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research projects for high school

31 Research Opportunities + Internships for High Schoolers in 2024

What’s covered:.

  • Research Opportunities and Internships for High School Students
  • How to Find Research Opportunities in High School
  • How Will Doing Research Impact Your College Chances?

Research drives innovation across every field of study, from natural sciences to health to history. Pursuing curiosity can impact industries, drive policy, and help us to better understand the world around us. Without curiosity and research, our society would surely stagnate. 

Contrary to popular belief, however, you don’t have to be a seasoned professional to conduct meaningful research. There are plenty of opportunities for high school students to get a head start on their future careers and contribute to substantial change. Keep reading to learn about 30 great opportunities for students looking for early chances to conduct research! 

Research Opportunities and Internships for High School Students 

1. memorial sloan kettering human oncology and pathogenesis program.

Application Deadline: February 9

Location: New York, NY

Duration: Eight weeks (June 27 – August 22)

Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) is one of the most well-known cancer centers in the world. The Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program (HOPP) at MSK hosts a Summer Student Program for students to conduct independent research projects while participating in extracurricular activities, training, and other opportunities.  

During the eight-week program, participants work with a mentor who will act as a supervisor to help them develop their research skills. Additionally, students have the opportunity to complete an independent research project that aligns with their mentor’s work. All participants will present their projects at a poster session at the end of the summer.

To participate, you must have completed at least 9th grade by June 2024, be at least 14 years old by June 27, have a 3.5 GPA in science subjects, and submit two letters of recommendation. This is a paid opportunity—participants will receive a stipend. 

2. Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program  

Application Deadline: January 5 

Duration: Seven weeks (June 24 – August 8) 

The Rockefeller University Summer Science Research Program allows high school students to conduct real, innovative research over seven weeks through the renowned Rockefeller University, under the guidance of leading scientists. 

SSRP scholars will be able to design and conduct their own research project as part of a themed research track, which is modeled after a Rockefeller research topic and/or technique, with the help of scientist mentors from the Rockefeller community. Most of the research will be conducted in the RockEDU Laboratory—a 3,000-square-foot research space specifically dedicated to developing biomedical research skills.

Students must be at least 16 years old by the start of the program to participate.  

3. Lumiere Research Scholar Program

Application Deadline : Varies by cohort. Main summer deadlines are March 15, April 15, and May 15

Location:  Remote — you can participate in this program from anywhere in the world!

Duration: Options range from 12 weeks to 1 year

Founded by Harvard & Oxford researchers, the Lumiere Research Scholar Program is a rigorous research program tailored for high school students. The program pairs high-school students with PhD mentors to work 1-on-1 on an independent research project . At the end of the 12-week program, you’ll have written an independent research paper! You can choose research topics from subjects such as medicine, computer science, psychology, physics, economics, data science, business, engineering, biology, and international relations.

This program is designed to accommodate your schedule—you can participate in the summer, fall, winter, or spring, and the program is also conducted fully remotely. While you must be currently enrolled in high school and demonstrate high academic achievement (most students have an unweighted GPA of 3.3), no previous knowledge of your field of interest is required. The cost of the program ranges from $2,800 to $8,900, but financial aid is available.

Note that this is a selective program. Last year, over 4000 students applied for 500 spots in the program. You can find more details about the application here .

4. Research Science Institute (RSI)

Application Deadline: December 13 

Location: Cambridge, MA

Duration: Five weeks (June 23 – August 3) 

The prestigious RSI, which takes place at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) annually, brings together 100 of the world’s top high school students. The free program blends on-campus coursework with off-campus science and technology research. 

Participants complete individual research projects while receiving mentorship from experienced scientists and researchers, and present their findings through oral and written reports in a conference-style setting at the end of the program. 

5. NYU Tandon – Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering (ARISE)

Application Deadline: March 6

Duration: 10  weeks (June 3 – August 9)

Open to New York City high school students who will complete 10th or 11th grade in June 2024, the ARISE program provides access to college-level workshops and lab research across fields like bio, molecular, and chemical engineering, robotics, computer science, and AI.

Over the course of 10 weeks—four virtual and six in person—participants will receive guidance from graduate or postdoctoral students at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering. 

6. Simons Summer Research Program

Application Deadline: February 7

Location: Stony Brook, NY

Duration: Five weeks (July 1 – August 9) 

During Stony Brook ’s Simons Summer Research Program, high school students conduct hands-on research in areas like science, math, and engineering while working with faculty mentors. Simons Fellows have the opportunity to join real research teams and learn about laboratory equipment and techniques. They also attend weekly faculty research talks and participate in special workshops, tours, and events. 

At the closing poster symposium, students will receive a stipend for their participation. To apply, you must be at least 16 years old by the start of the program and currently be in your junior year. 

7. SPARK Summer Mentorship Program

Application Deadline: N/A

Location: Greater Seattle area

Duration: 8-10 weeks 

SPARK is a summer mentorship program that pairs high-achieving and highly motivated high schoolers with industry experts, university professors, and mentors to conduct research on customers and financial markets. The program is only open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.  

8. MDI Biological Laboratory – Biomedical Bootcamp 2024

Application Deadline: March 18 

Location: Bar Harbor, ME

Duration: One week (July 15 – 19) 

In this bootcamp, students will receive a hands-on introduction to biomedical research at MDI Biological Laboratory. Participants will learn essential scientific skills such as experimental design and hypothesis testing, cutting-edge laboratory techniques, data analysis, bioinformatics, and scientific communication. 

During the program, scientists and bioentrepreneurs at the lab will help participants explore scientific ethics at large, as well as career paths in biomedicine, research, and entrepreneurship in Maine and beyond.

Participants must be at least 16 years old by the start of the program and must be entering their junior or senior year in September 2024, or graduating in June 2024. 

9. Boston University – Research in Science & Engineering (RISE) Internship  

Application Deadline: February 14  

Location: Boston, MA

Duration: Six weeks (June 30 – August 9)  

RISE is a six-week program for rising seniors with an interest in pursuing a major and/or career in STEM. There are a multitude of tracks available, in areas such as astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, and neuroscience. In each track, students conduct research under the mentorship of Boston University faculty, postdoctoral fellows, or graduate students. They will also attend weekly workshops with their peers. 

10. The Wistar Institute – High School Program in Biomedical Research

Application Deadline: March 31 

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Duration: Four weeks (July 15 – August 8) 

A leading biomedical research organization, The Wistar Institute is an ideal setting for students to learn research skills. Participants will complete their own research project while being trained in a principal investigator’s laboratory. They’ll also attend seminars, receive mentorship, and deliver a final presentation about their work.

Students are expected to participate Monday through Thursday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Absences of more than two consecutive days cannot be accommodated. Students will receive a stipend of $1,000 upon completion of the program, to compensate for commuting costs or other personal expenses accrued during the program. 

11. California Academy of Sciences – Careers in Science (CiS) Intern Program

Application Deadline: April 1, 2024

Location: San Francisco, CA

Duration: Multi-year, year-round participation (after school and on weekends)

This long term program gives San Francisco students from communities that are underrepresented in STEM the opportunity to learn about the world of science and sustainability. Students receive mentorship, develop career skills, and more—all while getting paid for their work. Students also attend workshops and conferences throughout the course of the program. 

12. NASA OSTEM Internship

Application Deadline: February 2

Location: Varies

Duration: Varies

NASA offers a variety of internships for high school students across its numerous campuses. Interns gain real-world work experience by working side by side with research scientists and engineers, which will strengthen their resume and help prepare them for their eventual careers. All participants must be at least 16 years old and enrolled in high school full time.

13. New-York Historical Society Student Historian Internship Program

Application Deadline: April 7

Duration: July 9 – August 15

Not all research is conducted in STEM subjects! Developed for students interested in history, the New-York Historical Society’s Student Historian Program gives participants the opportunity to conduct research on a history topic—2024’s theme is Our Composite Nation: Frederick Douglass’ America . During the program, participants will work with historian mentors, visit history archives around New York City, lead gallery tours, and develop their historical thinking, communication, and digital media skills.

Applicants must be entering grades 10, 11, or 12, and live in the New York City metro area. This opportunity is unpaid for most participants, but some interns with demonstrated financial need can potentially receive a stipend.

14. Adler Planetarium Summer High School Internship  

Application Deadline: March 1

Location: Chicago, IL

Duration: Six weeks (July 8 – August 14)

During this summer internship program, students will learn about the Adler Planetarium and the career opportunities within it and planetariums and museums in general, in areas ranging from Visitor Experience and Learning to Research. Students will also get the chance to see how research gets translated into a museum experience. 

15. Zuckerman Institute Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia University (BRAINYAC)

Application Deadline: TBA for 2025 program

Duration: Eight weeks  

BRAINYAC participants receive the rare opportunity to work on research in a lab at Columbia University , one of the most prestigious institutions in the world, as high school students, which results in a stronger, more comprehensive understanding of how scientific discovery happens. They connect with real scientists, acquire essential research and laboratory skills, and learn about advances in neuroscience research. 

In order to apply, you must be in 10th or 11th grade and must be nominated by one of the program’s partners—S-PREP, Lang Youth Medical, Double Discovery Center, Columbia Secondary School, or BioBus.  

16. Brookfield Zoo King Conservation Science Scholars Program

Application Deadline: Rolling admission 

Location: Brookfield, IL

Duration: N/A

Interactive workshops, fun activities, research, and community-based projects are at the core of this exciting internship. It’s an excellent opportunity for students who love animals and also want to gain research skills in the domains of zoology, environmental science, and conservation. 

As a King Scholar, you’ll learn about different topics through Foundation Courses, such as Diversity Awareness and Introduction to Conservation, all while networking with others and preparing for college and an eventual career in a related field. After one year of participation, you’ll be invited to apply for scholarships and paid positions at the zoo. 

17. The Science Research Mentoring Program (SRMP) at the American Museum of Natural History  

Application Deadline: March 8

Duration: One year (August to June) 

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the most iconic and fascinating places in New York City. Its Science Research Mentoring Program is an amazing opportunity for NYC high school students to conduct a yearlong research project with Museum scientists. 

Students in SRMP get paid to learn how scientific research is conducted. Depending on their topic of study, students can learn a variety of different research skills, like working with DNA in the lab, analyzing data from space-based telescopes, reading scientific articles, and learning to code and analyze data in Python, R, and other programming languages. 

18. Anson L. Clark Scholars Program

Application Deadline:   February 15

Location: Lubbock, TX

Duration: Seven weeks (June 16 – August 1) 

Through the Anson L. Clark Scholar Program, an intensive seven-week summer research program for twelve highly qualified high school juniors and seniors, students will gain hands-on experience with practical research alongside experienced and knowledgeable faculty at Texas Tech University .

Students can choose to participate in research in one field from a broad variety of options, including cell and molecular biology, chemistry, computer science, economics, engineering, history, and more! 

To apply, students must complete an online application that includes short essays, high school transcripts, test scores (at least a PSAT if no others are available), three recommendations (at least two from teachers), and a list of the student’s top five activities.

19. UChicago Data Science Institute Summer Lab Program  

Application Deadline: January 16 

Duration: Eight weeks (June 10 – August 2)

The Data Science Institute Summer Lab Program is an immersive eight-week paid summer research program at the University of Chicago . During the program, high school and undergraduate students are paired with a data science mentor, whose expertise could be in computer science, data science, social science, climate and energy policy, public policy, materials science, biomedical research, or another related field.

Participants will hone their research methodology, research practice, and teamwork skills. No prior research experience is required to apply. All participants will receive access to applied data science research, which they will use to craft a research project. The project findings will be presented in a video that will be shown at an end-of-summer symposium.

20. UT Austin College of Natural Sciences High School Research Academy

Application Deadline: March 24

Location: Austin, TX

Duration: Five weeks (June 10 – July 17) 

Through UT Austin ’s HSRA, high school students participate in interdisciplinary research projects being conducted by active College of Natural Sciences laboratories in fields such as biochemistry, biology, environmental science, genetics, neuroscience, genome engineering, data analytics, ecology, and more. 

There is a scholarship fund for underserved groups, so some stipends and free tuition scholarships may be available to students with demonstrated financial need. 

21. Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience – Summer Research Internship

Location: Jupiter, FL

Duration: Six weeks (June 17 – July 26) 

The MPFI Summer Research Internship offers rising juniors and seniors an immersive laboratory experience where they can learn from seasoned researchers. The program is designed specifically for students with an interest in brain structure, function and development, and the advanced imaging techniques and technologies used in neuroscience. 

Program participants will participate in research projects alongside MPFI scientists, prepare a written scientific abstract based on their research project, and deliver a short presentation at the end of the summer. Research tracks include neuroscience, scientific computer programming, and mechanical engineering as it relates to neuroscience.

Applicants must be entering their junior or senior years in a Palm Beach or Martin County high school, be residents of one of those two counties, and be at least 16 by the beginning of the internship. Interns will be paid at a rate of $12.50 per hour.

22. Lincoln Park Zoo Malott Family Zoo Intern Program

Application Deadline: March 11 

Duration: Seven weeks (June 24 – August 9) 

During this paid seven-week program, high school students learn how to educate others about animal and conservation sciences while crafting digital messages to engage audiences. The program culminates in a final project. Throughout the internship, students meet with researchers and the Animal Care staff to explore careers in the animal science and conservation fields. 

