BIGGERBRAINS game: iPad winner of the month

The last prize draw took place on 15 June 2012, the iPad® winner goes to: 

Balanagulu Busupalli, Senior Research Fellow, National Chemical Laboratory, India. He shares:

“I am in the third year of my PhD working with Dr. B. L. V. Prasad in the Physical Chemistry Division and Dr. Guruswamy Kumaraswamy in the Polymer Science and Engineering Division of National Chemical Laboratory, India. I prepare nanoscopic molecular materials that can act as excellent precursors for synthesizing a variety of novel materials with useful properties. These materials and their precursors are structurally exciting apart from their future applications. We use a multitude of techniques including X-ray and light scattering experiments to study their structural aspects.

A friend of mine sent me the Biggerbrains website link and at the first look itself it created a big impression on me. I learnt a lot through playing the game as each level represents a stage in the research. Aspiring young scientists especially those in their formative years (PhD!) would benefit a lot from the insights and advise from the ‘bigger brains’ for sure.”

Balanagulu Busupalli
National Chemical Laboratory, India.

The second prize draw took place on 16 May 2012, the iPad® winner goes to: 

Kamen Simeonov, Research Associate, Stem Cell Biology, Genentech USA.

Exciting! The first prize draw took place on 16 April 2012! The iPad® winner of the month goes to:

Chao Suo from University of New South Wales, Australia. He shares:

I am a final year PhD candidate at School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, and I also affiliate to Regenerative Neuroscience Group, Brain and Mind Research Institute, the University of Sydney led by Prof. Michael Valenzuela. As a medical PhD candidate with a biomedical engineering background, I am interested in studying neuroscience by using neuroimage, particularly MRI (Mangetic Resonance Image). My research mainly focus on investigating adult neurogenesis and longitudinal brain changes by using multiple modalities of MRI (structural MRI, MR spectroscopy, resting-state functional MRI). Topics include: cognitive and physical training- induced brain changing revealed by structural and functional MRI; quantifying in vivo neurogenesis using MR spectroscopy (1.28ppm peak); how does the lifetime cognitive lifestyle preserve the brain structure and function in late life. I believe the powerful in vivo neuroimaging method is the key to probe the enigma of adult neurogenesis. 

My co-supervisor forwarded Biggerbrains website to me. So I tried it straight away. As a final year PhD student, I do need some suggestions on how to start my research career. I was firstly attracted by the impressive video, and then lots of useful information on both research and career developing. It is really a great platform for all young scientists. Plus, the game is so addictive, and I couldn't stop to play it again and again to achieve the highest score in each level. I definitely suggest my friends the Biggerbrains and spread this website around!

Chao Suo
RNG, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales