Brain Awareness Video Contest Rules and Guidelines

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) runs the annual Brain Awareness Video Contest (BAVC) to showcase educational and entertaining neuroscience concepts and activities.

All entrants in the BAVC agree to comply unconditionally with all the provisions set out in these Rules and Guidelines — any entrant who does not comply will be considered ineligible for participation. Entries for the 2024 BAVC are open from March 15, 2024, to June 3, 2024, at 11:59 p.m., PST.

SfN shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the BAVC and determine compliance with these Rules and Guidelines, and the right at its sole discretion to refuse and remove any video, in whole or in part, that it finds to be in violation of these Rules and Guidelines or otherwise unlawful and objectionable. 

Eligibility: The Brain Awareness Video Contest is open to all Society for Neuroscience members. Non-members are eligible if entries are sponsored and submitted by an SfN member. Find an SfN member near you with the Find a Neuroscientist database.

Employees of SfN and their family members and those living in their immediate households, whether or not related, are ineligible. 

There is no entry fee.

SfN members can click here to submit applications for video entries.

 

1. Entry Requirements

Failure to meet any of these requirements will result in disqualification. 

Deadline: Entries must be submitted by a Society for Neuroscience (SfN) member by June 3, 2024 at 11:59 pm, PST. You can find an SfN member through the Find a Neuroscientist page.
Duration: Videos must be no longer than 5 minutes in duration. 
Video format: Videos must be submitted as streaming optimized .MP4 files in 649x448 resolution no larger than 100MB. 
Transcript: Entrants are required to provide a complete transcript of the video upon submission.
Originality: Videos must be original and unpublished works. Videos may not appear on any public website or be made available to the public during the contest’s duration.
Subject: Videos must focus on a neuroscience concept. Submissions must not contain text or imagery that is inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortuous, defamatory, slanderous, or libelous; or contain text or imagery that promotes bigotry, racism, hatred, or harm against any group or individual or promotes discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age. 
Permissions: Entrants assert that they either own or have the rights to use all content used in videos, and that material is properly credited. Entrants using third-party material (i.e. material not owned by entrant) must have received explicit permission from the owner to use the these materials. In addition, entrants grant SfN royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to the materials.  
Parental Consent: Anyone under the age of 18 who appears in a video must have parental consent; entrants must obtain consent prior to video submission.
Language: Videos in all languages are accepted; videos not in English must include English subtitles.
Application Form: All entrants must work with an SfN member to complete the online application form located on the SfN awards site. Submission must include the video’s YouTube link and a complete video file. We recommend submitting the application through Google Chrome. 

TLDR: Be sure to comply with all requirements. A common cause of disqualification is the use of copyrighted music and other media without permission. Click here for resources to obtain royalty-free music and images for your videos.

2. How to Enter

All entrants must upload their video to YouTube.

1. Create an account with YouTube and upload video on your YouTube page.
2. Make sure your video’s privacy is set to “Unlisted” and comments are disabled.
3. Tag your video with the following keywords: Brain Awareness Video Contest.
4. Complete application with an SfN member.

TLDR: Consider double-checking that your YouTube privacy settings match entry requirements and that you tag “Brain Awareness Video Contest.”

3. Judges and Judging Criteria

Judges shall be chosen by SfN and will be SfN members. Videos entered into the contest shall be judged according to scientific accuracy, usefulness in an educational setting, and creativity. The decisions of SfN and the judges are final and binding, and not subject to appeal.

TLDR: Check out our tips for how to create a winning video on the BAVC overview page.

 

4. Prizes

1. First place: $4,000 plus complimentary registration for one* person to attend Neuroscience 2024 in Chicago, IL.
2. Second place: $500
3. Third place: $250
4. People’s Choice: $500

Prizes are not transferable. Prizes will be awarded to the primary author of the winning videos (see Section 5 for authorship requirements). If a group submits a winning video, division of cash prizes is at the discretion of the primary author.

Each winner will be responsible for submitting any required ethics-related report to their employer, or, if a government official, to the appropriate government office. Each winner will be required to advise SfN if SfN must also submit a report to the winner’s employer, or, if a government official, to the appropriate government office.

