BRIGHT LIGHTS IN THE LAB ~ 2023

Calling all budding neuroscientists!

Students looking to unleash their inner scientists will love this week-long program presented by University of Toronto Schools in partnership with the Firefly Foundation.

Campers learn from top neuroscience researchers at the University of Toronto (Holland Bloorview/PRISM LAB), while taking part in innovative and engaging team and individual exercises, all designed to introduce them to the wonders of neuroscience, while having fun. Students collaborate together in a week-long project, showcasing their work at the end of the week.

Learn about the brain:

  • Understand fundamental neuroscience concepts around learning and memory

  • Grasp the relationship between healthy mental wellness and brain development

  • Learn firsthand from academic and industry experts in neuroscience, pharmacology and psychology and more

This Camp is for students who are currently in Grade 8 - 10

will be entering Grade 9 - 11 in September 2023

Since 2012 we have been proud to offer students who have unlimited curiosity about neuroscience, but limited financial resources, the opportunity to attend Bright Lights in the Lab. Firefly Fellows receive a fully funded scholarship from the Foundation that covers camp tuition.

Please check out our video (below) to hear what students had to say about Bright Lights in the Lab in 2022

Celebrating 10 years of Bright Lights in the Lab ~ July 2022

We were delighted to welcome students back in person this July at the newly renovated University of Toronto Schools (UTS) Bloor Street Campus.

This is the 10th year Firefly has partnered with UTS and we are so happy to see how Bright Lights in the Lab has evolved. We would like to acknowledge and thank our Camp Director, Isabella Liu, who is a teacher at UTS who led the teaching team again this year. Together we collaborated with an incredible team from the PRISM Lab at Holland Bloorview, who enabled us to utilize EEG equipment so that our students did their research projects based on what they learned from measuring their own brainwaves !!

Please watch our video and hear what the students had to say about this unique and meaningful opportunity.

BRIGHT LIGHTS IN THE LAB ~ SUMMER 2022

Calling all budding neuroscientists!

Students looking to unleash their inner scientists will love this week-long program presented by University of Toronto Schools in partnership with the Firefly Foundation.

Campers learn from top neuroscience researchers at the University of Toronto, while taking part in innovative and engaging team and individual exercises, all designed to introduce them to the wonders of neuroscience, while having fun. Students collaborate together in a week-long project, showcasing their work at the end of the week.

Learn about the brain:

  • Understand fundamental neuroscience concepts around learning and memory

  • Grasp the relationship between healthy mental wellness and brain development

  • Learn firsthand from academic and industry experts in neuroscience, pharmacology and psychology and more

This camp is for students who will be in Grade 8 - 11 in September 2022.

Since 2014 we have been proud to offer students who have unlimited curiosity about neuroscience, but limited financial resources, the opportunity to attend Bright Lights in the Lab. Firefly Fellows receive a fully funded scholarship from the Foundation that covers camp tuition.

Check out our videos

  • From our last “in person” camp in 2019, and

  • From our online camp in 2020 & 2021

We look forward to welcoming students back to in person learning this summer

Bright Lights in the Lab ~ Summer 2021

There are two things our teaching team always agree on: time flies at Bright Lights in the Lab; and how incredible our campers are. This week was no exception.

This was our second year offering camp as a Virtual Lab (online) and our program has evolved tremendously as we find new ways to explore neuroscience and learn about the brain.

We asked the campers what the highlight of the week was and here’s what they had to say…

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We will be offering two additional sessions this year, in partnership with Leadership By Design who is launching Summer Up.

Despite the many challenges we have all faced over the past year Firefly Foundation is grateful to our community partners would like to offer special thanks to the amazing teaching team, led by our Camp Director Isabella Liu, who makes this camp possible.

Join us online... for Bright Lights in the Lab ONLINE ~ SUMMER 2021

Let's learn about the brain while taking care of it!

In order to offer students a safe and stimulating environment our Labs have moved online. With a continued focus on neuroscience and understanding the brain, we will offer students the opportunity to develop their lab skills through the use of a virtual animal model, to learn about lab design and experimentation.

Our Explorers (Grade 7, 8, 9) will develop their lab techniques, to develop an appreciation for the research process and develop critical thinking and design skills for a greater understanding of how science is applied.

Campers will have the opportunity to work with a university-level neuroscience software to design their project. They will be co-learning neuroscience concepts, conducting experiments, participating in brain training games in breakout rooms to further extend their learning. In addition to our daily programming, students will also be learning about the impact of mindfulness techniques and find ones that they can incorporate into their daily routine.