Applicants must be Chicago residents between the ages of 15-18, and must be entering grades 10-12 or their freshman year of college by the start of the internship.

23. The Scripps Research High School Internship Program  

Application Deadline: April 19

Location: La Jolla, CA

Duration: Seven weeks  

The Scripps Research Institute’s La Jolla, California headquarters is proud to offer a seven-week hands-on research experience for San Diego County high schoolers. The program is specially designed to expose students to careers in the biological and chemical sciences, to provide hands-on laboratory experience, and to motivate and prepare students for continuing education in STEM. 

Because Scripps is committed to increasing the number of students from underrepresented communities in STEM college programs, a special emphasis is placed on identifying and recruiting students who are from groups that are historically underrepresented in the sciences. All students will receive a $4,760 stipend.

24. QuarkNet Summer Research Program  

Application Deadline: January 31

Location: DuPage County, IL

Duration: Seven weeks (June 17 – August 2) 

High school sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a strong interest in STEM have a unique opportunity to work with scientists on research projects during this paid seven-week program at the prestigious Fermilab, located just outside of Chicago near Batavia, IL.

Interns are encouraged to indicate areas in which they have a particular interest, although research projects vary yearly based on the work ongoing at the lab. Broadly speaking, Fermilab’s focus is on particle physics.

Required application materials include a questionnaire, a letter of recommendation, and an essay. To apply, students must have U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status and must provide evidence of identity and eligibility to work in the United States. Participants will be paid at a rate of $17.20 per hour.

25. RISE Environmentor Internship

Location: Far Rockaway, NY

Duration: Six weeks (July 1 – August 15)

The Environmentor Internship offers a great opportunity for 9th through 11th graders who live or attend school near the Rockaway Peninsula to gain firsthand research experience. Participants are mentored by scientists from local universities and research institutions as they work on projects focused on the Rockaway shoreline. Past research topics have included sea turtle strandings, octopus behavior, mussel denitrification, and dolphin fin morphology.

Students will also take part in water safety courses, receive CPR training, and explore on-water activities like kayaking and surfing. Students receive up to a $1,200 stipend, as well as community service hours for their participation in the program.

26. Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)

Application Deadline: February 24

Location: Stanford, CA

Duration: Eight weeks (June 10 – August 1)

Students in this summer program are given the chance to perform research on a medically oriented project and work side by side with Stanford University students, researchers, and faculty. Students can choose from eight areas of research, including topics like immunology, cancer biology, and bioinformatics, which are all designed to increase their interest in the biological sciences and provide a deeper understanding of how scientific research is conducted.

The program is open to current high school juniors and seniors. Students will receive a minimum $500 stipend for their participation in the program.

27. Secondary Student Training Program

Application Deadline: February 16

Location: Iowa City, IA

Duration: June 19 – July 26

High schoolers in grades 10 and 11 can take part in an immersive research experience, which will allow them to explore their interests, enhance their academic skills, and build relationships with their peers during this research-focused summer program.

Participants can choose from a multitude of research areas, ranging from biology to industrial and systems engineering to religious studies. The program culminates with students creating and presenting a poster of their findings. All participants will live on the University of Iowa ‘s campus for the duration of the program, and have access to all of the university’s libraries, study areas, and computer facilities.

Although this program is quite expensive, with a fee of $7,500, financial aid is available to cover up to 95% of the cost.

28. Young Scholars Summer STEMM Research Program

Location: Urbana, IL

Duration: Six weeks (June 20 – August 2)

This program, offered by the prestigious Grainger College of Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) , allows students to gain hands-on research experience in fields such as cancer immunology, AI, physics, quantum mechanics, and electrical engineering. They will also build valuable general life skills by participating in seminars on topics ranging from the college admission process to how to communicate scientifically.

The program is open to rising 10th through 12th graders from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

29. Summer Science Program (SSP)

Duration: Varies depending on location and field of focus

Students in the SSP get the chance to work in small teams on a real research project and gain firsthand experience taking and analyzing data. Research opportunities are offered in three fields—astrophysics, biochemistry, and genomics—and are held at a variety of institutions, including University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Georgetown University , Purdue University , and New Mexico State University .

The program is open to high school juniors, although a small number of exceptional sophomores have attended the program. You must be between 15-19 to participate, and have completed prerequisite coursework, which varies by field. Financial aid is available for this program.

30. The Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program

Application Deadline: January 29

Location: Bar Harbor, ME, and Farmington, CT

Duration: 10 weeks (June 1 – August 10)

Students immerse themselves in genetics and genomics research while learning about laboratory discovery and scientific communication, as well as building professional skills. Over the course of the 10-week program, students work with a mentor to develop a research project, implement their plan, analyze their data, and report their results.

This prestigious program is competitive. Just 40 students are selected to participate annually. Participants receive a $6,500 stipend and have their room, board, and travel expenses covered.

31. Fred Hutch Summer High School Internship Program

Application Deadline: March 31

Location: Seattle, WA

Duration: Eight weeks (June 24 – August 16) 

This full-time, paid internship opportunity offers students a chance to immerse themselves in activities at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, one of the top cancer research centers in the world. The program begins with two weeks of laboratory training and is followed by six weeks of mentored activities, research seminars, workshops focused on college and careers, and social activities.

The program is open to high schoolers entering their senior year with a strong interest in science and high academic achievement, and is specifically aimed at students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical science. Interns receive a stipend upon successful completion of the program.

How to Find Research Opportunities in High School 

Define your area of interest .

Before you start looking for opportunities, narrow your area of interest a bit, whether it’s cancer, engineering, computer science, neuroscience, or something else entirely. Also bear in mind that while there may be more STEM opportunities available for high school students, research isn’t limited to these fields—research is also a key component of the social sciences, humanities, and other non-STEM fields. 

While you should be somewhat specific about what you’re hoping to research, don’t narrow your scope so much that it’s impossible to find a valuable opportunity, especially since opportunities for high schoolers in general are more limited than they are for students who have completed at least some college.

Talk to People in Your Immediate Circle 

Teachers, neighbors, your family, parents of friends, friends of your parents—any of these people could know about a research opportunity for you, or at least know someone else who does. Throughout your life, you will find that networking is often the key to finding career opportunities. 

Leveraging your network can help you uncover unique opportunities crowdsourced by the people who know you best—the best opportunities aren’t always hosted by large universities or programs. 

Reach Out to Local Institutions and Laboratories 

In addition to networking with your immediate circle, reach out to local facilities, such as labs, hospitals, clinics, and universities that conduct research. Even if opportunities aren’t publicized, these institutions and laboratories may be willing to make room for you. Remember: when pitching your idea, don’t make it too niche—this will make it more difficult to find a fit and market your skills to labs. 

Cast a Wide Net 

Research opportunities are hard to secure, especially when you’re a young student, so you need to be persistent. You may need to write a hundred emails, but if you put in the effort and cast a wide net, you’ll vastly improve your chances of landing a great opportunity. 

Try not to be too picky, either. Of course, you shouldn’t just accept any offer , especially if it doesn’t appeal to you. But even if the opportunity doesn’t align perfectly with your skills and interests, it can still be a great chance to gain experience and make you a better candidate for future experiences.

How Will Doing Research Impact Your College Chances? 

How much participating in research enhances your college admissions profile depends on many factors, including the scope of the project, the prestige of the program or institution, your individual role and performance, the institution’s connections to or sponsorships by certain colleges, and even how much weight a college places on extracurricular activities in general. 

Generally speaking, there are four tiers of extracurricular activities that colleges think about when reviewing applicants’ activities. Selective, competitive, and prestigious activities are often found in the top tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. Tier 1 includes things such as being a highly recruited basketball player or an award-winning national science fair competitor. 

Tier 2 is similar, but is usually reserved for activities that are less exceptional than those in Tier 1. Tiers 3 and 4 are reserved for more common extracurricular achievements, such as holding school leadership positions or being a member of a debate team.

Research usually falls into Tier 2, and some particularly prestigious opportunities could even be Tier 1. That’s because it’s somewhat unusual for high school students to conduct research in professional and collegiate settings, so it’s more likely to impress colleges than other kinds of extracurricular activities.

Do you want to find out the impact research and other extracurricular activities might have on your chances of admission to top colleges and universities? Try using CollegeVine’s free chancing calculator ! 

Our tool evaluates your admissions profile, by accounting for factors like your grades,standardized test scores, and extracurriculars (including research!) to show you how you stack up against other applicants and how likely you are to get into hundreds of different colleges and universities. You’ll also receive tips on how to improve your profile and your odds—all for free.

Disclaimer: This post includes content sponsored by Lumiere Education.

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research projects for high school

Welcome to Indigo Research , formerly known as Crimson Research Institute (CRI)! You’ve been redirected here from our old website, but don’t worry, we’re still the same team committed to providing our students with the highest quality research experience.

Explore research innovate publish with indigo.

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Indigo Research students supported since 2019

Indigo alumni acceptance rate to the Ivy Leagues, 2.91x higher than the global average

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Mentors from the world's leading universities

Indigo Research is the premier provider of academic research mentorship for students in high school and college

Why research.

research projects for high school

To get into a great college you have to build a 3 dimensional profile

How indigo research supports students, turn passion into publication, cultivate intellectual curiosity outside class, transform your university applications, forge connections with elite academics, earn college credit from ucsb, indigo alumni admission rates, why students and parents choose indigo.

research projects for high school

First, research with us. Then, get admitted to top schools.

Want to add your top schools to our list.

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Hear from our students

research projects for high school

“Working with a professor gave me more freedom and independence in decision making and where I wanted to take the project. The expertise also meant that I could always have ideas reviewed and concepts clarified. My experience with Indigo Research has been truly unique and insightful and has allowed me to push my own interests beyond my original boundaries”

research projects for high school

“This program allowed me to acquire knowledge in the field of organizing research work, to understand how the task is formulated and the experiment is conducted. Doing research opens up a new vision of many subjects. For me this is the story of the development of my passion for Computer Science, as well as the discovery of a new interest in mathematics”

research projects for high school

“This course has given me the opportunities to improve my skills, to connect with experienced mentors, and has taught me how to better manage my time. I'd recommend this program to future students because it gave me valuable experience for the future. I plan to go into neurosurgery, so taking this course gave me a detailed look at what I'd be dealing with”

research projects for high school

“Research is a journey of learning and discovering, and you should definitely maximize the experience by picking an interesting and challenging topic. Don’t pick a topic that is too complicated though. Know your limits, and don’t make yourself feel pressured. Most importantly, be sure to enjoy the experience!”

research projects for high school

“Working with my mentor and with Indigo Research has deepened my understanding of the publishing process and of conducting research. I've gained invaluable insight into academic medicine”

research projects for high school

“It’s been great working with my Indigo Research Mentor! I have been able to learn from his experience with research projects, learn about a new field of research, and incorporate some tips my mentor has figured out along the way in his PhD in my research project”

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Develop extracurriculars and research skills to prepare young minds for college and beyond.

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Meet a few Indigo mentors

Our mentors.

Vladimir A

Research interests: Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Catalysis, Carbon-Based Materials

Vladimir graduated from Moscow State University, Chemistry Department in 2017, during his Bachelor/Master. He has visited Utrecht University to study solid-state NMR and its application for protein research, Friedrich-Alexander University to work on synthesis of sp2-carbon-based materials, and Novartis to work on bioconjugates. In 2018, he moved to Friedrich-Alexander University to continue his studies on carbon materials as a PhD student. After his thesis defense in 2019, he began his Postdoc at Martin-Luther University to work on heterogeneous catalysis. In 2022, he joined Pentelute group at MIT, where he is currently working on peptide-protein interactions and drug development.

Jeanne-Marie J

Research interests: Russian Language and Literature, Russian History, African Literature and History, Philosophy, Comparative Literature, European History

Professor Jeanne-Marie J. research spans Russian language and literature, Russian history, African literature and history, Philosophy, Comparative literature, and European history. Her first book, South African Literature's Russian Soul, is centrally concerned with how Russia's nineteenth-century "Golden Age" of literature and ideas provides a model for the study of South African realist forms and epistemologies, both during and after apartheid. Her second book, The African Novel of Ideas, tells a story of how the novel has negotiated between liberal selfhood and awareness of liberalism's failings across key African intellectual contexts.

Eric S

Research interests: Machine Learning, Computer Systems, Bioinformatics

Dr. Eric S. has BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Cornell University. His research includes work in dynamical systems, machine learning, system theory, computer systems, communications systems and bioinformatics. He is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Morgan State University, a public research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Eric S. also has a breadth of industry experience in the fields of pattern recognition, machine learning, speech recognition, signal processing and power systems. He has been a participating member of the IEEE, Sigma Xi, and Sigma Pi Sigma. Dr. Eric S. is currently working on machine learning techniques for financial data analysis and blockchain applications and is currently a member of the Morgan State University Fintech Center for Blockchain Technology.

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5 Free Virtual Research Opportunities For High School Students

5 Free Virtual Research Opportunities For High School Students

Virtual research opportunities for high school students are programs that provide hands-on experience and research projects in various STEM fields, such as mathematics, computer science, computational biology, physics, neuroscience, and engineering. These programs are designed to deepen students’ understanding of STEM and help them develop the skills needed to succeed in their academic and professional careers. 

Participating in these programs can also help high school students expand their knowledge and skills in their areas of interest and work on exciting, unsolved problems with established researchers from top-tier universities. 

Virtual research opportunities are especially useful for high school students who are unable to attend in-person programs due to distance, cost, or other factors. They offer a flexible and accessible way to gain valuable experience and knowledge from the comfort of their own homes. In this article, we will discuss five free virtual research opportunities available for high school students.

1. MIT Primes  

MIT PRIMES is a free, year-long after-school program that provides research projects and guided reading to high school students in the areas of mathematics, computer science, and computational biology. The program is designed for students living within driving distance from Boston, and it offers four sections: PRIMES, PRIMES-USA, Menezes Challenge PRIMES Circle, and Yulia’s Dream.

PRIMES is a research-focused program in which participants work with MIT researchers to solve exciting, unsolved problems. PRIMES-USA is a distance mentoring math research section for high school juniors and sophomores from across the United States. Menezes Challenge PRIMES Circle is a math enrichment section for underrepresented groups living within commuting distance from Boston. Yulia’s Dream is a math enrichment and research program for exceptional high school students from Ukraine.

In addition to these sections, PRIMES runs two collaborative initiatives: MathROOTS, a two-week summer program for high-potential high school students from underrepresented backgrounds or underserved communities, and CrowdMath, a year-long online collaborative research project open to all high school and college students worldwide.

Finally, PRIMES STEP is a year-long math enrichment program for middle school students from Greater Boston.

Overall, MIT PRIMES aims to provide challenging and engaging opportunities for students with a passion for mathematics and science. Through research projects, guided reading, and collaborative initiatives, PRIMES seeks to foster the intellectual growth and development of high school and middle school students, and to inspire them to pursue their interests in these fields.

MIT PRIMES is a prestigious year-long after-school program that offers research projects and guided reading to high school students interested in mathematics, computer science, and computational biology. 

The admissions for the 2023 cycle are closed, and the admission decisions are made by February 1. However, for the 2024 cycle, new problem sets will be posted on October 1, 2023, and applicants will have until November 30, 2023, to solve the relevant problem set(s). 

To apply for MIT PRIMES, you must be a high school student (or a home-schooled student of high school age) living in the Greater Boston area, able to come to MIT weekly from February to May.

To apply, you need to fill out a questionnaire, ask for two or three letters of recommendation, and submit your solutions of the PRIMES problem set. Applicants to the Math section must solve the Math problem set (at least 70%), and applicants to the Computer Science and Computational Biology sections must solve the Computer Science problem set (100%) and the General part of the Math problem set (at least 70%). Admission decisions are based on all components of your application, and there is no application fee.

MIT PRIMES suggests a list of recommended readings as a preparation for entering the program and as a background for further research. By participating in MIT PRIMES, students can gain hands-on experience working on exciting, unsolved problems with MIT researchers and expand their knowledge and skills in these areas.

The Summer Academy for Math and Science (SAMS) is a program that provides opportunities for underrepresented high school students to explore STEM fields. The program is designed to deepen students’ understanding of STEM through traditional classroom instruction, hands-on projects, and sustained engagement with faculty and staff mentors. 

SAMS Scholars are taught by renowned faculty and staff who are deeply committed to their success. They also have the opportunity to collaborate and develop meaningful relationships with peers from across the country. Through SAMS and other outreach initiatives, the program aims to develop a diverse and supportive community of STEM Scholars interested in attending top-tier universities.

The program consists of two parts: Part one is a virtual jumpstart that will occur prior to the start of the residential program. This will focus on skill-building that will be needed for the in-person program. Part two is a 5-week in-person Pre-College program where students will move into the residence halls and attend full days of courses and meetings. The academic portion of the program will conclude with a symposium, and students will move out of the residence halls at the end of the program. 

SAMS is a fully funded, merit-based program, and there is no cost for scholars to participate. To be eligible for the program, students must be at least 16 years old, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and a junior in high school at the time of application submission. Scholars are expected to participate fully for the duration of the program and cannot participate in any other programs if selected for SAMS.

Virtual Research Opportunities

3. University of Illinois – High School Summer Research Program

The High School Summer STEM research program invites current 9th-11th graders from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, or Wisconsin to apply for an authentic six-week STEMM research experience at a world-class research university. Participants will be matched with another student, and in some cases, a teacher from their school. 

The program aims to provide hands-on experience in various STEMM fields, including cancer immunology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, physics, quantum mechanics, bioengineering, and electrical engineering.

Participants will work with established researchers in engineering, computer science, and medicine and attend weekly seminars on topics such as college admission processes and support available, communicating scientifically, and preparing research posters etc. Students will also interact with faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and local high school teachers.

Participants will showcase their research with a research poster and symposium at the end of the program. They should plan for 30-35 hours per week of research and professional development time, with a majority of activities taking place on the University of Illinois campus. 

The program covers some transportation/parking expenses, meals, and a monetary award.

High school teachers play an essential role in the program, with some research projects requiring a teacher to be a co-researcher, and others having a teacher mentor who checks in weekly with the students to discuss their research progress and address any issues or challenges. 

Teachers and students do not need to come from the same school, and interested individuals should apply regardless of whether they can recruit others from their school to apply.

The program also invites research faculty, staff, and graduate student researchers affiliated with The Grainger College of Engineering and the Carle Illinois College of Medicine to propose a high school research project for consideration. The proposals will be mentored by POETS YS, GEnYuS, or SpHERES research teams, which will guide two high school juniors/seniors from limited understanding to completion of a related project of their own and poster presentation explaining their research.

In summary, the High School Summer STEM research program provides high school students with an opportunity to engage in authentic STEMM research and develop professional and college-ready skills. Participants work with established researchers, attend weekly seminars, and showcase their research at the end of the program. 

The program aims to provide hands-on experience and build confidence in students as scientists and engineers.

4. Simons Summer Research Program

The Simons Summer Research Program is a highly selective program that offers high school students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research with Stony Brook faculty mentors. Founded in 1984, the program attracts applicants from all over the country, with Simons Fellows being paired with a faculty mentor, joining a research group or team, and taking responsibility for a project. Students are encouraged to demonstrate independence, creativity, and an aptitude for hands-on work, with a strong interest in science. The program takes place during the summer before the student’s senior year of high school, with students participating in the program from June 26, 2023 to August 11, 2023.

In addition to working on their research project, Simons Fellows attend weekly faculty research talks, special workshops, tours, and events. At the closing poster symposium, students present their research project through a written research abstract and a research poster. Participants receive a stipend award.

The Simons Summer Research Program is supported by the Simons Foundation and is open to US citizens and/or permanent residents who are at least 16 years of age by the start of the program. The program is an opportunity for high school students interested in science to learn valuable techniques, experience life at a major research university, and develop independence, creativity, and an aptitude for hands-on work. The program aims to give students a glimpse into the world of scientific research and inspire them to pursue careers in science.

Students preparing a research paper

5. EnergyMag Internship

EnergyMag is offering virtual internships for high school and college students interested in increasing the share of renewable energy in the world and gaining work experience in the energy storage industry. 

The internships aim to provide students with research and analysis skills that will be valuable for their future professional lives. The virtual internship allows students to complete their internship hours virtually, providing flexibility to fit the experience into their busy personal and professional lives. Additionally, virtual interns enjoy the unique rewards of learning from experts regardless of their geographic location and strengthening their information and computer skills. 

The internships are strong resume boosters for employers, graduate college programs, and undergraduate programs. 

EnergyMag offers half-time and quarter-time virtual internships. Half-time internships are available in the summer for two to eight weeks, with interns expected to work approximately 20 hours per week. Quarter-time internships are available all year round for one to nine months, with interns expected to work approximately eight hours per week. The internships are unpaid, and interns work from home while maintaining daily electronic contact with EnergyMag and their mentor. 

Depending on the student’s graduation date, academic record, and experience, interns will be asked to research and analyze a specific company, technology, or market. The intern will be mentored, briefed, supervised, and assisted in producing a draft analysis report. If the report is publishable, EnergyMag will give the intern an internship Letter of Accomplishment. 

The application process for college and high school internships requires an application explaining why EnergyMag should grant an internship, a Skype or voice interview, and a writing sample upon request. College interns are also required to provide their academic record, and high school interns should have at least one honors science or English class with a GPA above 3.25. 

EnergyMag believes that internships provide the opportunity for students to learn on-the-job skills that are not easy to acquire at school but will make a big difference in their future professional success, such as learning how to research a scientific or business issue, approach strangers with positions of authority in a friendly and professional manner, analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources, and communicate professionally in writing.

The blog highlights five virtual research opportunities for high school students, providing hands-on experience and research projects in various STEM fields such as mathematics, computer science, physics, neuroscience, and engineering. These virtual research opportunities aim to provide students with a deeper understanding of STEM and develop the necessary skills to succeed in academic and professional careers. Furthermore, these programs help expand knowledge and work on unsolved problems with established researchers from top-tier universities.

Virtual research opportunities for high school students provide a flexible and accessible way to gain valuable experience and knowledge from the comfort of their own homes. These programs aim to foster the intellectual growth and development of high school and middle school students, and inspire them to pursue their interests in these fields.

CCIR connects students to professors at universities and enables them to take classes with them and get publications which can help them get into better colleges. Learn how CCIR can help you live the life of your dreams and get your career on the right path.  Apply today !

Ranvir Dange

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25+ Best Science Research Ideas for High School Students

If you’re an ambitious high school student looking for opportunities to build your college profile and learn new skills, consider undertaking a research project. You do not need to be sure about what you want to major in, but having a general idea aligned with your interests helps! Conducting research shows demonstrated interest in a subject, aids critical thinking and problem-solving, provides laboratory experience, and helps you gain analytical and communication skills. 

What makes a good research idea?

There are a few key components you need to keep in mind when thinking about a research topic:

What is your project trying to achieve? For your research to be relevant, it needs to identify a knowledge gap and be significant. Your research findings should add to existing literature and help future researchers.

It is important to state what will be included in your research explicitly.  Clearly defined boundaries help estimate a realistic timeline and allocate any necessary resources.  

The easiest way to be dedicated throughout your research project is by choosing a topic you are passionate about!  This will make sure you remain motivated throughout, and it will reflect in your work. Do not choose a topic for the sake of it — you will find the project difficult to complete and your disinterest will reflect in the quality of your work.

Feasibility:

You may have a grand idea for your research topic, but can you execute it? It’s important to consider any constraints you may have — time, money, etc. — and choose a topic that can be completed with your given resources.  If you are working independently, choose a topic that isn't resource-intensive. For example, research that requires you use advanced telescopes to examine cosmological patterns may not be feasible if you do not already have access to one. 

What do I do once I have a research idea?

Great job, you have found a topic that interests you, is relevant to the field, and is feasible in scope and resources! Next step, you need to find a mentor who can guide and advise you through the research process.  They could be a working researcher, a college professor, a graduate student, or a Ph.D. candidate.

If you’re looking for a mentor, we’d recommend applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program  which connects students with world-class researchers, offers one-on-one mentorship, and guides you through the research and writing process, even helping you get your paper published!

Chemistry research ideas for high school students:

Chemistry can be a great field to undertake independent research in — chemical reactions form the basis of life and can give you a deeper understanding of the world.  Moreover, chemistry is directly related to important issues that affect us, like climate change, drug discovery, nanotechnology, and more. Research in these domains can lead to life-changing benefits for society! 

Some topics you can research include:

1. Using green chemistry to achieve sustainability targets in the fields of energy, water remediation, agriculture, and sensing

2. Analyzing different energy storage options and comparing and contrasting different technologies' chemistries, performance, lifetime, cost, geographic and resource constraints, and more

3. Investigating how startups and the private sector’s newest technologies are critical to the transition to a green future and how products are commercialized from lab to market

4. Understanding how material nano-structure can create specific properties and take advantage of "structure-property" understanding to engineer new materials

5. Determining the role small molecules play in imaging, labeling, target identification, inhibiting native protein functions, and facilitating foreign ones, especially in new techniques used to understand disease pathways

6. Investigating how molecules are made in nature, such as the reactions performed by enzymes to make natural products

Suggested by Lumiere PhD mentors at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, University of Cambridge, Technical University of Munich, Georgia Institute of Technology, Duke University, University of Leeds, Cornell University, and John Hopkins University

Biology research ideas for high school students:

Research in biology can contribute to humans’ understanding of living organisms, lead to medical breakthroughs and advancements in healthcare, contribute to cancer research and treatment, deepen our understanding of genetics, improve sustainability by helping develop biofuels and biodegradable materials, and more. 

7. Tumor progression and how cancer cells invade and interact with other cells

8. Cancer immunotherapy: the study of how cancer cells evade the immune system and how we can harness the immune system to battle cancer

9. Researching past and current technologies used in gene editing. Identify challenges and weigh the ethical and social implications of these technologies

10. Identifying technical challenges in mass vaccination campaigns. Review existing data from public health organizations and current scientific literature on new vaccine delivery technologies

11. Analyzing the effects of alcohol and drug addiction on the brain

12. Discovering different theories of learning and memory. You can design and use different  clinical studies here

Suggested by Lumiere Ph.D. mentors at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Cornell University,  Duke University, and Yale University   

Physics research ideas for high school students:

Have space, quantum physics, nuclear science, and other such subjects always fascinated you? If so, a research project in physics is a great way to dig deeper and understand why different phenomena occur. Physics is a broad and interconnected discipline; research in the subject can cover topics like mechanical and electrical engineering, quantum computing, nuclear energy, astrophysical and cosmological phenomena, and computational technologies.