SfN reserves the right to make changes in the rules of the Contest, including, without limitation, the substitution of a prize of equivalent value, which will become effective upon announcement. If due to circumstances beyond the control of SfN, the first place winner’s travel is delayed, rescheduled, postponed or cancelled, SfN reserves the right, but not the obligation, to award a substitute prize.

Prize Restrictions

Past first place winners of the BAVC are ineligible to be awarded the first-place prize. 

Prizes cannot be substituted, assigned, or transferred, and the first-place prize cannot be redeemed for cash. SfN will not replace any lost or stolen prizes. No compensation or alternative dates will be offered to the first-place winner in the event of cancellation of SfN’s annual meeting. Travel restrictions, conditions and limitations may apply.

TLDR: All prizes will be awarded to the primary author only. Restrictions and conditions apply.

 

5. Authorship

Prizes will be awarded to the primary author of the winning videos. All videos must be submitted by an SfN member. If the primary author of the video is not a member of SfN, the primary author must find an SfN member to submit the video on their behalf. You can find an SfN member at the Find a Neuroscientist page. Videos may be submitted with up to five co-authors. Authorship cannot be changed after the video is submitted.

Duplicate videos may not be submitted. Any entrant may submit more than one unique video. If the same video is submitted through multiple applications, only the first application will be eligible for the contest. The entrants of the other applications will not be considered primary authors, nor will they be eligible for prizes.

TLDR: Videos may only be submitted by SfN members. Non-members may contact SfN members to submit on their behalf. Duplicate videos submitted by different authors will not be considered.

6. Public Voting

SfN reserves the right to specify videos entered in the “Brain Awareness Video Contest” as eligible for a separate “People’s Choice” contest, where videos chosen by SfN will be made available to the general public for fan favorite voting.

The People’s Choice prize will not be chosen by the judges and using the judging criteria stated above, but rather by number of votes received on the Brain Awareness Video Contest website. Votes will be tallied by SfN staff and will not be subject to appeal. In the case that the first, second, or third place winner is also selected as the People’s Choice winner, the primary author will receive prizes for both awards.

TLDR: The winning video of the People's Choice Contest will not be selected by SfN staff, but by the number of votes it receives on the Brain Awareness Video Contest website during the voting window.

7. Contest Entrants’ Conduct

All entrants of the BAVC shall not submit any video(s) that in whole or in part violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others; which is unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights; vulgar, obscene, profane, contains morbid images, or otherwise objectionable material; which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense; gives rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law, including, but not limited to, HIPAA; or which contains any advertising or any solicitation with respect to products or services. 

All entrants shall not modify, exploit, create derivative works, or otherwise interfere with the material submitted by other entrants. In the event of permitted copying, distribution, or publication of such material, no changes in or deletion of author attribution, trademark legend, or copyright notice shall be made.

TLDR: Copyright and privacy infringements, inappropriate material, and any other objectionable conduct are grounds for disqualification.

8. Third-Party Rights and Clearances

Proprietary Rights
Submitted videos must be the original work of the entrant and must not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, and rights of privacy, publicity, or any other proprietary rights of a person or entity, and may require: location releases for footage shot at any location; name, voice, and likeness releases for any person whose name, voice, likeness, and/or feature appears; releases for the use of any props, set dressings, and other materials used; releases from any individuals participating in the production of the video and releases for any other audio and/or audio-visual materials not wholly owned by the participant(s) that are used.

Permissions
If the video contains any material or elements not owned by the entrant(s) and/or are subject to proprietary rights of third parties, the entrant(s) hereby automatically grant(s) or warrant(s) that any third parties owning material included in the submitted video, has(ve) expressly granted to SfN the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, edit, publish, translate, and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material, with the objective to promote the goals of the Brain Awareness Video Contest and the mission of SfN. 

Burden of Determination
The burden of determining that any material is not protected by copyright, trademark, rights of privacy, publicity, or any other proprietary rights rests with the entrant. The entrant shall bear the sole liability for any damage resulting from any infringement of copyrights, proprietary rights, or any other harm resulting from such a submission. 

Minors 
If any person(s) appearing in any video is (are) under the age of 18, entrant must obtain the original signature of a parent or legal guardian before submitting video. Please use the attached consent form for any minors appearing in the video.

Individually Identifiable Health Information
Entrants are required to obtain appropriate authorizations to use and disclose individually identifiable health information as required by HIPAA.

TLDR: Any third party media included in video submissions must obtain permission.

