Presented as part of the Being Human Festival 2025 and led by the IoPPN, The Great British Brain Off invited researchers to present their work in bite-size talks to win the vote of the assembled audience.
Held at Peckham Levels in South East London, and part of the Being Human Festival, the Great British Brain Off saw nine teams working in research present their cutting-edge brain science to the audience in the most engaging way possible. Championed by Dr Wiaam Al-hasani, who hosted alongside Professor Sally Marlow, the event took the format of similar Science Slams which happen across the world.
Contestants presented lightning talks on topics such as migraines, borderline personality disorder, artificial intelligence and the influence of language used by parents. The aim of the event was to present your key information in a fast, impactful way, bringing novel and ground breaking science to the public in an easy to digest format.
Every researcher, no matter how passionate, faces those moments of doubt-the quiet "So what?" and "Who cares?" questions that appear between experiments or long hours at the laptop. It's natural, and it's what makes us meaning-carving creators: we're not just producing data, we're searching for purpose.For me, the best antidote is stepping outside the academic bubble and sharing our work with the people it's actually for. Speaking with non-experts-patients, families, and curious members of the public-forces us to translate complexity into clarity, and in doing so, we rediscover why the science matters.
Dr Wiaam Al-hasani, Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Psychosis Studies, IoPPN
Dr Al-hasani continued, saying "Healthcare research is deeply human, even when it looks technical or abstract. Whether you're in the lab, building AI tools, or developing statistical theory, it all comes back to human lives. And the public genuinely wants to understand what we do and what it means for their health and future.
That's where The Great British Brain Off shines. It brings together researchers seeking meaning and members of the public-especially those with lived experience-seeking insight into the research that affects them. When those groups meet, something special happens.
Thanks to the brilliant IoPPN team, that "something special" came to life. The event was full of curiosity and connection, and a reminder that science finds its purpose when it meets the people at its heart."
Members of the King's College London Psychosis Lived Experience Board were in attendance to help facilitate the event and form the judging panel. This group is made up of highly dynamic individuals with lived experience of severe mental health difficulties, who bring their unique knowledge and insight to support vital research at King's College London. Following each presentation they posed questions to the presenter, allowing more information to be shared, and the audience to gain greater insight into these incredibly interesting topics.
The winning speaker was PhD student Louise Moles who, using an entertaining comparison of pain au chocolat and sloths, helped the audience understand how we train and build AI models, and the opportunities that affords us in the identification and treatment of mental health.
It was fantastic to be able to show such a variety of IoPPN research to the public in a format which was accessible and fun, but also to do this under the banner of the Being Human Festival, bringing science to the UK's largest Arts and Humanities Festival. As we often see in these types of public engagement events, the people who really shone were our lived experience experts and our early career researchers - they really connect with the public and all those involved in the Great British Brain Off were really motivated to share their work and their experiences and I'd like to thank all of them for making this event such a success.
Professor Sally Marlow, Associate Dean for Impact, Professor of Practice in Public Understanding of Mental Health Research, IoPPN
The Great British Brain Off hopes to return in the future, with more opportunities for those involved in research to share their work and experience with the public, in a fun and absorbing environment.