13. The features and limitations of augmented and virtual reality technologies, current industry standards of performance, and solutions to address challenges

14. Cosmological mysteries (like dark energy, inflation, and dark matter) and their hypothesized explanations

15. Physical processes that shape galaxies through cosmic time in the context of extragalactic astronomy and the current issues and frontiers in galaxy evolution

16. Radiation or radiation measurement in applications of nuclear physics (such as reactors, nuclear batteries, and sensors/detectors)

17. The electrical and thermodynamic properties of Boson particles, whose quantum nature is responsible for laser radiation

18. Mathematical derivation of the dynamics of particles from fundamental laws (such as special relativity, general relativity, and quantum mechanics)

19. The theoretical and experimental advances in quantum computing. Explore current high-impact research directions for quantum computing from a hardware or theoretical perspective

20. Nuclear fission or nuclear fusion energy as a possible solution to mitigate climate change

Suggested by Lumiere Ph.D. mentors at Northwestern University, Princeton University, Stanford University, Cornell University, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, University of California, Irvine, and University of Southampton.

Marine biology research ideas for high school students:

Contributing to research in marine biology can be extremely important given the diversity of marine ecosystems, the life they support, and their importance in combating climate change and preventing extreme weather events.  Understanding how oceans work directly relates to water pollution and the quality of seafood, contributes to coastal protection and carbon sequestration (the process of capturing and storing excess carbon dioxide), and helps educate the public on the importance of protecting marine habitats.

 If this interests you, here are some research topics to consider:

21. Examine how corals are responding to climate change, how the change in oceanic temperatures affects their reef-building capabilities, and the knock-on effects

22. Examine how marine conservation and tourism can go coexist. Suggest ways to ensure the sustainable development of coastal economies

23. Study how marine pollution impacts coastal areas, marine biodiversity, and communities’ livelihoods

24. Study how human activity (like pollution, fishing, and habitat destruction) has impacted marine genomes and how other anthropogenic factors have influenced adaptation and genetic diversity in marine organisms

25. Study the effect of plastic pollution on marine life and examine the benefits of adopting more eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging materials. Develop new methods to remove plastic from the ocean

26. Study carbon sequestration. Investigate how coastal ecosystems like mangroves, saltmarshes, seagrasses, etc. can help mitigate C02 emissions

27. Study the effect of plastic pollution on marine life and examine the benefits of adopting more eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging materials. Develop new methods to remove plastic from the ocean

If you’re serious about conducting independent research, you may want to consider the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for students founded by researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here . You can also reach out to us at [email protected] to know more, or to have a chat about possible collaborations!

Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation , a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!

Kieran Lobo is a freelance writer from India, who currently teaches English in Spain.

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Research Opportunities for High School Students

Hands-on laboratory-based research experiences are coveted by just about every STEM-oriented teenager on the planet. Of course, this level of demand renders research apprenticeships a valuable and rare commodity for high school students. Fortunately, there are a number of reputable summer programs run by universities, government agencies, and private research laboratories that afford young scientists this highly sought after experience. Research opportunities during the actual school year are more challenging to locate as colleges are, at that time, catering to their own students, and the rigidity of the high school calendar makes participation a further challenge.

College Transitions’ list of Research Opportunities for High School Students includes a bevy of summer program choices as well as a list of internships and apprenticeships that are indeed offered during the school year. For each entry, we list the geographic location of the program, whether there is a residential component offered, the length of the program, any associated costs or—on the other end—stipends, when the application window opens and closes, and the eligibility criteria for participation. We hope that this collection of research opportunities leads to you/your teen finding the laboratory experience of their dreams.

To view additional data columns, click the + icon to the left of the program’s name

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101+ Research Project Ideas For High School – (2024 Updated)

101+ RESEARCH PROJECT IDEAS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

  • Post author By admin
  • February 2, 2024

Starting high school isn’t just about books and tests. It’s a time for trying new things, finding out cool stuff, and getting better at things that aren’t always taught in regular classes. One awesome way to get creative, think smart, and enjoy learning is by doing interesting projects. 

With all their energy and new ways of thinking, high school students can dive into exciting projects that match their schoolwork and make them curious about the world.

In this blog, we’ll look at many project ideas made to make high school students think in fun ways. Whether about science, technology, arts, or helping the community, these projects want to make education a complete experience.

 Let’s see how these projects can make school lessons more interesting and give a good feeling of success and a love for learning that stays with you forever. Get ready to start a journey of being creative, trying new things, and getting better at what you love. We’ll share project ideas for high school students who want to leave their mark on the world.

Table of Contents

Importance Of Research Project Ideas For High School

Here are some reasons why coming up with good research project ideas is important for high school students:

Explore Interests In-Depth

It allows you to explore an area of interest more deeply. Research projects allow you to learn more about a topic you’re curious or passionate about. This can be very rewarding.

Develop Key Skills

It develops important skills. Conducting research builds skills like critical thinking, analyzing sources, writing literature reviews, collecting and interpreting data, and presenting findings. These skills are useful in college and careers.

Demonstrate Curiosity

It shows colleges your intellectual curiosity. Good research projects demonstrate academic interests and passions that can help your college applications stand out. They show your motivation to learn.

Prepare for College Courses

It prepares you for advanced coursework. Classes like AP Research require you to conduct an independent research project. Other college courses will too. Doing one in high school helps prepare you.

Enable Creativity and Independence

It allows creativity and choice. Unlike most assignments, you pick the research topic for projects. This fosters independence, creativity, and task commitment.

Facilitate Networking

It facilitates professional networking. Research projects, especially in fields like STEM, enable you to connect with professors or experts who can advise you and open future opportunities.

NOTE: Also read our Blog on this Topic, “ 191+ Descriptive Research Topics for High School Students [2024] “

Selecting Topics for High School Research Papers 

You may be confused as you review over 50 ideas for your high school research paper. Knowing how to pick the best topic to avoid that is important.

The most crucial thing to consider is how much time you have for your paper. Topics that are too big can be tough, and you might not finish on time. Stick to topics that are not too big and are clear.

Since you’ll spend time researching and writing, think about what interests you. Picking a topic you like will make researching and writing your paper easier. If things get tough and your deadline is close, you can always find a research paper for sale to help you get a good grade.

Interesting Research Project Ideas for High School In Education

  • Examine the advantages of having diverse students in schools.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of charter schools within the national education system.
  • Explore the impact of modern technology on the teaching methods used in schools.
  • Consider the positives and negatives associated with standardized testing.
  • Investigate the perks of taking a gap year between finishing high school and starting college.
  • Assess which types of funding allocations provide the most advantages for students.
  • Analyze whether homeschooling adequately prepares students for success.
  • Debate whether universities and high schools should mandate student vaccinations.
  • Examine the influence of increasing college tuition on high school students.
  • Investigate whether students achieve better outcomes in single-gender educational settings.
  • Explore and evaluate the influence of a well-known musician on the genre of pop music.
  • Examine the transformations in pop music over the last ten years.
  • Investigate the shifts in the media’s representation of women in the music industry during the past decade.
  • Understand the functioning of a synthesizer.
  • Explore the development of music to incorporate diverse instruments and vocal styles.
  • Examine the impact of advancements in sound effect technology on the music business.
  • Analyze the advantages of including music education in high school curricula.
  • Do places that help people recover work better than prisons?
  • Can taxes for busy areas be helpful?
  • Does affirmative action support minority groups?
  • Can a system where businesses are privately owned make things more equal?
  • Is a government with three main parts a good way to run things?
  • What makes people in politics strongly disagree with each other?
  • Is the U.S. government fair to people of all races?
  • Pick something important from the past and discuss how it still affects us today.
  • Choose a leader from history who lost their power and figure out why it happened.
  • Look at how your country has changed significantly over the last hundred years.
  • Think about the biggest thing that happened in the history of the U.S. and talk about its impact.
  • Check if the government has gotten better or worse at dealing with big problems throughout history.
  • Talk about what happened when America was in charge of Iraq in the past.
  • Explain the long story behind the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
  • Does reading books matter in today’s world?
  • Talk about how made-up stories can sometimes be used to spread certain ideas.
  • How do stories help us learn about how people live in our world?
  • Explain how the stories we read as kids can affect us when we grow up.
  • Look at how books talk about relationships between people attracted to the same gender.
  • Do TV and newspapers show different kinds of people like they are?
  • Do TV shows and news stories keep showing the same ideas about certain groups of people?
  • Why do lots of people like to listen to podcasts now?
  • Will watching shows online make regular TV less popular?
  • Do TV and news show different types of people like they are?
  • Do TV and news stories keep showing the same ideas about certain groups of people?
  • What does it mean to be a patriot?
  • What are the good and not-so-good things about being a citizen of the whole world?
  • Why do people bully, and what happens because of it?
  • Why are fewer people getting divorced in the U.S. nowadays?
  • Is it better to do what everyone expects, or what your religion says is right?
  • Are there certain rules that should be followed when deciding about abortion?
  • How does a big machine like an MRI work?
  • Would it be good for the U.S. if everyone shared healthcare?
  • Think about how using medical marijuana affects old people, health, schools, and taxes.
  • How do people who don’t like vaccines affect the country’s health?
  • Look at the good and bad sides of the culture around diets.
  • Should workers be allowed to exercise while they’re at work?
  • How much exercise should a grown-up do each week, month, or day?
  • Talk about what happens to the U.S. when a lot of people are overweight.
  • Do students know more things now that the internet is around?
  • How is the internet different from how it was first made?
  • Did getting music online help the music industry?
  • Talk about the good and bad things about making internet rules stricter.
  • Think about what the internet has done to newspapers.
  • What happens if the internet stops working?
  • What will happen to us because of artificial intelligence (AI)?
  • What are the good and not-so-good things about cryptocurrency?
  • How did social media change how people talk to each other?
  • Should only some people be allowed to use social media?
  • Why is open software important?
  • What’s more important now: apps on phones or websites?
  • How will cars that can drive by themselves change what we do?
  • How does sending text messages affect how well young people read and write?

Mental Health

  • Why is it good to exercise every day?
  • How did social media change how people feel inside their heads?
  • What makes people not feel good in their minds and bodies?
  • Think about how people talk about feeling okay in movies, music, and TV.
  • Talk about the good and not-so-good things about having more people to talk to in high school.
  • What happens to the body when it feels stressed out?
  • How do animals that give comfort help people feel better?
  • What are black holes, and how do they work?
  • Talk about the good and not-so-good things that the EPA did.
  • How did Flint’s water problem change how people live in Michigan?
  • Can science do something to help animals that might disappear?
  • Can scientists do something to stop cancer from happening?

Environment

  • What happens to the weather when we cut down a lot of trees?
  • Can we make the changes to the weather go back to the way they were?
  • How did the sickness that happened around the world make the weather different?
  • Do the things people buy to be kind to the Earth work or are they just for show?
  • Is using special power from tiny things safe and good for the Earth instead of using old stuff?
  • Do cars that use both electricity and gas help make the air cleaner?
  • How is throwing away plastic stuff hurting the Earth?
  • Can anyone be good at starting businesses, or is it something you have from the start?
  • Is it fair for the person in charge of a big company to get much more money than every one else working there?
  • Can you make your own business even if you don’t have money?
  • Should the smallest amount of money people get for their work be more?
  • Why is it good for a business when the people who work there feel happy?
  • How much does a business need to have a well-known name and look?
  • Is it easy or hard to find a job today?
  • How does playing games for a big audience affect money in the country?
  • Do people who play sports for a job get more money than they should?
  • Should guys and girls who play sports get the same amount of money?
  • How can people who are transgender play sports in high school in a fair way?
  • Why is it good to play games with a team of people?
  • Which professional game has the most dishonest things happening in it?

5 Reasons High School Students Should Do Research

For many students, research seems like something only brilliant people or scientists do. But that’s not true! In today’s world, research helps students understand things better and gets them excited about discovering new stuff. 

Even if many students already know about doing research, they still enjoy trying out new things and learning more.

If you want to become good at research and understand why it’s important, here are some cool reasons that will surprise you.

This is Fascinating

When high school students do research, it helps them see things differently. It makes them think hard, solve problems better, and learn more about different subjects.

It Can Set You Apart

Schools now use a mix of teaching called blended learning , where teachers and students work together. Students research projects and present their skills online or in regular classes. This helps students stand out from others.

Expand or broaden the Knowledge

In high school, students often feel lost about what classes to take and which college to choose for their future. But if they’re good at researching, they can solve these problems easily. Research helps them think better and find new chances to learn and use in their life.

Updated information

Some students love asking many questions; it’s good because they like staying updated on what’s happening. Doing research helps them learn more, find accurate facts, and understand how things are changing. With research, students can share their thoughts with friends and groups.

Meet New Idea

Ideas never come in the blink of an eye; they require proper knowledge and understanding of a specific topic. Students can generate ideas only if they have effective research skills. Good research skills are only possible when students read a lot, make notes, and put their thoughts into it.

Doing a research project lets high school students study stuff they care about more deeply. Coming up with a good idea that fits the assignment and still sounds fun can seem tricky. But there are many great topics—from looking into social problems to analyzing books and plays to doing science experiments. 

