The Malaysian Brain Bee Challenge (MBBC) is Malaysia’s national round of the International Brain Bee, a neuroscience competition for secondary-school students. It is run by the Malaysian Society of Neurosciences with university-hosted zones across the country.
Schools register their students, who self-study the MBBC learning resources and sit an online zone final. Top scorers move through two grand-final stages, the last in Kuala Lumpur, and the national champion qualifies for the IBB World Championship.
Benefits & funding
- No entry fee appears on the 2025 flyer or registration form.
- Contestants receive MBBC neuroscience learning resources once their school’s registration is confirmed.
- The national champion qualifies for the IBB World Championship, where the top three win US$3,000, US$2,000 and US$1,000 (IBB competition page).
Eligibility
- Secondary-school students, registered by their school.
- Students resident in Malaysia: each student enters the Brain Bee of their country of residence; no nationality rule is stated.
- At most one local and one national Brain Bee per year; registering for more than one leads to disqualification.
- To go on to the IBB World Championship, the national champion may not be older than 19.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Residence required
Malaysia
Education required
High School
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Application process
- 1The school completes the MBBC registration form with student and accompanying-teacher details, signed by the principal and stamped.
- 2The school emails it to the MBBC secretariat by the deadline (19 April in 2025).
- 3The secretariat confirms the registration with the teacher; students then self-study the provided resources.
- 4Students sit the online zone final; the top five in each zone advance to the grand final.
Program timeline
School registration (latest official cycle)
Mar 16, 2025 to Apr 19, 2025
Online zone finals
May 11, 2025 to May 16, 2025
Online grand final, part 1
Jun 15, 2025 to Jun 20, 2025
Grand final, part 2, Kuala Lumpur
Jul 17, 2025
Dates not yet published
2027