Brain Awareness Week was March 10-16, 2025, with Brain Awareness Day falling on Saturday, March 15, 2025. If you are not familiar, Brain Awareness Week/Day is a global campaign initiated by the Dana Foundation to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. A variety of organizations such as museums, research institutes, colleges and universities, hospitals, K-12 schools, and many more host events in their communities to celebrate the wonders of the brain and raise awareness to the impact brain science has on our everyday lives. It’s an opportunity to empower communities to have a voice in decisions that will need to be made around new brain technologies, and inspire the next generation of neuroscientists.
The NISE Network’s Changing Brains project is focused on empowering public and professional audiences to experience, talk about, and reflect on personal, community, and societal connections to advancing brain research and related technologies. Supported by the Dana Foundation, our Changing Brains public engagement and professional development resources can be easily downloaded, printed, and used with a variety of audiences to explore the brain, neuroscience, and neuro-ethics.
We know many NISE Network partners celebrated Brain Awareness Week; below are just a few examples of the types of events being held each year:
Pacific Science Center and the Allen Institute
Our friends at Pacific Science Center and the Allen Institute in Seattle, Washington hosted their second annual BrainFest on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Participants of all ages had the opportunity to explore hands-on activities, meet Allen Institute scientists and collaborators, learn about cutting-edge neuroscience research, and even view and touch a real brain! This included viewing real mouse and human brain samples under a microscope, learning about Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions with real human brains from the University of Washington Biorepository, and a guided tour of the human brain during a live dissection narrated by guest speakers Dr. Kate Mulligan from the University of Washington School of Medicine and Dr. Claire Weichselbaum from the Allen Institute, who formerly worked with the NISE Network in creating the resources for the Changing Brains kit.
Other fun activities had learners comparing different animal brains – including a T. Rex brain cast, investigating the shapes of real brain cells and making a take-away brain cell with pipe cleaner, listening in on the electricity in your own nervous system, using prism goggles to test your neuroplasticity (similar to this activity featured on Fox 13 Seattle), and the NISE Network's Neuro Futures card game lead by neuroethics-focused students from UW!
The Franklin Institute and the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience
Long-time NISE Network collaborators at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia Pennsylvania worked with the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience (pcSFN) to host Brain Awareness Day on Saturday, March 15, 2025. The event was in partnership with Temple University's Psychology and Neuroscience Program and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, whose faculty and students guided participants in engaging, hands-on neuroscience activities and expert dissections designed for curious minds of all ages. Learners had the opportunity to explore how the brain works and uncover the science of memory, perception, and behavior, as well as hold real preserved animal brains and use EEG (electroencephalogram) and EMG (electromyography) devices. The event also included a special performance by The Philadelphia School of Circus Arts’ Youth Troupe, who helped demonstrate the function of the cerebellum and the senses that control movement.
Year-round the Franklin Institute has a variety of resources dedicated to the brain. Check out their Neuroscience & Society high school curriculum, which offers an in-depth focus on neuroscience through the lens of relevant societal issues. Visitors can also Navigate the Neural Network anytime by scaling the 18-foot-tall neural climb.
Watch a brief montage of events from Brain Awareness Day 2025 at The Franklin Institute.
The Bell Museum and the University of Minnesota
The Bell Museum in St. Paul Minnesota hosted Spotlight Science: Brain Power on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Spotlight Science is a regular program that shines a light on current science conducted at the University of Minnesota (UMN). University neuroscientists and psychologists engaged participants in hands-on activities to increase understanding of the human brain. Participants learned the latest in brain science, heard from neuroscience storytellers, and had the opportunity to explore real human and animal brains. In addition, the Bell Museum hosted a special showing of its original planetarium film Mysteries of Your Brain, an animated adventure into the human brain to understand how it works and what makes human brains so special. The planetarium show, a brain display in the Touch & See Lab, and live virtual talks with UMN brain researchers are hosted periodically (learn more about Brains at the Bell special content).
Thank you to these and the many other NISE Network partners who hosted events for Brain Awareness Week/Day! Feel free to reach out to us with your stories, especially any experiences using resources from the Changing Brains kit.