The key is finding something you’re curious about that excites you enough to stick with it. Whether you want to spread awareness about stuff teens are dealing with or discover new things through hands-on projects, the right research topic is out there waiting! 

With an open mind and some help from teachers, you can find an interesting subject to research that will be engaging and teach you something.

How do I balance the depth and scope of my high school research project?

Striking a balance is key. Ensure your project is neither too broad nor too narrow. Clearly define your research question to maintain focus while allowing in-depth exploration within the specified scope

Can my high school research project have real-world implications?

Absolutely! Many impactful projects start at the high school level. Consider how your findings or solutions can address real-world challenges or positively impact your community.

Can I integrate multiple subjects into my high school research project?

Absolutely! Many intriguing research ideas span multiple subjects. Look for topics that allow you to connect different disciplines, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

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Call for High School Projects

Machine learning for social impact .

The Thirty-Eighth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS 2024) is an interdisciplinary conference that brings together researchers in machine learning, neuroscience, statistics, optimization, computer vision, natural language processing, life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, and other adjacent fields. 

This year, we invite high school students to submit research papers on the topic of machine learning for social impact.  A subset of finalists will be selected to present their projects virtually and will have their work spotlighted on the NeurIPS homepage.  In addition, the leading authors of up to five winning projects will be invited to attend an award ceremony at NeurIPS 2024 in Vancouver.  

Each submission must describe independent work wholly performed by the high school student authors.  We expect each submission to highlight either demonstrated positive social impact or the potential for positive social impact using machine learning. Application areas may include but are not limited to the following:

  • Agriculture
  • Climate change
  • Homelessness
  • Food security
  • Mental health
  • Water quality

Authors will be asked to confirm that their submissions accord with the NeurIPS code of conduct and the NeurIPS code of ethics .

Submission deadline: All submissions must be made by June 27th, 4pm EDT. The system will close after this time, and no further submissions will be possible.

We are using OpenReview to manage submissions. Papers should be submitted here . Submission will open June 1st.  Submissions under review will be visible only to their assigned program committee. We will not be soliciting comments from the general public during the reviewing process. Anyone who plans to submit a paper as an author or a co-author will need to create (or update) their OpenReview profile by the full paper submission deadline. 

Formatting instructions:   All submissions must be in PDF format. Submissions are limited to four content pages , including all figures and tables; additional pages containing only references are allowed. You must format your submission using the NeurIPS 2024 LaTeX style file using the “preprint” option for non-anonymous submission. The maximum file size for submissions is 50MB. Submissions that violate the NeurIPS style (e.g., by decreasing margins or font sizes) or page limits may be rejected without further review.  Papers may be rejected without consideration of their merits if they fail to meet the submission requirements, as described in this document. 

Mentorship and collaboration:  The submitted research can be a component of a larger research endeavor involving external collaborators, but the submission should describe only the authors’ contributions.  The authors can also have external mentors but must disclose the nature of the mentorship.  At the time of submission, the authors will be asked to describe the involvement of any mentors or external collaborators and to distinguish mentor and collaborator contributions from those of the authors.  In addition, the authors may (optionally) include an acknowledgements section acknowledging the contributions of others following the content sections of the submission. The acknowledgements section will not count toward the submission page limit.

Proof of high school attendance: Submitting authors will also be asked to upload a signed letter, on school letterhead, from each author’s high school confirming that the author was enrolled in high school during the 2023-2024 academic year.

Supplementary artifacts:  In their submission, authors may link to supplementary artifacts including videos, working demonstrations, digital posters, websites, or source code.  Please do not link to additional text.  All such supplementary material should be wholly created by the authors and should directly support the submission content. 

Review process:   Each submission will be reviewed by anonymous referees. The authors, however, should not be anonymous. No written feedback will be provided to the authors.  

Use of Large Language Models (LLMs): We welcome authors to use any tool that is suitable for preparing high-quality papers and research. However, we ask authors to keep in mind two important criteria. First, we expect papers to fully describe their methodology.  Any tool that is important to that methodology, including the use of LLMs, should be described also. For example, authors should mention tools (including LLMs) that were used for data processing or filtering, visualization, facilitating or running experiments, or proving theorems. It may also be advisable to describe the use of LLMs in implementing the method (if this corresponds to an important, original, or non-standard component of the approach). Second, authors are responsible for the entire content of the paper, including all text and figures, so while authors are welcome to use any tool they wish for writing the paper, they must ensure that all text is correct and original.

Dual submissions:  Submissions that are substantially similar to papers that the authors have previously published or submitted in parallel to other peer-reviewed venues with proceedings or journals may not be submitted to NeurIPS. Papers previously presented at workshops or science fairs are permitted, so long as they did not appear in a conference proceedings (e.g., CVPRW proceedings), a journal, or a book.  However, submissions will not be published in formal proceedings, so work submitted to this call may be published elsewhere in the future. Plagiarism is prohibited by the NeurIPS Code of Conduct .

Paper checklist: In order to improve the rigor and transparency of research submitted to and published at NeurIPS, authors are required to complete a paper checklist . The paper checklist is intended to help authors reflect on a wide variety of issues relating to responsible machine learning research, including reproducibility, transparency, research ethics, and societal impact. The checklist does not count towards the page limit and will be entered in OpenReview.

Contact:   [email protected]

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New $90 Million Project to Create Digital Research Hub Focused on K-12 Education

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EdWeek Market Brief, NSF Backs $90M to Bring Together Universities to Find Solutions in K-12 Education

The National Science Foundation has awarded Rice University $90 million to build what is being described as a first-of-its-kind education research hub that will leverage data from an array  of major digital learning platforms currently serving tens of millions of students. 

The university recently announced the investment as its largest ever federal research grant. OpenStax at Rice, a major publisher of open education resources, will build the research and development hub known as SafeInsights .

The project will focus on producing “research-informed insights about teaching and learning for educators, institutions and learning platforms to use to create tailored programs, pedagogies and policies that will equip learners to thrive.”

“Just like there are bigger telescopes that let astronomers see deeper into the night, SafeInsights’ goal is to have this large student population that will enable researchers to see deeper into the student learning experience,” Slavinsky said in an interview. 

The SafeInsights hub will take five years to build, he said, with early research projects b eginning in 16 to 18 months, and full-scale research operations starting in 2029. 

School districts’ commitment to seeking and using research-based educational strategies is uneven at best. Many district officials complain that academic and other scientifically based research is too abstract, disconnected from their work, and outdated to be of practical use in their decision-making.

When surveyed recently by EdWeek Market Brief on what sorts of research they value most when choosing products and services, district and school leaders were much more likely to point to data on student outcomes, or product usage data than they were rigorous, experimental research.

Data Security in Focus 

At $90 million, the award is NSF’s largest investment in research and development infrastructure for education at a national scale, the university said.

In the past, education research has been hampered by small study groups and short time frames, but the recent boom in digital learning can provide researchers with a plethora of data needed to better understand academic outcomes, Slavinsky said. 

SafeInsights’ goal is to have this large student population that will enable researchers to see deeper into the student learning experience. J.P. Slavinsky, Executive Director, SafeInsights

And research will not be limited to only STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) areas. Schools, education companies, and researchers participating in SafeInsights will bring their own research agenda, Slavinsky said.

Protecting student data is a major concern within school districts, particularly as  schools’ and students’ reliance on technology  has steadily grown.

The data collected as part of the new project will remain secure, Slavinsky said. No student information will be revealed to researchers. 

Instead, researchers will submit their inquiries to SafeInsights, and the research hub will have the data in question analyzed where it is originally stored — by schools or on a digital platform — and provide researchers with aggregate results. 

The research and development project will be a central hub for 80 partners and collaborating institutions. That number is expected to grow, Slavinsky said. 

“One of the great things about SafeInsights is that it is very scalable,” he said. “And we want to build this community, so we can get a better and better picture of the students and the teachers we’re trying to help.” 

Follow  EdWeek Market Brief  on Twitter  @EdMarketBrief  or connect with us on  LinkedIn .

Image credit Stockyarder/DigitalVision/Getty

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9 Undergraduate Research Projects That Wowed Us This Year

The telegraph. The polio vaccine. The bar code. Light beer. Throughout its history, NYU has been known for innovation, with faculty and alumni in every generation contributing to some of the most notable inventions and scientific breakthroughs of their time. But you don’t wind up in the history books—or peer-reviewed journals—by accident; academic research, like any specialized discipline, takes hard work and lots of practice. 

And at NYU, for students who are interested, that training can start early—including during an undergraduate's first years on campus. Whether through assistantships in faculty labs, summer internships, senior capstones, or independent projects inspired by coursework, undergrad students have many opportunities to take what they’re learning in the classroom and apply it to create original scholarship throughout their time at NYU. Many present their work at research conferences, and some even co-author work with faculty and graduate students that leads to publication. 

As 2023-2024 drew to a close, the NYU News team coordinated with the Office of the Provost to pull together a snapshot of the research efforts that students undertook during this school year. The nine featured here represent just a small fraction of the impressive work we encountered in fields ranging from biology, chemistry, and engineering to the social sciences, humanities, and the arts. 

These projects were presented at NYU research conferences for undergrads, including Migration and Im/Mobility , Pathways for Discovery: Undergraduate Research and Writing Symposium , Social Impact: NYU’s Applied Undergraduate Research Conference , Arts-Based Undergraduate Research Conference , Gallatin Student Research Conference ,  Dreammaker’s Summit , Tandon’s Research Excellence Exhibit , and Global Engagement Symposium . Learn more about these undergrad research opportunities and others.

Jordan Janowski (CAS '24)

Sade Chaffatt (NYU Abu Dhabi '24)

Elsa Nyongesa (GPH, CAS ’24 )

Anthony Offiah (Gallatin ’26)

Kimberly Sinchi (Tandon ’24) and Sarah Moughal (Tandon ’25)

Rohan Bajaj (Stern '24)

Lizette Saucedo (Liberal Studies ’24)

Eva Fuentes (CAS '24)

Andrea Durham (Tandon ’26)

Jordan Janowski (CAS ’24) Major: Biochemistry Thesis title: “Engineering Chirality for Functionality in Crystalline DNA”

Jordan Janowski (CAS '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

I work in the Structural DNA Nanotechnology Lab, which was founded by the late NYU professor Ned Seeman, who is known as the father of the field. My current projects are manipulating DNA sequences to self-assemble into high order structures.

Essentially, we’re using DNA as a building material, instead of just analyzing it for its biological functions. It constantly amazes me that this is possible.

I came in as a pre-med student, but when I started working in the lab I realized that I was really interested in continuing my research there. I co-wrote a paper with postdoc Dr. Simon Vecchioni who has been a mentor to me and helped me navigate applying to grad school. I’m headed to Scripps Research in the fall. This research experience has led me to explore some of the molecules that make up life and how they could be engineered into truly unnatural curiosities and technologies.

My PI, Prof. Yoel Ohayon , has been super supportive of my place on the  NYU women’s basketball team, which I’m a  member of. He’s been coming to my games since sophomore year, and he’ll text me with the score and “great game!”— it’s been so nice to have that support for my interests beyond the lab.

Anthony Offiah (Gallatin ’26) Concentration: Fashion design and business administration MLK Scholars research project title: “project: DREAMER”

Anthony Offiah (Gallatin '26). Photo by Tracey Friedman

In “project: DREAMER,” I explored how much a person’s sense of fashion is a result of their environment or societal pressures based on their identity. Certain groups are pressured or engineered to present a certain way, and I wanted to see how much of the opposing force—their character, their personality—affected their sense of style. 

This was a summer research project through the MLK Scholars Program . I did ethnographic interviews with a few people, and asked them to co-design their ideal garments with me. They told me who they are, how they identify, and what they like in fashion, and we synthesized that into their dream garments. And then we had a photo shoot where they were empowered to make artistic choices. 

Some people told me they had a hard time conveying their sense of style because they were apprehensive about being the center of attention or of being dissimilar to the people around them. So they chose to conform to protect themselves. And then others spoke about wanting to safeguard the artistic or vulnerable—or one person used the word “feminine”—side of them so they consciously didn’t dress how they ideally would. 

We ended the interviews by stating an objective about how this co-designing process didn’t end with them just getting new clothes—it was about approaching fashion differently than how they started and unlearning how society might put them in a certain box without their approval.  

My concentration in Gallatin is fashion design and business administration. In the industry some clothing is critiqued and some clothing is praised—and navigating that is challenging, because what you like might not be well received. So doing bespoke fashion for just one person is freeing in a sense because you don’t have to worry about all that extra stuff. It’s just the art. And I like being an artist first and thinking about the business second.

Lizette Saucedo (Global Liberal Studies ’24) Major: Politics, rights, and development Thesis title: “Acknowledging and Remembering Deceased Migrants Crossing the U.S.-Mexican Border”

Lizette Saucedo (Global Liberal Studies '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

My thesis project is on commemorating migrants who are dying on their journey north to cross the U.S.–Mexican border. I look at it through different theoretical lenses, and one of the terms is necropolitics—how politics shapes the way the State governs life and especially death. And then of the main issues aside from the deaths is that a lot of people in the U.S. don’t know about them, due to the government trying to eschew responsibility for migrant suffering. In the final portion of the thesis, I argue for presenting what some researchers call “migrant artifacts”—the personal belongings left behind by people trying to cross over—to the public, so that people can become aware and have more of a human understanding of what’s going on. 