 

9. Termination, Cancellation, Suspension, Disqualification

SfN reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to consider ineligible any video and disqualify the entrant, or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Brain Awareness Video Contest in whole or in part and without prior notice at any time, if it suspects or finds that:

1. The video actually or potentially infringes upon any third party’s intellectual property right and/or it is discovered that necessary permissions for an entered video have not been obtained (see Section 8).
2. The video does not comply with the established entry requirements and/or in the sole discretion of SfN the video contains obscene, unlawful, or other objectionable material, as defined in Section 7.
3. The video is advertising or promoting products or services.
4. The entrant commits fraud relating to the entry process or the operation of the Brain Awareness Video Contest.
5. The entrant act in violation of these Rules and Guidelines.

TLDR: SfN has the right to disqualify a video without notice if the entrant violates any of the rules listed.

 

10. User rights

Entrant grants to SfN a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, display, reproduce, edit, publish, translate, and distribute the submitted video (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright and renewal that may exist in such material, with the objective to promote the goals of the Brain Awareness Video Contest or the mission of SfN.

Entrant grants to SfN the right to use submitted video to create a trailer or to splice together with other submitted videos for the objective of promoting the goals of the Brain Awareness Video Contest or the mission of SfN. Entrant agrees SfN is not required to place acknowledgement (as stated below) on a trailer or spliced work as described in this paragraph. 

Entrant grants to SfN the right to use the entrants’ names, likenesses, photographs, voices, sounds and/or biographical information and videos in connection with the Brain Awareness Video Contest and for any and all advertising, publicity, and promotional purposes relating to the Brain Awareness Video Contest or promoting the mission of SfN. The entrant will be clearly acknowledged for any use of his/her material and his/her name will accompany any dissemination of the material he/she owns by SfN. Beyond permission granted herein and acknowledgment, SfN shall not be obliged to compensate the entrant for use of the submitted material, unless prohibited by law. 

TLDR: Entrant grants SfN non-exclusive rights and license to use their video submission for future BAVC promotion.

 

11. Disclaimer of Liability

All entrant(s) by registering with the Brain Awareness Video Contest agree(s) that the Society for Neuroscience, its agents, representatives, employees, and contractors, are released and discharged from and against all and any costs, claims, damages, liabilities, and expenses of any sort arising out of, or generally relating to: submission of the material for the Brain Awareness Video Contest and participation in it, the use of the material by SfN, the decisions made or actions taken by SfN in connection to the conduct and administration of the Brain Awareness Video Contest and the acceptance and use on their part of any prize. 

SfN and its subsidiaries, its agents, representatives, employees, and contractors are not responsible for technical failures of any kind; any problems or delays arising from any technical, software, equipment malfunctions, computer viruses, or congestion; unavailability of the Brain Awareness Video Contest website; any other technical, equipment, or human errors of any kind with regards to the administration of the Brain Awareness Video Contest; or any damage or alteration to the entrants’ video that may occur in connection with the uploading or display of the video. Also, SfN is not liable for any failure to screen the entered video on the Internet or at any venue. 

The entrant(s) specifically acknowledge(s) that SfN is not liable for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other entrant(s) or of comments made on YouTube or anywhere the video is posted and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the entrant(s); also the entrant(s) waive(s) any right to seek injunctive action or other equitable relief relating to any claim against SfN and its agents, representatives, employees, and contractors.

TLDR: BAVC participants agree to incur all expenses and other potential risks of submission described above.

 

12. Changes to the Rules and Guidelines

SfN shall have the right at any time and without prior notice to modify, suspend, or terminate the Brain Awareness Video Contest or the Rules and Guidelines, or any part thereof; and/or impose new rules or guidelines as it considers appropriate. Such changes, modifications, additions, or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on the Brain Awareness Video Contest website, sending electronic or conventional mail to the entrants, or by any other means by which the entrants obtain notice thereof. 

TLDR: Changes to BAVC Rules and Guidelines may occur. Continue to check the BAVC website for updates.

 

13. Governing Law

The Brain Awareness Video Contest and these Rules and Guidelines shall be governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, shall be the proper venue for any claim, suit, or dispute arising from the Brain Awareness Video Contest and participation therein, and these Rules and Guidelines.

TLDR: BAVC policies, including these Rules and Guidelines, are under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.