Hebrew University

Brain Awareness Week 2015 – Organized by the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in cooperation with the Jerusalem Cinematheque 1. Cinema and Brain Week: Lectures and Movies – Imagination and Reality in Brain Research – During all of the event’s six evenings, the public was invited to attend lectures given by leading brain researches from ELSC and other faculties of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem as well as from other research centers in Israel. These lectures were followed by films related to the lecture topics. In addition, ELSC PhD students presented their recent findings in brain research to the audience using multimedia presentations. 2. A special event for children was part of the festivities as well, with a lecture by Dr. Dorit Cohen-Carmon on Imagination. 3. A special event for high school students was held during the morning time, with a lecture by Dr. Yaara Lefler on Optogenetics. 4. A photo exhibition titled ”iPhasia” was presented to the crowd, and included a collection of stills photos taken with an iPhone camera by Eyal Peled, a famous TV personality in Israel that suffered a major stroke in 2008, and now has severe aphasia that prevents him from communicating through speech. 5. A unique workshop for 10th grade students was held in a lab at Hebrew university, and included a first hand experience in dissecting a cow brain.

Our BAW activity enabled us to approach the general public and reaffirm the connection between the academy and its surrounding community. The activities for children and youth enriches their school curriculum and opens new horizons. We believe these students may return to the field of neuroscience as university students and researchers in the future.

We believe that careful planning and long term work assists us in producing well organized and productive events. We always try to learn from past events and improve our projects from year to year.