental disorders. She currently works as a Scientist with Dr. Laura Lavery at Rice University, Houston to discover novel therapies patients with neurodevelopmental disorders. Following her masters and doctoral degree in Neuroscience from University of Texas at Dallas in 2016, she completed her first postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center under the mentorship of Dr. Craig Powell. 

She then completed her second postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston under the mentorship of Dr. Huda Zoghbi who has received many accolades including the Breakthrough prize, Brain Prize and the Kavli Prize. Roopashri has over 6 years of experience with teaching and mentoring students.

At The University of Texas at Dallas, she coached students on research design, planning and execution in addition to assisting professors with lectures and evaluations. As an experienced biomedical researcher who is also passionate about teaching, she can effectively coach students. Her diverse educational background combined with her mentoring experiences positions her well to turn her passion into practice. During her free time, Roopashri enjoys photography, cooking, and spending time with her family.

“Dr. Anwesha's Brain Bee Program was very helpful for the Brain Bee competition. Information Dr. Anwesha gave was very thorough. It had information from the Brain facts book as well as additional information. She made the Brain facts book much easier to understand. The practice questions were also very helpful as there are no practice questions written for the brain bee available” - Shouri Bochetty, 1st Place, National Brain Bee Competition at NSF and Top Contestant at US National Brain Bee Contest

 

"This program was really helpful for me in studying for my Brain Bee competition because it helped me grasp the concepts very easily. It was also very convenient because there were always recording if I had to miss a class or wanted to re-listen a chapter. I also found the quizzes for each chapter to be very helpful because it helped me recollect the information that I had learned and helped me prepare for the types of questions I would see on the real Brain Bee test." - Priyanka Senthil, 3rd Place Place, National Brain Bee Competition at NSF

 

"This course is very thorough and helpful if you are planning to compete in the brain bee competition. It is a good course to take regardless of if you are competing or not because the content of the course is useful to know in general" - Neil Kondapalli, Brain Bee Winner

 

"The program was taught very well. Dr. Anwesha Banerjee was very knowledgeable on the topic. She helped us to understand very difficult concepts in an easy way, and she answered all of our questions." - Sahana Narayanan, Brain Bee Winner