This is my senior thesis for Liberal Studies, but the idea for it started in an International Human Rights course I took with professor Joyce Apsel . We read a book by Jason De León called The Land of the Open Graves , which I kept in the back of my mind. And then when I studied abroad in Germany during my junior year, I noticed all the different memorials and museums, and wondered why we didn’t have the equivalent in the U.S. My family comes from Mexico—my parents migrated—and ultimately all of these interests came together.

I came into NYU through the Liberal Studies program and I loved it. It’s transdisciplinary, which shaped how I view my studies. My major is politics, rights, and development and my minor is social work, but I’ve also studied museum studies, and I’ve always loved the arts. The experience of getting to work one-on-one on this thesis has really fortified my belief that I can combine all those things.

Sade Chaffatt (Abu Dhabi ’24) Major: Biology Thesis title: “The Polycomb repressive component, EED in mouse hepatocytes regulates liver homeostasis and survival following partial hepatectomy.”

Sade Chaffatt (NYU Abu Dhabi '24). Photo courtesy of NYUAD

Imagine your liver as a room. Within the liver there are epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression. Imagine these epigenetic mechanisms as a dimmer switch, so that you could adjust the light in the room. If we remove a protein that is involved in regulating these mechanisms, there might be dysregulation—as though the light is too bright or too dim. One such protein, EED, plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression. And so my project focuses on investigating whether EED is required in mouse hepatocytes to regulate liver homeostasis and to regulate survival following surgical resection.

Stepping into the field of research is very intimidating when you’re an undergraduate student and know nothing. But my capstone mentor, Dr. Kirsten Sadler , encourages students to present their data at lab meetings and to speak with scientists. Even though this is nerve-wracking, it helps to promote your confidence in communicating science to others in the field.

If you’d asked 16-year-old me, I never would’ve imagined that I’d be doing research at this point. Representation matters a lot, and you often don't see women—especially not Black women—in research. Being at NYUAD has really allowed me to see more women in these spaces. Having had some experience in the medical field through internships, I can now say I’m more interested in research and hope to pursue a PhD in the future.

Kimberly Sinchi (Tandon ’24) Major: Computer Science Sarah Moughal (Tandon ’25) Major: Computer Science Project: Robotic Design Team's TITAN

Sarah Moughal (Tandon '25, left) and Kimberly Sinchi (Tandon '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

Kimberly: The Robotic Design Team has been active at NYU for at least five years. We’re 60-plus undergrad and grad students majoring in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and integrated design. We’ve named our current project TITAN because of how huge it is. TITAN stands for “Tandon’s innovation in terraforming and autonomous navigation.”

Sarah: We compete in NASA’s lunatics competition every year, which means we build a robot from scratch to be able to compete in lunar excavation and construction. We make pretty much everything in house in the Tandon MakerSpace, and everyone gets a little experience with machining, even if you're not mechanical. A lot of it is about learning how to work with other people—communicating across majors and disciplines and learning how to explain our needs to someone who may not be as well versed in particular technologies as we are. 

Kimberly: With NYU’s Vertically Integrated Project I’ve been able to take what I was interested in and actually have a real world impact with it. NASA takes notes on every Rover that enters this competition. What worked and what didn’t actually influences their designs for rovers they send to the moon and to Mars.

Eva Fuentes (CAS ’24) Major: Anthropology Thesis title: “Examining the relationship between pelvic shape and numbers of lumbar vertebrae in primates”

Eva Fuentes (CAS '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

I came into NYU thinking I wanted to be an art history major with maybe an archeology minor. To do the archeology minor, you have to take the core classes in anthropology, and so I had to take an intro to human evolution course. I was like, this is the coolest thing I’ve learned—ever. So I emailed people in the department to see if I could get involved. 

Since my sophomore year, I’ve been working in the Evolutionary Morphology Lab with Scott Williams, who is primarily interested in the vertebral column of primates in the fossil record because of how it can inform the evolution of posture and locomotion in humans.

For my senior thesis, I’m looking at the number of lumbar vertebrae—the vertebrae that are in the lower back specifically—and aspects of pelvic shape to see if it is possible to make inferences about the number of lumbar vertebrae a fossil may have had. The bones of the lower back are important because they tell us about posture and locomotion.

I committed to a PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis a few weeks ago to study biological anthropology. I never anticipated being super immersed in the academic world. I don’t come from an academic family. I had no idea what I was doing when I started, but Scott Williams, and everyone in the lab, is extremely welcoming and easy to talk to. It wasn't intimidating to come into this lab at all.

Elsa Nyongesa (GPH, CAS ’24 ) Major: Global Public Health and Biology Project: “Diversity in Breast Oncological Studies: Impacts on Black Women’s Health Outcomes”

Elsa Nyongesa (GPH, CAS '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

I interned at Weill Cornell Medicine through their Travelers Summer Research Fellowship Program where I worked with my mentor, Dr. Lisa Newman, who is the head of the International Center for the Study of Breast Cancer Subtypes. I analyzed data on the frequency of different types of breast cancer across racial and ethnic groups in New York. At the same time, I was also working with Dr. Rachel Kowolsky to study minority underrepresentation in clinical research. 

In an experiential learning course taught by Professor Joyce Moon Howard in the GPH department, I created a research question based on my internship experience. I thought about how I could combine my experiences from the program which led to my exploration of the correlation between minority underrepresentation in breast oncological studies, and how it affects the health outcomes of Black women with breast cancer.

In my major, we learn about the large scope of health disparities across different groups. This opportunity allowed me to learn more about these disparities in the context of breast cancer research. As a premedical student, this experience broadened my perspective on health. I learned more about the social, economic, and environmental factors influencing health outcomes. It also encouraged me to examine literature more critically to find gaps in knowledge and to think about potential solutions to health problems. Overall, this experience deepened my philosophy of service, emphasizing the importance of health equity and advocacy at the research and clinical level.

Rohan Bajaj (Stern ’24) Major: Finance and statistics Thesis title: “Measuring Socioeconomic Changes and Investor Attitude in Chicago’s Post-Covid Economic Recovery”

Rohan Bajaj (Stern '24). Photo by Tracey Friedman

My thesis is focused on understanding the effects of community-proposed infrastructure on both the socioeconomic demographics of cities and on fiscal health. I’m originally from Chicago, so it made a lot of sense to pay tribute back to the place that raised me. I’m compiling a list of characteristics of infrastructure that has been developed since 2021 as a part of the Chicago Recovery Plan and then assessing how neighborhoods have changed geographically and economically. 

I’m looking at municipal bond yields in Chicago as a way of evaluating the fiscal health of the city. Turns out a lot of community-proposed infrastructure is focused in lower income areas within Chicago rather than higher income areas. So that makes the research question interesting, to see if there’s a correlation between the proposed and developed infrastructure projects, and if these neighborhoods are being gentrified alongside development.

I kind of stumbled into the impact investing industry accidentally from an internship I had during my time at NYU. I started working at a renewable energies brokerage in midtown, where my main job was collecting a lot of market research trends and delivering insights on how these different energy markets would come into play. I then worked with the New York State Insurance Fund, where I helped construct and execute their sustainable investment strategy from the ground up. 

I also took a class called “Design with Climate Change” with Peter Anker in Gallatin during my junior year, and a lot of that class was focused on how to have climate resilient and publicly developed infrastructure, and understanding the effects it has on society. It made me start thinking about the vital role that physical surroundings play in steering communities.

In the short term I want to continue diving into impact-focused investing and help identify urban planners and city government to develop their communities responsibly and effectively.

Andrea Durham (Tandon, ’26)  Major: Biomolecular science Research essay title: “The Rise and Fall of Aduhelm”

Andrea Durham (Tandon '26). Photo by Tracey Friedman

This is an essay I wrote last year in an advanced college essay writing class with Professor Lorraine Doran on the approval of a drug for Alzheimer’s disease called Aduhelm—a monoclonal antibody therapy developed by Biogen in 2021, which was described as being momentous and groundbreaking. But there were irregularities ranging from the design of its clinical trials to government involvement that led to the resignation of three scientists on an advisory panel, because not everybody in the scientific community agreed that it should be approved.

When I was six years old, my grandmother was diagnosed. Seeing the impact that it had over the years broke my heart and ignited a passion in me to pursue research. 

When I started at NYU, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do in the future, or what opportunities I would go after. This writing class really gave me an opportunity to reflect on the things that were important to me in my life. The September after I wrote this paper, I started volunteering in a lab at Mount Sinai for Alzheimer's disease research, and that’s what I’m doing now—working as a volunteer at the Center for Molecular Integrative Neuroresilience under Dr. Giulio Pasinetti. I have this opportunity to be at the forefront, and because of the work I did in my writing class I feel prepared going into these settings with an understanding of the importance of conducting ethical research and working with integrity.

20+ Psychology Research Project Ideas for High Schoolers

research projects for high school

By Jordan Ellington

Project Support Manager at Polygence

11 minute read

Do you ever find yourself pondering why certain individuals act the way that they do? Why is it that sudden behaviors are triggered in one person but have no effect on the next? If this sounds like you, it’s time to explore the field of psychology! Whether you’re eager to learn more about mental health, functions of the brain, human behavior and motivations, or child development, this could be the sign you’ve been needing to further inspect the world of psychology.

There are many types of psychology research and fields. Here’s a list of project ideas and areas of focus to help inspire you as you get started doing psychology research .

5 Psychology Experiment Research and Passion Project Ideas

Experiments allow psychologists to determine causation (i.e., that something caused another thing to happen). These research projects study how one group of participants (those in the “control” condition) compares to another group of participants (those in the “experimental” condition). Importantly, participants are randomly assigned to conditions - they don’t get to choose which one they are in. 

Here are some psychology experiments that you can do, along with a few things to consider for each one:  

1. Does meditation improve the mental health of people who feel lonely?

Make sure to standardize the way that participants meditate each day (e.g., duration, any apps that they use). What would be a good control condition for this experiment?

Idea by psychology research mentor Kristen

The Polygence Pathfinders Program

Pathfinders is a career discovery mentorship experience designed to help you explore different career paths and gain more clarity about your future. Learn from three world class mentors in the fields of your choice and discover your passions!

2. How can psychologists improve mental health?

This is a broad research question - you should narrow it down to a specific area of focus, such as anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. Design an activity for participants to do in order to improve their mental health in this area. Both project #1 and #2 are types of experiments called “interventions”.

Idea by psychology research mentor Tanya

3. Is stress contagious?

This is another broad research question. You can be creative about how you decide to study this idea. Perhaps you will have two “participants” sit side-by-side as they complete a math test. In the experimental condition, one “participant” will actually be a fake participant who’s a member of the research team and acts very nervous while taking the test. In one control condition, both participants will be real. In another control condition, one participant will be “fake,” but they won’t act nervous. How will you measure stress in this experiment? You can use self-report questionnaires, but maybe there is a better way. You should also study how the average score on the test compares between conditions.

Idea by psychology research mentor Stephen

4. What’s more effective for studying: digital study tools or traditional textbook review?

Think about which subjects students typically use digital study tools for (e.g., flashcards). Math is probably not the best subject in this case. Doing the experiment on students in a real classroom on a real test would probably be best, but how can you ensure that students stick to their assigned study method? How can you recreate a classroom in a laboratory setting?

Idea by psychology research mentor Noel

5. Does color impact memory?

In this experiment, you could give participants a list of words in different colors and see how well they remember them based on the color.

Idea by psychology research mentor Aya

Exploring the Mind just Light You Up?

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own. And on your own schedule. Our psychology mentors both inspire and guide you along the way. We also offer options to explore multiple topics, or to showcase your final product!

4 Survey-based Psychology Research and Passion Project Ideas

Survey-based research involves analyzing word-based information, such as what participants express in interviews and open-ended response questions, or numerical information (e.g.,when participants answer questions on a scale from 1 to 5). Researchers usually conduct survey-based research when it would be unethical or impossible to do an experiment about the topic. 

When you are asking survey questions, especially about sensitive topics, there are important aspects to consider. Try your best to make participants feel comfortable answering the questions. You can do this by emphasizing that responses will be confidential. Avoid asking leading questions and questions that can be answered with a simple “yes or no.” Doing survey-based research online allows you to have more participants. However, during an in-person interview, you can ask follow-up questions about anything interesting that the participant says. 

Here are ideas of survey-based psychology research projects: 

1. Who uses apps and websites that offer virtual counseling?

How do these digital tools compare to in-person counseling? In this survey, you can ask participants who use virtual tools versus in-person therapy why they use their respective mediums. Ideally, it would be great to find someone who has tried both virtual and in-person therapy.

2. How does the relationship between mountain biking on physical and mental health compare to other types of physical exercise?

This project is interesting because you can’t ethically conduct an experiment and tell participants to do a dangerous activity like mountain biking. Thus, a survey is a better approach. Get participants who do a variety of physical activities and ask them why they chose the activity. Be creative with your questions!

Idea by psychology research mentor Haille  

3. How do members of your family, community, peers, or a specific population think about mental health counseling?

What do they think of people who utilize therapy? After understanding these perceptions of therapy, you can come up with interventions that can challenge stigma around going to therapy. Reducing stigma can encourage people to go to therapy and thus improve mental health outcomes!

Idea by mentor psychology research mentor Nat

4. Think about your high school and ask yourself the question: “Do/Would students from different backgrounds feel welcomed here?”

