Recruiting future neuroscientists: what asking the recruits can teach us

"It Was Like I Had Found My Tribe": Influence of a Neuroscience Outreach Program on High Achievers

Engaging young people with science is essential to ensuring a scientifically literate society. Furthermore, it is important to enable access to a variety of sciences during adolescence, when individuals are making decisions about their future educational and career paths. The Brain Bee Challenge (BBC) is a quiz-based international neuroscience outreach program for high school students. We wished to determine what influence exposure to the scientific research environment had on the highest achievers' later choices in education, their career expectations, and their perspectives toward science. Semistructured interviews were carried out with seven of the past winners of the New Zealand National BBC finals. Analysis involved thematic coding to investigate the impact of BBC involvement and potential longer term consequences. Second-order coding found critical themes identified by participants. These themes highlight the value of research institution-led outreach activities that extend high achievers beyond the school curriculum. In addition to subject-specific influences, there were multiple benefits acknowledged at a personal or individual level, including socialization and identity development, further demonstrating the importance of such engagement activities.

A Case Study for Outreach: The Auckland Experience of the New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge

The 3rd hosting of the Auckland region New Zealand Brain Bee Challenge was held in 2009. Designed as a neuroscience quiz for high school students, the competition provides a valuable case study for science outreach. By engaging with teenagers, the field of neuroscience presents an exciting area of science but also stimulates those in the field to promote and share their research. Neuroscience is the ideal subject to highlight and promote science to young people and the community, as the brain defines unique features such as our personality, emotions, creativity, and intelligence. Understanding brain function and, importantly, determining dysfunction is a growing area of research interest, with relevance to health care systems and government policy, especially in light of the aging population. Feedback from students and teachers indicated that they had learned something about research and the brain, were more aware of options within science including considering neuroscience as a career option, and would recommend participation in the Brain Bee Challenge to other students. A number of participants indicated it was interesting/valuable to have interaction with neuroscientists. Although there are many synergistic benefits resulting from an undertaking such as the Brain Bee Challenge, the following profile highlights the value of the interaction and promotion of research to the community.

A multifaceted approach to neuroscience outreach: meeting the challenges

UK government targets aim for 50% of 18- to 30-year-olds entering higher education; however, with the vast choice of subjects to study available at this level, it is important to help pupils make informed decisions. As part of this process, awareness of newer fields such as neuroscience, which is not on the syllabus for science at school, needs to be promoted. Various challenges face neuroscientists working with visiting school pupils, including the lack of appropriate teaching resources, the culture and language barrier, and the risk of misinterpretation through oversimplification. The authors have designed a workshop to promote neuroscience and related scientific issues with school pupils aged 16 to 18 years. Pupil feedback showed that awareness of options within science increased after the workshop. The workshop also used resources taken from an undergraduate course successfully, demonstrating that appropriate resources are already available. A practical session using human brains was most popular, with all pupils believing it to be thought provoking and interesting. The final session aimed to challenge stereotypes within science, and despite the lowest pupil ratings overall, the majority agreed this aim was met. Pupils reported that the workshop was interesting and that the information about options within science useful. The most impressive outcome was that, although no pupil recorded less inclination to continue in science following the workshop, 46% said that they were more likely to do so. These data confirm the importance of outreach work for pupils' interest and career choice.