The Brain Awareness Week through NeurotechEU

Other / 18 Mar, 2025

With the aim of increasing public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research, the members of The European University of Brain and Technology -NeurotechEU- host every March the “Brain Awareness Week” (BAW). This celebration unites the efforts of worldwide institutions about brain knowledge, brain health, and brain-oriented research. This year, the BAW takes place from 10-17 March. The BAW initiative was born in the 90’s during the "Decade of the Brain”, designated as that by the United States Congress. This activity has turned into an event that places the brain-orintented researchers work in the public spotlight.

Each university of the NeurotechEU alliance has its way of celebrating the BAW. Some prepare activities for High School students, others prepare seminars or expositions. Here is an overview of how the NeurotechEU members have hosted the BAW at its place:

At Radboud University (The Netherlands), Brain Awareness Week 2025 was hosted by the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour. Highlights include the launch of the improved BrainHelpDesk, where you can submit brain-related questions answered by Donders researchers, with all responses made openly available. The week also featured interactive events such as neuroscience-themed film screenings with InScience, lectures by Radboud Reflects, a Brain Pub Quiz, workshops at the Brain Museum, and the Brain Olympiad. Through this diverse programme, Radboud University brings brain science closer to the public in creative and accessible ways.

The University of Miguel Hernández of Elche (Spain) has celebrated the Brain Awarness Week, a week organized by volunteers for scholars. Its program included exhibitions, informative mini-talks, educational workshops, and a panel discussion on the figure of Cajal as a bridge between science and art. UMH also organized the 'Brain and Society' cycle, which included the panel discussion ‘The art of understanding the brain: Cajal and the Neurosciences’. Read more.

The Karolinska Institutet (Sweeden) hosts a dynamic and engaging event with The Cell. The KI welcomed students for an afternoon of art, interactive workshops, and neuroscience lectures, offering them a unique opportunity to explore the wonders of the brain in an exciting and hands-on way. The sweedish member of the alliance also hosted En Resa Genom Hjärnan, an annual neuroscience outreach event that this year included a family session where visitors of all ages explored our interactive brain stations. They dived deeper into neuroscience with engaging lectures covering topics like Alzheimer’s, aging, and AI.

Through interactive activities, career discussions, and hands-on research experiences, the Boğaziçi Üniversitesi (Turkey) Synapse team aimed to show that neuroscience is for everyone: kindergarten kids explored the brain through play dough modelling and fun Q&A sessions; high school students learned about neurodiversity and neuroscience careers, sparking curiosity about the brain sciences; and university - advanced workshops on fly brain dissection, immunohistochemistry, and neuroimaging gave students hands-on experience in neuroscience research.

The “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) marked the Brain Awareness Week with the Neurosurgical Masterclass. This event served as a platform for education and knowledge dissemination, benefiting not only medical students considering a career in neurology or neurosurgery but also neurosurgical residents and specialists in related fields, such as radiology, oncology, and orthopaedic surgery.

“La Semaine du Cerveau” was celebrated at the University of Lille (France) where researchers met with the general public and schoolchildren to present the latest discoveries in neuroscience and discuss their questions, the scientific approach in these times of misinformation, and the challenges and implications of understanding the brain. Conferences, theatre, concerts, exhibitions, round tables, science cafés, workshops... and even escape games to question, wonder, and sometimes marvel.

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