IIT Gandhinagar to celebrate Brain Awareness Week from March 15 to 21
Gandhinagar: The Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) is all set to celebrate the virtual edition of the Brain Awareness Week from March 15 to 21, 2021. The event includes a variety of talks, panel discussions, workshops, and competitions targeted at a diverse audience ranging from core neuroscience researchers to high school students.
Scholars and practitioners of cognitive and brain sciences from some of the most prestigious institutions from India and abroad, including National Brain Research Centre; National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences; Indian Institute of Science; UNESCO MGIEP, National Brain Research Centre; University of California, Los Angeles; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University College London; among others, are going to share their knowledge and perspectives through various sessions spanning across seven days.
The keynote lectures and talks will cover a diverse range of topics ranging from bilingualism and cognition to the search for the madness genes, power of behaviour in deciphering the mind, manipulating memories, brain waves and movement, and eyes in action as windows to the brain. One can also learn about novel approaches, like using songbirds to understand how the brain initiates movements and how C. elegans can be used as a model for studying nerve regeneration.
Two panel discussions on ‘Neuroethics and AI in the Global Context’ and ‘Neuroscience, Technology and Education’ will offer different perspectives from speakers working in the industry as well as academia to gain insights on how Neuroscience plays a role within the spheres of ethics and education.
Workshops like Neuroscience, Psychology and The Arts; Cognitive Science and Game Design; and Developing Neuroscience Curriculum for School Students will enable the participants to interact with groups, brainstorm ideas and come up with short presentations allowing them to hone their understanding of Brain Sciences. Each workshop is designed for a specific audience – from undergraduates to early career professionals.
The two fascinating competitions planned for the event are – ‘Stories of Scientists’ and ‘Junior Research Competition’. Stories of Scientists is an innovative competition accepting entries from all age groups in the form of prose, poetry and art on the life and work of any scientist currently working in the area of Brain Sciences. The Junior Research Competition is a Neuroscience research presentation competition for high school students of class 9 to 12. It will give them a chance to learn new concepts in Neurosciences and allied fields as they make their presentation on a given topic and present it before a panel of experts on March 20, 2021.
Anyone interested in this emerging and interdisciplinary field of science can participate in any of the sessions with a free registration on the event webpage: https://cogs.iitgn.ac.in/baw/. One has to register separately to participate in the workshops or competitions.
Brain Awareness Week is an annual event celebrated across the world to inform and educate people about the many wonders of the brain in order to generate excitement amongst youngsters to pursue research in Brain Sciences.