In this project, you will interview students and teachers to document how your school can better champion diversity and inclusion efforts. You will use primary and secondary sources to uncover themes and gaps in your school’s equity policies and practices.

Idea by psychology research mentor Lydia

5 Psychology Literature Review Research and Passion Project Ideas 

A literature review (sometimes shortened to “lit review”) is a written summary of key work that has been conducted about a psychological topic over several years. It’s a type of secondary research that describes how different studies relate to each other and how the field has developed over time. To write a lit review, the first step is to use an academic journal database (e.g., Google Scholar ) to find and skim academic articles . 

Keep notes about the key findings from each study and how it built off of previous research. What open questions did the researchers hope to resolve by conducting their study? How were the results the same between similar studies and how were the results different? What methods did different researchers use? How has researchers’ understanding of the field changed in light of new and potentially conflicting evidence? 

It can be overwhelming to decide what to include in your literature review because there are tons of psychological articles on a given topic. I like to start with a promising paper in Google Scholar and then look at sources that the paper references. You can also read other literature reviews that other researchers have conducted and note which papers they discuss. In both cases, make sure to go to the original sources and read the actual papers they referenced. Also, use the search filters to ensure that your literature review covers a wide span of years. 

Examples of literature review psychology research project ideas you could do: 

1. How do only-children compare to children who have siblings?

There are many different questions you could focus on: Are only-children more independent? Are children with siblings better at cooperating with others? How does birth order (e.g., being the oldest or youngest sibling) play a role in development?

2. How might family socioeconomic circumstances impact child development?

Consider styles, home (in)stability, local school quality, and more to understand the consequences that different environments could have on children.

Idea by psychology research mentor Katrina

3. Why do certain exercises in specific environments promote different benefits?

You can consider indoor versus outdoor workouts, as well as whether the participants did the exercise alone or with others.

Idea by psychology research mentor Daphne

4. How has our understanding of a particular psychological disorder advanced over the years?

Pick a psychological disorder and write a review paper on recent advances in neuroscience that have improved our understanding of the disorder’s development and treatment.

Idea by psychology research mentor Phil

5. How can existing evidenced-based psychological interventions, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety, be adapted to be more culturally sensitive?

Cultural sensitivity involves “recognizing and respecting the beliefs, perspectives, and values of clients from a particular race, ethnicity, or region” and also addresses other important factors, such as age, gender, and sexual orientation. For this literature review, it will probably be best to focus on a particular culture since there are so many different cultures that you could choose from.

Idea by psychology research mentor Kaley

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2+ Psychology Research and Passion Project Ideas Using Scientific Communication

Another type of project focuses on communicating scientific ideas to a lay audience. This project is similar to a literature review because it involves reading and synthesizing scientific articles. However, literature reviews are generally written for an academic audience. The fun thing about a scientific communication project is that you get to be creative! You want to keep your audience engaged. There are many different ways to communicate science, including: 

1. Science blog

You can pick a psychological disorder, and write a blog describing recent advances in neuroscience that have improved our understanding of the disorder’s causes and treatment. Consider the broad impact of the work you review (i.e., why should people care?). 

2. Science podcast

Decide on a subfield of psychology that interests you, such as how researchers use psychology to improve learning and teaching. You could then interview people you know about their experiences with the psychological topic. For example, what learning and teaching strategies work best for them?

Idea by psychology research mentor Yinuo

For any type of scientific communication project, you’ll need to identify your target audience and think about the language that you’ll use to communicate your ideas. For example, I (Logan) generally write psychology-related blogs for high school students, and if I was writing for a younger audience I would explain topics using simpler language. Another thing to consider is the format of your project. A podcast is a more natural format if you want to include interviews. You should also think about where you will publish your work. You’ll have to do some research on the best place to publish a blog! It is fairly easy to publish your podcast on Spotify. 

I’m also going to add that a YouTube channel and a website are two more fun ways to communicate science! I actually have a YouTube channel about juggling , and I’ve really enjoyed posting videos there for over two years.

2 Data-Based Psychology Research and Passion Project Ideas

Other psychology projects involve analyzing large amounts of data. These projects yield interesting results because they allow you to study something “big” that would be difficult to do by hand. To do this type of project, you’ll need some comfort with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets and statistical analysis. Potentially, you’ll also need to know computer science. Here are a few ideas: 

1. Use publicly available datasets to analyze the availability of mental health services in a U.S. state over time.

How does the availability of services for children compare to that of adults and older adults? What proportion of facilities accept Medicaid/Medicare/public funds (making services accessible to low income populations)?

Example data source: National Mental Health Services Survey

Idea by psychology research mentor Juliana

2. Identifying gender and race/ethnicity biases in sentiment analysis.

Sentiment analysis is a popular form of text analysis that uses artificial intelligence to predict the specific emotion that the writer of the text was feeling. However, we know from prior research in linguistics that there are differences between gender and racial subgroups on how language is used. Thus, these popular sentiment analysis tools, which do not differentiate between gender and race, might lead to biased scores that have important future consequences. This project investigates the degree to which popular sentiment analysis models exhibit gender and racial-ethnic biases. You could ask your friends of different races and genders to write a paragraph using happy, sad, angry, and neutral language, and see how accurately the sentiment analysis predicts their emotions.

Idea by psychology research mentor Steven

2 Other Psychology Research and Passion Project Ideas

1. observational research.

People may behave differently when they know that someone is monitoring their behavior, such as in experiments and surveys. Thus, the goal of observational research is to study how people behave when they don’t know that they are in a research study. Observe how children of different age groups play. First, conduct a literature review to better understand the different levels of social and emotional development throughout childhood. Go to any area where children are playing in order to evaluate how children within different age groups are interacting with one another. How do your observations compare to academic research?

Idea by psychology research mentor Ellyn

2. Media analysis

When portrayed in the media, mental illness is typically exaggerated. Because it is shown to be unpredictable and dangerous, many individuals do not have a good understanding of what mental illness even is. Do a deep analysis of how movies and/or TV shows portray mental illness. Consider the best way to disseminate your findings and discuss what the media gets right and wrong about mental illness. 

Idea by psychology research mentor Urveesha

Psychology Research and Passion Project Resources

The ideas on this list are just a handful of the many types of psychology research projects that you can do!  Here is another list of creative ways you can explore your passions . For even more inspiration, check out the database of projects completed by Polygence students . 

Did you know that doing a research project can really give you an edge on your college application ? 

Read this article about collecting data in psychology to learn more about experimental, survey-based, and observational research.

Before conducting any research project with real participants, make sure to get IRB approval .

After you complete your psychology research or passion project, you may want to write a research paper .

Do Your Own Research Through Polygence

Your passion can be your college admissions edge! Polygence provides high schoolers a personalized, flexible research experience proven to boost your admission odds. Get matched to a mentor now!"

Regeneron ISEF 2024 Society for Science Special Awards Winners Announced

May 16th, 2024, Los Angeles, CA — Society for Science announced Special Awards of Regeneron ISEF 2024. Student winners are ninth through twelfth graders who earned the right to compete at Regeneron ISEF 2024 by winning a top prize at a local, regional, state or national science fair.

Air Force Research Laboratory on behalf of the United States Air Force

The Air Force Research Laboratory is a global technical enterprise, boasting some of the best and brightest leaders in the world. We are Revolutionary, Relevant, and Responsive to the Warfighter. We defend America by unleashing the unconquerable power of scientific and technical innovation. Our mission is leading the discovery, development, and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space, and cyberspace force.

First Award of $750 in each Regeneron ISEF Category,

ANIM016 — The Effects of Electrical Stimulation on Planaria Tissue Regeneration

  • Ashu Anand, Alabama School of Fine Arts, Tuscaloosa, AL, United States of America

BCHM029 — Integrative Assessment of the Novel Radioprotective Efficacy of Cardamonin: A Comprehensive in vitro and in silico Analysis

  • Siddharth Sridharan, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, AR, United States of America

BEHA005 — Mathematical Analysis of Preparatory Neural Activity to Predict Physical Behavior in Motor Sequences

  • Ria Garg, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Frisco, TX, United States of America

BMED055 — Validation of Ventilation and Perfusion Using Non-Contrast Computerized Tomography

  • Alexandra Elizabeth Tombleson, Mamaroneck High School, Larchmont, NY, United States of America

CBIO036 — A Lens Into Vision: Modeling the Stimuli-Driven Differential Responses of Lobula Columnar Cells in Drosophila

  • Erin Wong, William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, NY, United States of America

CELL020 — Investigating the Impact of Parasitic Worm-Induced Secretions on Anaphylaxis

  • Ethan Ririe, Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg, VA, United States of America

CHEM015T — Natural Eutectogels as a Novel Material for Green Wearable Electronics

  • Claire Qingying Huang, Fairview High School, Boulder, CO, United States of America
  • Sophia Zhang, Fairview High School, Boulder, CO, United States of America

EAEV021 — National Ground-Level NO2 Predictions via Satellite Imagery Driven Hybrid Neural Networks

  • Elton Cao, Fairview High School, Broomfield, CO, United States of America

EBED024 — Development of a Multi-Sensor System to Prevent Child Vehicular Heatstroke

  • Clara Kerr, The Athenian School, Danville, CA, United States of America

EGSD031 — Harvesting Energy at Your Fingertips: Harnessing Mechanical Energy from Typing for Sustainable Power Generation

  • Sienna Marie Giuseppi , Pelham Memorial High School, Pelham, NY, United States of America

ENBM050 — Like Trying To Find a Needle in a Blood Sac: Novel Hemostatic Gelatin Microneedle Adhesive (Gel MNA) Polymerized With Commercial Coagulation Agents Achieves Accessible Hemorrhage Treatment

  • Fernanda Arreola-Lucio, Minnetonka High School, Excelsior, MN, United States of America

ENEV052T — Robee: A Novel Autonomous Pollinator

  • Danial Jawad Syed, Hayfield Secondary School, Lorton, VA, United States of America
  • Isabel Victoria Aysa-Lastra, Hayfield Secondary School, Alexandria, VA, United States of America

ETSD009 — Novel Approach to Calculation of Bike Route Distance Using Concept of Fractal Dimension

  • Mikhail Dmitrievich Abraimov, Lawton Chiles High School, Tallahassee, FL, United States of America

MATH032 — The Classification and the Hilbert Polynomials of the Coloring of Quandles With Size 6

  • Aaron Kim, Bronx High School of Science, Flushing, NY, United States of America

MATS024 — When the Paint’s On, the Heat’s Gone

  • Sophie Shi, Middleton High School, Madison, WI, United States of America

MCRO006 — Year 2: A Novel Biodegradable Sorbent for Oil Spills

  • Mahie Mangesh Patil, Orlando Science Schools, Winter Garden, FL, United States of America

PHYS066 — Optimizing the Laser Alignment Process: Automated Alignment for Enhanced Efficiency in Magneto-Optical Trap Calibration

  • Tatyana Marie McVay, Paul Duke STEM High School, Peachtree Corners, GA, United States of America

PLNT020 — Mars or Bust! A Method to Build a Martian Regolith-Based Substrate for Sustainable Agriculture on Mars

  • Quinn Jacie Hughes, Minnetonka High School, Mound, MN, United States of America

ROBO039 — Scents and Sensibility: Investigating the Influence of Visual Cues on Olfactory Perception of Humans and Building an AI-based Electronic Nose to Compare the Two

  • John Newton Anand, Anand Homeschool Academy, Akron, OH, United States of America

SOFT046T — DynaGrad: A Novel Gradient Descent With Adaptive Dual Learning Rates & Momenta for Improved Optimization and Accelerated Convergence in Deep Neural Networks

  • Pratishrut Kamal, William G. Enloe High School, Raleigh, NC, United States of America
  • Venkata Varshith Vadlamudi, William G. Enloe High School, Apex, NC, United States of America

TECA019T — Diffusion-Based Conditional Mesh Synthesis for Rapid 3D Visual Design

  • Anant Khandelwal, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Arlington, VA, United States of America
  • Siddhant Sood, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Herndon, VA, United States of America
  • Sritan Motati, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Chantilly, VA, United States of America

TMED037 — Advancing Wound Infection Assessment by Utilizing pH-Sensitive Curcuma Longa, Phase II

  • Ishita Mukadam, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, Fairfield, IA, United States of America

Glass trophy and USAF medal for each recipient

Alfred University

Alfred University, located in Alfred, New York with 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Engineering, Art & Design, Business, and the Liberal Arts & Sciences. Often ranked as one of the best colleges for Ceramics, Glass, and Material Sciences. Alfred University helps students realize their purpose through mentorship, inclusivity, and intersections.

Full tuition scholarship

EGSD035 — Redefining the Landscape of Hydrogen Safety Using Innovative Gasochromic Technology

  • Alia Wahban, Hillfield Strathallan College, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

MATS012 — Biomimetic, Micro-Structured and Hydrophobic Surfaces for Blood-Repellent Medical Devices

  • Madison Julianna Gambin, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, United States of America

American Chemical Society

The American Chemical Society Education Division promotes excellence in science education and science literacy through a number of activities supporting teachers and learners of chemistry. Through its participation in Regeneron ISEF, ACS encourages and supports high school students in their exploration of the chemical sciences through research experiences.

