In addition to all the general contest rules stated by North South Foundation, the following rules are applicable for ONLINE Brain Bee Competition.

1. There are 2 levels of competition in Science Bee:
   • IBB (Intermediate Brain Bee): Grades 6, 7 and 8
   • SBB (Senior Brain Bee): Grades 9, 10 and 11
2. The General Info for the Brain Bee, level-wise, can be found on this website. It should be understood that any syllabus can only act as a guideline, and in the same given category of syllabus, the level of difficulty can vary dramatically from a beginner to an advanced level.
3. Brain bees (IBB & SBB) are held as a written ONLINE examination only.
4. Contestants will be given the same set of 25 questions to answer. The maximum time allocated to answer the questions is 30 minutes. Each contestant will access the test paper ONLINE with questions along with multiple answer choices. Contestants must select their answer choices and SUBMIT before the time expires.
5. Only your answer choice entries, from the provided multiple choices, are recorded, and graded. Students are not required or allowed to upload their scratch paperwork showing the method that they used. There is no partial credit for steps.
6. Students can change their selected answer for any question within the allocated time during the contest, until they click the ‘SUBMIT’ button or the time expires, whichever is earlier. Once a contest is submitted or if the time runs out, no answers can be changed.
7. There are NO negative points for incorrect answers. The contestant will be awarded one point for each correct answer and zero for each incorrect answer.
8. Contestants may use blank paper sheets, pens and pencils for scratch work and calculations.
9. Contestants must not use calculators, books, handwritten or electronic notes, websites, phones, smart watches, or any other form of external help – in person, or by messaging/emails/etc.
10. All questions will be multiple-choice type, and the answers will be electronically graded.
Winners and Ranks:
11. Based on the total scores, the judges will determine the winners. The 1st place winner shall be ahead by at least one point to be declared as the champion. In announcing the ranks 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, the judges will follow these rules:
    • Announce Ranks 1, 2 and 3, if and only if there are at least 10 contestants
    • Announce Ranks 1 and 2 ONLY, if there are 8 or 9 contestants
    • Announce Rank 1 ONLY, if there are 5-7 contestants
    • DO NOT announce any ranks if there are less than 5 contestants
Tiebreaker Rules:
12. The tiebreaker rules apply ONLY if there are at least 5 or more contestants participating in a given center and at the discretion of the judges/regional coordinator.
13. After tabulation of scores, if there is a tie, the scheme outlined below is followed in the order given, to break the tie:
    • Score among all questions
    • Score among questions 21-25
    • Score among questions 16-20
    • Score among questions 11-15
    • Score among questions 1-10
14. If the above steps fail to break the tie in question, the foundation may use additional measures to resolve them or award joint ranks.
Invitation to National Finals:
15. Both IBB & SBB contestants will be invited to the National Finals. Invitation to National Finals is based on the scores of all the contestants nationally and is not based on a direct correlation of ranks achieved by a contestant in a regional contest. Thus, the score of each contestant relative to all such scores around the country will determine whether the contestant will be invited to the National Finals. The regional tiebreakers are only helpful in determining the winners for a particular center, but have no bearing on the Finals invitation.

The following links contain the preparatory material for the North South Foundation Brain Bee contests.

• Brain Facts - A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System

• Brain Facts - A Primer on the Brain and Nervous System