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Hear what students who attended our Summer session have to say in our latest video.

Since 2014 we have been proud to offer students who have unlimited curiosity about neuroscience, but limited financial resources, the opportunity to attend Bright Lights in the Lab. Firefly Fellows receive a fully funded scholarship that covers camp tuition.


Join us online... for Bright Lights in the Lab 2020

In order to offer students a safe and stimulating environment our Labs are moving online this summer. With a continued focus on neuroscience and understanding the brain, we will offer students the opportunity to develop their lab skills through the use of a virtual animal model, to learn about lab design and experimentation.

Our Explorers (Grade 7, 8, 9) will develop their lab techniques, to develop an appreciation for the research process and develop critical thinking and design skills for a greater understanding of how science is applied.

The Researchers (Grade 10, 11 12) will focus on independent lab design to foster skills in data gathering and analysis to give students a deeper understanding of how neuroscience knowledge is utilized.

Explorers and Researchers will be co-learning neuroscience concepts and conducting experiments in separate breakout rooms to further extend their learning. Everyone will also have the opportunity to "meet" guest speakers who will provide a fascinating glimpse into the real world of neuroscience in Canada and how understanding your brain helps in all aspects of learning.

Since 2014 we have been proud to offer students who have unlimited curiosity about neuroscience, but limited financial resources, the opportunity to attend Bright Lights in the Lab. Firefly Fellows receive a fully funded scholarship that covers camp tuition.

Please check out our video from 2019. The online experience will be different, but the core principals remain the same.

We regret that we have had to cancel our Animators program this summer but will provide updates on future plans.

registration is open .....

If you are a student with a passion for science please join us this summer at Bright Lights in the Lab. We offer three unique programs:

  • Reseachers (Grade 10, 11 & 12)

    • Our Researchers camp develops advanced neuroscience training for students in preparation for university. The focus is on independent lab design and experimentation to help students foster skills in data gathering and analysis. This camp simulates the environment of a research lab to give students a deeper understanding of how neuroscience knowledge is utilized in the world.

  • Explorers (Grade 7, 8 & 9)

    • The Explorers camp introduces basic neuroscience training that focuses on developing good lab technique, designing experiments, and  working independently with lab equipment.

      This camp develops an appreciation for the research process in neuroscience labs and develops critical thinking and design skills for a greater understanding of how science is applied.

  • Animators (Grade 5, 6 & 7)

    • Our Animators camp allows young brainiacs to learn about how the brain works and how they can use the principles of neuroscience to improve brain health.

      The camp introduces foundational research skills that the students use in collaboration to create a stop motion animated film about the brain.

Bright Lights 2019

This year Bright Lights in the Lab was hosted on the new UTS site at 30 Humbert Street.   Thanks to the support of our donors, sponsorship from Agnico Eagle and Bayer Canada and primarily because of Firefly founder Heather Fraser's ongoing generosity, we were also able to offer scholarship opportunities to 14 students.

From July 8 - 19 the Explorers (Grade 7, 8 and 9) and Researchers (Grade 10, 11 and 12) did a deep dive into the world of neuroscience, with our teachers and researchers, to develop their lab skills and conduct their own research.  We know that parents and camp supporters were very impressed with their work when they attended the Open House on our final day.

During the second week we welcomed the Animators (Grade 5 and 6) who in 5 short days create and produced amazing stop motion animated films that will teach us all something we need to think about when it comes to healthy brains.  This great work is made possible by our teachers and our community partners at the Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS).  The animators make every day inspiring and fun.  We will be posting the films as soon!

This year our teaching team included 12 dedicated individuals who are teachers, researchers, scientists, artists and animators.  We are grateful to them all and would like to offer special thanks to Alan Kraguljac, our Camp Director and Makeda Daley from University of Toronto Schools, for their tireless efforts to make this camp possible.

Please check out some photos in our gallery below, or see all the daily action

on our Facebook page - Firefly Stay Bright



Congratulations to the 2019 Toronto Brain Bee Competitors !

The Firefly Foundation has been the sponsor of the Toronto Brain Bee since 2011. This year we welcomed over 100 students to the competition held at the Myhal Centre on the University of Toronto Campus. This year many of the competitors prepared for the event using our Bright Lights in Neuroscience Online Study Tool which was offered to everyone interested in the event.

Our congratulations to the top 4 competitors this year. It was a close competition with a tie for 3rd place:

  • First Place: Vanshika Chintakunta

  • Second Place: Michael Cheng

  • Third Place: Dawei He and Matthew Huynh

Find out more about the Toronto Brain Bee here.