Congratulations to Gil Selem who came 5th overall in the North Island final for the New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge (NZBBC). The NZBBC is a competition for high school students in Year 11 to learn about the brain and its functions, the latest discoveries in neuroscience research and to find out about the various career opportunities that brain research has to offer.
Tara Lewis-Beolens, Jerry Griffin and Gil Selem competed in Round 1 of the competition. Gil was invited to go on to Round 2, along with 150 students from around the North Island who achieved the highest scores in Round 1. She spent the day at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland, listening to speakers who included Professor Richard Faull, PhD students researching Huntington’s Disease and a scientist who performs cochlear implants on animals and is researching aspects of the auditory pathway.
Gil scored 5th overall in the individual competition and her team won the ‘best composite team’ prize. Gil was also fortunate to receive one of 10 ‘golden tickets’ in a draw and will have the opportunity to spend a day at the Centre for Brain Research. Any current Year 10 students interested in participating in the 2020 Brain Bee Challenge will have an opportunity to sign up for the competition this year.
Katherine Cole, HOD Science