Advance Student and Campus Success
When students, faculty and staff develop stronger brain health, every dimension of campus life improves. The Brain Health Prize was created to help colleges and universities take the first step toward building a brain-healthy campus.
UTD pilot winning team pictured with Brain Health Campus Collaborative members, campus administrators, and speakers: Dr. Sandi Chapman, Chief Director Center for BrainHealth, Sam Vaghar, board member, Waves, Janet Koslovsky, Program Coordinator, Center for BrainHealth, Liz Feld, CEO, RADical Hope, UT System Regent Christina Crain, Brian Magierski, Founder, Waves, Alex Villano, VP of Program Development & Strategy, HFC, Dr. Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO, The Diana Award, Laura Bloom Gordon, CMO Center for BrainHealth and Dr. Adam Woods, Dean of BBS at UT Dallas.
Easy, Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
The First Five Campuses Will Receive:
Toolkit with best practices for implementation
Communication and marketing templates
Previous student-idea examples
Judging criteria rubric
Application submission process and platform
Ongoing support from a Brain Healthy Campus Collaborative consultant
Campus-level and Grand Prize funding
What Your Campus Will Provide
We have created the toolkit and implementation plan to make bringing the Brain Health Prize to your campus as smooth and frictionless as possible. Here’s what we need from you:
Identify champions:
Administrative champions (required)
Student champions (highly recommended): As part of an existing group, an informal but interested group, or under a BrainHealth Champions chapter.
Promote the competition through campus communications
Convene judges and select winners at your university
Support implementation of winning ideas when feasible
Showcase student success through campus media, local news outlets, snd other channels
Timeline
Fall 2026
Commit as a founding Brain Health Prize campus. The first 5 campuses to be approved will be guaranteed a $1000 local prize travel stipend.
February 2027
Participate in BrainHealth Week (optional) and prepare for launch.
Fall 2027
Run your campus competition.
Applications open Sept.1
Applications close Nov. 1
Winter 2027
Select campus winner before December 15, giving judges and students enough time to prepare for nationals.
February 21, 2028
BrainHealth Week, NextGen Day
Commit as a founding Brain Health Prize campus. The first 5 campuses to be approved will be guaranteed a $1000 local prize travel stipend.
Why Brain Health?
Brain health is the state of optimal neural health, cognitive function, well-being, and social connection – helping us think, feel, connect and perform. It's measurable, trainable, and helps students and faculty alike succeed.
Traditional wellness efforts focus on maintaining baseline wellbeing or addressing deficiencies. A brain healthy campus builds on that and goes beyond to improve brain performance, resilience, social connection, and more. Brain health instills habits and qualities to help students, faculty, and staff thrive socially, academically, and professionally.
The Brain Health Prize Benefits the Whole Campus
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Brain-healthy practices are linked to measurable improvements in focus, resilience, social connection and workforce readiness.
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Peer-to-peer initiatives have the power to impact campus in a way nothing else can. Teams will create lasting solutions to brain health gaps on campus.
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The same strategies and evidence that support students apply to faculty and staff — the Center for BrainHealth's workplace research documents this.
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The Prize naturally draws together interdisciplinary student teams around a common goal, encouraging collaboration across departments to share expertise.
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Participating campuses are part of a select national cohort recognized through the Brain Healthy Campus Collaborative.
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Unlike traditional idea competitions, this program empowers students to move from concept to implementation by providing the sponsorship, support, and hands-on experience required to make their ideas happen.
Bring the Brain Health Prize to Your Campus Today
The first five campuses to commit to participating in the 2027 BrainHealth Prize Competition will receive $1,000 to fund their local campus competition prize.