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Local Groups: Connecting Neuroscience Where It Happens

Local Groups are the heart of the BNA’s grassroots activity. They are regionally based networks of BNA members who collaborate to strengthen neuroscience in their local area. Our Local Groups ensure that the BNA remains responsive to the real-world needs and opportunities of neuroscientists on the ground, while also feeding into national and international priorities.

All Local Groups are composed of and run by their own local BNA members, and are headed by volunteer Local Group Representatives (LGRs) and Local Group Student Representatives (LGSRs) representing each of the local institutions across academia, industry and the clinical and charitable sectors in which BNA members are based. Though Local Groups are usually named after a university geographically central to them, they are made up of neuroscientists based in local institutions across all sectors.

Your LGRs and LGSRs are your first point of contact at the BNA, and their role is support you and other local members to come together and:

• identify the needs and issues which affect the success of neursocience in the area,
• develop a strategy for addressing those needs and issues, and
• collectively carry out impactful interventions on them to improve local neuroscience.

Local Groups receive annual funding to support their activities, coordinated by their LGRs and LGSRs. When challenges go beyond a single area, groups can collaborate regionally or escalate issues to the BNA Council for national action. This network ensures local voices shape decisions at the highest level of the organisation.