The International Neuroscience Olympiad (INO) is a research-oriented challenge dedicated to the field of neuroscience. Originating at the University of California, Berkeley, its mission is to inspire young minds to explore the human brain and cultivate the next generation of neuroscientists and medical pioneers.

The brain is the body’s most complex and incompletely understood organ. Through intricate neural networks and neurotransmitter systems, it orchestrates cognition, emotion, movement, sleep, social interaction, learning, and more. It endows us with our distinctly human capacities while making each individual unique.

To date, 12,000 exceptional students from more than forty countries and regions—among them China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, South Korea, Russia, Belgium, Finland, Malaysia, Egypt, India, the Philippines, Kenya, and Ghana—have taken part in INO.

In 2024, three outstanding scholars from China, the United States, and India emerged as global finalists. Through the official partner Indigo Reserch, they gained fully funded placements in Harvard’s neuroscience laboratories for summer research, collaborating with renowned faculty and co-authoring scholarly papers.

INO offers students an international platform to explore neuroscience. By emphasizing both a solid grasp of modern neuroscience and engagement with the latest research, the Olympiad encourages participants to integrate new knowledge into their own thinking. Tackling real-world problems, INO highlights the practical applications of neuroscience and the importance of research skills, aiming to cultivate creativity, critical thinking, and analytical ability—core competencies that are essential not only to neuroscience but to all fields, laying a strong foundation for future career development and personal growth.