HE may have been more than 12 months younger than his competitors, but a passion for science has rewarded The Armidale School’s Ali Ahsan with fourth place in the NSW final of a prestigious international competition.
The 14-year-old finished just one mark off a $20,000 university scholarship.
Out of more than 2000 students from across New South Wales that entered the Australian Brain Bee competition by completing an online test at school, Ali and classmate Tom Mailler were among 140 students selected in state finals in Sydney last week.
The Australian competition for Year 10 students is a division of International Brain Bee, a world-wide neuroscience competition for high school students founded in 1999.
The competition aims to encourage students to learn about the brain, capture their imaginations and inspire them to pursue neuroscience careers in order to help treat and find cures for neurological and psychological disorders.
The event started with a quiz of 15 questions with many equivalent to first year university level, followed by keynote speakers presenting information of new discoveries and research into neuroscience.
Students also participated in an electrical stimulation exercise to compare the effect of different amounts of current on muscles.
Ali was one of 10 students selected for the next session, and was placed fourth – just missing out on a $20,000 scholarship, awarded to each of the top three placegetters.
“The second round questions were much harder and concerned new technologies, various neurological conditions and diseases, and other bodily systems relating to them,” Ali said.
“It was a thrilling and also a humbling experience to have come fourth place in the competition, but in some ways also a little disappointing since I was a mark off getting a scholarship.
“However, it was an honour representing TAS at the state level.”
