Ben Thompson from Narrabundah in the ACT has been crowned this year’s Australian Brain Bee Champion in a battle of neuroscience knowledge in Auckland.
Representing Canberra Grammar School/Narrabundah College, Thompson outsmarted more than 4,400 competitors from across Australia to take out the title.
In the national final, he competed against seven other state winners in a brain-teasing anatomy exam, patient diagnosis and a neuroscience quiz in front of a live audience.
“This has been an awesome competition – something really different,” Thompson says.
NSW finalist Wasiul Hoque of Baulkham Hills High School was the Australian runner-up.
The Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) is designed to test the best and brightest high school students, while also giving them unprecedented access to world-renowned neuroscience facilities and researchers.
However, the hard work does not stop here for Thompson. He will now travel to Florence in Italy for the International Brain Bee Challenge in July 2011.
ABBC national organiser and Queensland Brain Institute Professor Linda Richards, of The University of Queensland, said Thompson’s win demonstrated his talent and passion for neuroscience.
“We’re very proud of him to be representing Australia at the international level.”
** High resolution photographs and footage are available upon request **
** Ben Thompson can be contacted on 006421 576 080 until 2 February **
For more information, please contact:
Denise Cullen
Executive Communications Officer
Phone: +61 7 3346 6434 or 0420 365 391
Email: d.cullen2@uq.edu.au
Notes to the Editor:
AUSTRALIAN BRAIN BEE CHALLENGE
The Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) is the country’s largest neuroscience competition for high school students. The competition is designed to test school students’ knowledge about a range of topics, including intelligence, memory, emotions, sleep, Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. This year, more than 4,473 students participated. Registrations for the 2011 competition close on 4 March 2011.
QUEENSLAND BRAIN INSTITUTE
The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) was established as a research institute of The University of Queensland in 2003. The Institute is now operating out of a new $63 million state-of-the-art facility and houses 28 principal researchers with strong international reputations. The QBI is one of the largest neuroscience institutes in the world dedicated to understanding the fundamental mechanisms underlying brain function.
