School Challenge: Ireland

Le haghaidh eolais i nGaeilge, cliceáil anseo

The brain is the centre of everything we do, feel, experience, and live through. The health of our brain shapes every aspect of our lives, from the moment we are born until our last breath. It enables us to think, move, speak, listen, hear, feel, smell, taste, and love. It should be self-evident to care for our brains, as they serve as the epicentre of our cognitive well-being and the foundation for a healthier, more fulfilling life. We are glad to have partnered with the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience to bring the Brain Health School Challenge across the island Ireland.

The Brain Health School Challenge is an exciting venture that empowers young minds to shape the future of brain and mental health. The class works together on a project, creating one final product through their collaboration.

The participants, divided into three age categories, are tasked with coming up with creative ideas, strategies, or campaigns to inspire their peers to prioritise brain health. They are guided to express their unique vision through mediums like posters, short videos, songs, texts, comics, or dances, advocating not only creativity but also the vital message of fostering a brain-healthy lifestyle.

Empowering youth in championing for brain health today ensures a future generation equipped with resilience, creativity, and a deep commitment to nurturing their most precious asset – their brain!

Schools from across the island of Ireland are invited to participate.

School classes from:

• Primary school (approx. 7–12 years old)
• Lower secondary (approx. 12–15 years old)
• Upper secondary (approx. 15–19 years old)

Classes of all school types are welcome. Only class projects are accepted; individual projects are not allowed.

• Design an idea, strategy, or campaign to encourage other young people to take care of their brain health and take action.
• Your project can be a poster, short video, song, comic, text, campaign, or something similar.
• Important: It should clearly show why brain health is important for everyone and what people can do to protect it.
• Ideally, come up with something that motivates you personally to look after your brain.

Submission Guidelines:

• Video & Audio Content: Maximum length of 3 minutes.
• Artwork (Posters, comics, etc..): Submit as PDF orJPEG. 
• Written submissions (e.g. essays, stories, articles, poems): Maximum 1,000 words.
• Original work: All submissions must be the original work of the participating class and must not infringe on any copyright.
• Language: Submissions may be made in your national language or in English.
• Class submissions only: Each class may submit one project only. Individual submissions are not eligible.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI tools may be used to support research, brainstorming, or presentation design. However, the final submission must reflect the students' own ideas and creative work. AI-generated content must not replace the students' original contribution.

• A jury of brain health experts will assess the projects.
• Evaluation will follow the following point system:

Each category (Primary School, Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary) will have a 1st and 2nd place winner.

• 1st Place: €500 for the class fund
• 2nd Place: €250 for the class fund

Each participating class can receive a Brain Health School Challenge certificate upon request.

Jury members, selected by the NNS and Brain Health Mission team, evaluate the projects according to the outlined criteria.

• Award ceremony for the winning classes: To be announced
• Location and time: To be announced

Brain Health Ecosystem Translations – Available in 28 different languages

Supported by the Irish Institute of Clinical Neuroscience