Brain Awareness Video Contest

The Brain Awareness Video Contest (BAVC) is an annual competition held by BrainFacts/the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) to showcase videos of entertaining and educational neuroscience concepts and activities.

Since the launch of the contest in 2011, BrainFacts has featured over 100 of these imaginative, brainy videos from contestants around the world.

Voting for the 2025 Brain Awareness Video Contest People's Choice award is now open. Check out this year's top 10 videos on our YouTube playlist, and vote for your favorite by giving it a thumbs up by Oct. 15, 2025, noon EDT. 👍

Prizes

1. First place: $4,000 and complimentary registration to Neuroscience 2025 in San Diego, CA
2. Second place: $500
3. Third place: $250
4. People’s Choice: $500

Read the 2025 rules and regulations.

Things to consider when crafting a great BAVC video:

Brain Awareness Video Contest Tips by BrainFacts 

1. Be professional.
   • Pay attention to grammar, lighting, and audio quality.
   • Obtain permissions for material you do not own.
2. Be concise. 
   • Keep it short and sweet. 50% of viewers tune out after three minutes.
3. Know your audience.
4. Be entertaining. 
   • Use humor, a snappy beat, and your creativity. 
   • Utilize your resources: White board drawings do well, and so do videos shot in the lab or other interesting settings.
5. Be unique. 
   • Create a video that has not been done before.
     • Check out previous videos from the Brain Awareness Video Contest.
     • Think outside the box: Videos about surprising and quirky facts are popular.
   • Come up with a catchy title.
     • Accurately convey the video's content.
     • Lists and questions tend to do well.

Access resources for help obtaining royalty-free music and images for your video.

Watch the 2024 Brain Awareness Video Contest Winners:

• First Place: "The BBB and Its Story!" by Joshua Moses.
• Second Place: "A Chocolate Heist: Neuroscience of Dark Adaptation" by Christoph Koenig.
• Third Place: "Sun Rays and Long Days, Our Brain's Clock" by Lindsey Czarnecki.
• People's Choice: "The Great Show of Consciousness" by Eduardo Traviezo.

Follow BrainFacts on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram and X + use the hashtag #BAVC25 on social media.