About

NeuroCamp is a free, eight-day summer program run by UCLA's Brain Research Institute (BRI) for high school students residing in Los Angeles County. Beginning with the 2026 cycle, the LA County residency requirement is a hard eligibility gate — students outside the county cannot apply. The program brings together 30 students on UCLA's campus across two non-consecutive weeks: three days in week one and five days in week two, running 8am to 4pm daily. Attendance at all eight days is mandatory.

The curriculum is organized around three neuroscience modules — Molecular Neurobiology, Neurophysiology, and Neuroanatomy — delivered through faculty lectures and hands-on lab sessions. Past cohorts have dissected sheep brains and cow spinal cords, conducted habituation experiments with earthworms, investigated neural plasticity using Aplysia RNA injection protocols drawn from active UCLA research, and explored PCR and microscopy techniques. Sessions are led by BRI faculty, with UCLA undergraduates participating as lab assistants. The experience is structured as an instructional course rather than an independent research placement: students work through guided experiments as a cohort rather than pursuing individual projects under faculty mentorship.

The application requires a resume, a statement of interest, and a single letter of recommendation from a teacher or mentor on official school letterhead. There is no application fee and no GPA minimum stated. The program does not provide housing or transportation; students must commute to UCLA's campus daily. For 2026, the application deadline was April 19; applications for future cycles typically open in late winter or early spring.

NeuroCamp is not a research experience and carries no individual mentorship or independent project component. Students ready for that next level should look at UCLA's CELL Scholars program, which provides paid individual research placements during the school year for juniors and seniors from underrepresented backgrounds. NeuroCamp is the right fit for an LA County student who wants a genuine first encounter with neuroscience at a serious research institution — hands-on lab work, real techniques, and faculty who study the brain professionally — without the selectivity bar or time commitment of a multi-week research program.