The student of Kossuth High School Debrecen won the bronze medal at the Hungarian final of the International Brain Bee (IBB) neuroscience competition. The IBB's primary goal is to motivate talented students to learn about the brain and inspire them to pursue careers in neuroscience to help treat and find cures for brain disorders.
The International Brain Bee competition - founded in the United States in 1998 - involves nearly 25,000 students from almost 50 countries yearly. The winners of the national competitions are tested on their knowledge at the International Brain Bee World Championship.
Hungary joined the competition last year. As part of the international NeurotechEU program, the University of Debrecen teamed up with the PTE Neuroscience Center and the Hungarian Neuroscience Society as an organizer and actively participated in preparing local students for the national round.
This year, three of five students from the Kossuth Lajos High School of the University of Debrecen made it to the second round, where Horváth Karolina Dóra, prepared by Dr. Zsolt Krakomperger, won the bronze medal.
The competition is conducted under strict regulations, and the official study materials consist of two English-language textbooks commonly used in university education. Moreover, the national competition is also in English to ensure the winner can effectively represent Hungary in the final high-level academic competition. The national competition questions are carefully crafted by experts from the four medical universities in Hungary to achieve this goal.
The competing students from Debrecen were prepared for the competition, which required high-level thinking and language skills, by Dr. Péter Szücs, the director of the Anatomy, Tissue, and Developmental Institute of the University of Debrecen, as well as Dr. András Birinyi and Dr. Balázs Pál, both associate professors at the Anatomy and Physiology Institutes of the University. They provided the students with various materials, such as video explanations and diagrams, to deepen their knowledge, and they also received online preparation, consultations, histology practices, and anatomy lessons. Additionally, they had the opportunity to visit the dissection room to enhance their understanding further.
The online written test covered the entire curriculum of the study guide on human brain anatomy, neurohistology, general neurophysiology, and patient diagnosis. In the "Live Judging Session," the top 9 high school students tested their knowledge in a tough three-round competition. The first round was based on factual knowledge; then, the contestants were challenged with more complex questions. If a contestant could not answer, the others could steal their points. In the third and most challenging round, competitors had to determine the most likely clinical diagnosis based on various symptoms, medical history, and case descriptions.
This competition is currently one of Hungary's most complex and challenging academic competitions. The domestic winner of the competition can participate in the international finals, which are held every year in conjunction with a neuroscience conference. This is in Washington this year, at the APA Conference in August. The other finalists can participate in a few-day lab visit during the summer break at various research groups focusing on neuroscience.
Congratulations to the winners and all the teachers who helped them succeed!