First Award of $4,000

BCHM018 — Human Milk Immune Complexes Isolated Following Pregnancies Complicated by COVID-19 Infection Contain SARS-CoV-2 Nsp13 Helicase and Biologically Active Factors

  • Vaishnavi Kolluru, Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, CA, United States of America

Second Award of $3,000

CHEM012 — Chemical Modification of Acetaminophen to Decrease Liver Toxicity

  • Chloe Yehwon Lee, Plano East Senior High School, Murphy, TX, United States of America

Third Award of $2,000

CHEM035 — Novel TMOS-Dependent Synthesis of Water-Stable CsPbBr3-SiO2 Nanoparticles for Bioimaging Applications

  • Katherine Lam, University High School, Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Fourth Award of $1,000

CHEM036 — Synergistic Development of Perovskite Oxide Electrocatalysts Through Metal-Organic Framework Precursors for Energy Conversion Applications

  • Abeer Ali Alyousef, Dohat Alibdaa International Schools, Alahsa, Eastern Province , Saudi Arabia

Diploma of Recognition and $100 gift card

BCHM033 — The Effect of Liposomes on Drug Delivery of Ascorbic Acid

  • Thien-Nhi Allison Nguyen, West Shore Junior/Senior High School, Melbourne, FL, United States of America

CHEM046T — Dyes Adsorption Using Activated Carbon From Coffee Capsule Grounds

  • Alana Carolina da Costa Franca, Instituto Federal da Bahia (IFBA) – Campus Camacari, Dias d’Avila, Bahia, Brazil
  • Caio Nunes Santana, Instituto Federal da Bahia (IFBA) – Campus Camacari, Camacari, Bahia, Brazil
  • Emily Kanashiro da Hora, Instituto Federal da Bahia (IFBA) – Campus Camacari, Camacari, Bahia, Brazil

CHEM058 — Synthesis and Evaluation of a Low-Cost Biopolymer Encapsulant for Lead Sequestration in Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

  • Abhinav Venkata Meduri, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Cary, NC, United States of America

CHEM068 — Optimizing Synthesis of mRNA Therapeutics

  • Srijay Sritaharan Chenna, The Charter School of Wilmington, Newark, DE, United States of America

American Mathematical Society

The American Mathematical Society was founded in 1888, to further the interests of mathematical research & scholarship, as well as to serve the national/international community through its publications, meetings, advocacy & other programs. Friends and family of the late mathematician, Karl Menger, contribute to a fund in his memory, to be distributed by the AMS for annual awards at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

First Award of $2,000

MATH018 — On an Approximation of Divisor Sum Functions With Bernoulli Polynomials and the Hardy Littlewood Function

  • Quang Tran, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Harvey, LA, United States of America

Second Award of $1,000

MATH002 — Symmetry, Fixed Points and Quantum Billiards: A Confluence of Ideas

  • Anna Oliva, Carnegie Vanguard High School, Houston, TX, United States of America

MATH012 — Integration of Sequences

  • Emma Rueter, Leibniz-Gymnasium Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Third Award of $500

MATH006 — Euler-phi Partitions, p-Euler-phi Partitions, Inverse-p-Euler-phi Partitions and Their Generating Functions

  • Arda Ozcelebi, Izmir Ozel Ege Lisesi, Izmir, Turkey

MATH013 — A Study on Arc Index of Theta Curves

  • Yoonsang Lee, Korea Science Academy of KAIST, Seoul, South Korea

MATH030T — An Elementary Method for Fast Modular Exponentiation With Factored Modulus

  • Anay Aggarwal, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR, United States of America
  • Manu Isaacs, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR, United States of America

MATH034 — Virtually Reconstructing an Ancient Musical Instrument

  • Helena Welch, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos, NM, United States of America

Honorable Mention and One-Year Membership to AMS (for 5 projects with up to 3 team members per project)

MATH003 — Enhancing Ethereum’s Security With LUMEN, Novel Zero-Knowledge Algorithms Generating Transparent and Efficient SNARKs Based on Hidden Order Groups

  • Yunjia Quan, Charlotte Country Day School, Charlotte, NC, United States of America

MATH008 — Injective Chromatic Index of Packet Radio Networks: Improved Upper Bounds

  • Austin Luo, Morgantown High School, Morgantown, WV, United States of America

MATH010 — Detecting Causality in 2+1 Dimension Spacetimes Using Symplectic Quandles

  • Ayush Jain, Shri Ram School – Aravali Campus, Gurugram, Haryana, India

MATH014 — Twisted Homogeneous Racks Over the Alternating Groups

  • Joseph Amichai Vulakh, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Lexington, KY, United States of America

MATH016 — Fibonacci Analogues of Legendre’s Formula and Fine’s Theorem

  • Arav Chand, Half Hollow Hills High School West, Dix Hills, NY, United States of America

MATH025 — Linear Group of Seventh Chord Transformations

  • Songtianze Huang, Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

MATH027 — Enhancing Federated Learning Using Mathematical Theorems and Coding Technologies

  • Sarah Lu, Centro Residencial de Oportunidades Educativas de Mayaguez, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico

One-Year Membership to American Mathematical Society to each winner (7 winning projects, up to 3 team members per project)

American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 157,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students as its members. APA’s mission is to promote the advancement, communication, and application of psychological science and knowledge to benefit society and improve lives.

Complimentary student affiliate memberships

ANIM037 — Concentration-Dependent Effects of Dietary Niacin and NAD+ in Longevity, Memory, and Motor Function of Drosophila melanogaster

  • Olivia Saun So, Harvard-Westlake Upper School, Studio City, CA, United States of America

ANIM039 — Rhythms and Blues: Examining Potential Health Hazards of Blue Light-induced Circadian Disruption in Drosophila melanogaster

  • Rania S. Lateef, Governor’s School at Innovation Park, Manassas, VA, United States of America

BEHA012T — Searching for “Magic Pill”: A Novel Adenosine Modulator in the Treatment of Schizophrenia and Stress-Related Disorders

  • Shao-Chieh Fu, Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, New Taipei City, Taiwan
  • Yu-Pin Tsao, Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School, New Taipei City, Taiwan

BEHA015 — Differential Empathy, Social Dominance Orientation, and the Limitations of Social Science Research

  • Sierra Anne Sun, The Waterford School, Sandy, UT, United States of America

BEHA037 — ArabLexify: Elevating Early Dyslexia Diagnosis in Arabic-Speaking Children Ages 6-12 by Utilizing Accessible Digital Screening Tool

  • Mohamed Ahmed Sakr, Obour STEM School, Cairo, Egypt

BEHA045 — Harmony: A Remote AI-based Monitoring and Prediction System for Manic and Depression Episodes in Bipolar Disorders

  • Sahar Ashraf Ahmed, City Schools, Sohag, Egypt

BEHA048 — The Recursive Relationship Between Personalized Music Choice and Adolescent Mental Wellness: An Empirical Study

  • Aanya Gupta, Horace Mann School, New York, NY, United States of America

First Award of $1,500

Arizona State University

Arizona State University is pleased to offer a scholarship combining a monetary award and an environment focusing on knowledge, learning and research. The New American University ISEF Scholarship is renewable for four years. Individuals and teams will be considered for these awards.

Arizona State University ISEF Scholarship (valued at up to $58,000 each)

BEHA002 — Targeting ADHD with a Noninvasive System to Improve Concentration Based on Electroencephalogram and Neurofeedback Methodology

  • Emma Christine Lee, Stanton College Preparatory School, Jacksonville, FL, United States of America

BEHA010T — Finding Relief in Back Pain Through an Accessible Laptop Stand

  • Nichelle Corpuz, Waipahu High School, Waipahu, HI, United States of America
  • Zea Hope Galacgac, Waipahu High School, Waipahu, HI, United States of America

BEHA023 — Towards Improved Recognition and Diagnosis of Autism Among Females – A Novel Approach Using Machine Learning

  • Aanika Tangirala, Lakeside School, Seattle, WA, United States of America

CHEM067 — The Ultimate Plant-Powered Bike Lube

  • Brandon Ambridge Dunn, Fremont High School, Plain City, UT, United States of America

EAEV101 — Investigating Concentrates of Uranium and Other Hazardous Metals/Metalloids in the Surrounding Environments of Uranium Contaminated Waters on the Navajo Nation

  • Haylei Redhouse, Navajo Preparatory School, Tsaile, AZ, United States of America

EGSD047 — Waste to Watts: Converting Locally Sourced Organic Waste Material Into Activated Carbon Based Supercapacitors

  • Shrey Rohilla, The Classical Academy – North, Colorado Springs, CO, United States of America

ENBM039T — OralAI: A Fluorescence Based Mobile System for Dental Disease Prevention

  • Ayush Garg, Dublin High School, Dublin, CA, United States of America
  • Divij Motwani, Palo Alto Senior High School, Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

ENEV051 — Revision in Airfoil Design to Increase Fuel Efficiency in Commercial Aircraft

  • Sungwon Lee, Troy High School, Troy, MI, United States of America

ENEV055T — Sensor-Assisted, Noninvasive Monitoring for Operational, Investigative and Predictive Hive Health Management for Honeybee Colonies – Sustainable Bee Keeping

  • Naithruv Kashyap, Westwood High School, Austin, TX, United States of America
  • Suchir Kumar, Westwood High School, Austin, TX, United States of America

ETSD066 — I.D.A.S – Interlocking Drone Aerial Swarm: Enhancing Thrust and Battery Configuration Flexibility

  • Yuvan Senthil, BASIS Peoria, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America

MCRO032T — Bacterial Acoustic: Investigating the Impact of White Noise on the Growth of E. coli

  • Andrea Angelye Ananya Betancourt, Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ, United States of America
  • Diana Paula Navarro Ruiz, Harvest Preparatory Academy, San Luis, AZ, United States of America
  • Diane Sofia Ladino, Harvest Preparatory Academy, San Luis, AZ, United States of America

PHYS034 — Gear-Based Topological Mechanical Metamaterials

  • Belen Ariana Franco de la Matta, Bergen County Academies, Northvale, NJ, United States of America

PLNT012 — The Growth of Spinach in Vertical and Horizontal Hydroponics

  • Lauren Johnson, Mililani High School, Mililani, HI, United States of America

PLNT035T — Pest Buster! Pests Repelling Biodegradable Weed Barrier Infused with Grape Skin and Turmeric Extracts: Year 2 Study

  • Humberto Gil Villalobos, Harvest Preparatory Academy, San Luis, AZ, United States of America
  • Michael Tristan Castro Lucero, Harvest Preparatory Academy, San Luis, AZ, United States of America

ROBO061T — Smart Device for the Visually Impaired

  • Danaya Jaslene Figueroa, Grand Terrace High School, Colton, CA, United States of America
  • Priscilla Elena Munoz, Grand Terrace High School, Bloomington , CA, United States of America

SOFT010 — Help! I Need Somebody: An Assistive Device That Notifies Emergency Services Once a Fall Has Been Detected

  • Maria Faith Sears, Monte Vista High School, Monte Vista, CO, United States of America

TMED002 — Disinfectant Properties of Nuphar advena: An Ethnopharmaceutical Approach

  • Johanna Lynn Bernu, Cloquet Senior High School, Cloquet, MN, United States of America

Association for Computing Machinery

ACM is widely recognized as the premier membership organization for computing professionals, delivering resources that advance computing as a science and a profession; enable professional development; and promote policies and research that benefit society. ACM hosts the computing industry’s leading Digital Library and serves its global members and the computing profession with journals and magazines, conferences, workshops, electronic forums, and Learning Center.

ROBO033T — VannameiVision: A Novel End-to-End Pipeline for Stock Quality Assessment With a Case Study in Shrimp Post-larvae Screening From Robust Data Acquisition to Autonomous Segmentation and Systematic Characterization of Count, Size, and Vitality

  • Patipond Tiyapunjanit, Princess Chulabhon Science High School Pathumthani, Minburi, Bangkok, Thailand
  • Thinnaphat Siammai, Princess Chulabhon Science High School Pathumthani, Min Buri, Bangkok, Thailand

SOFT032 — Developing a Novel Paradigm for the Distributed Storage of Digital Information

  • Lianne Ahmed Algrafi, Dar AlFikr Schools, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Third Award of $1,500

SOFT052 — Developing a Novel Holistic, Personalized Dementia Risk Prediction Model via Integration of Machine Learning and Network Systems Biology Approaches

  • Srilekha Mamidala, Garnet Valley High School, Garnet Valley, PA, United States of America

Fourth Award of $500

ROBO035 — The Virtual Cardiologist: Three Deep Learning Pipelines in an Inexpensive Portable Device and Web/Mobile Application for Rapid Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Clinical Decision-Making

  • Shiv Mehrotra-Varma, Clovis North High School, Fresno, CA, United States of America

SOFT035 — Software for Customized Development of Partial Hand Prostheses in the 3D-Printed Prosthetics Community

  • Katherine Cha Robertson, Sage Hill School, Irvine, CA, United States of America

SOFT055T — Integration of Deep Learning Into Automatic Volumetric Cardiovascular Dissection and Reconstruction in Simulated 3D Space for Medical Practice

  • Le Quoc Bao Nguyen, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh, Viet Nam
  • Tuan Hy Le, Le Hong Phong High School for the Gifted, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

AAAI is a scientific society devoted to advancing the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behavior and their embodiment in machines. AAAI promotes research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence, as well as public understanding of artificial intelligence. AAAI also strives to improve the teaching and training of AI practitioners, and provide guidance on the importance and potential of current AI developments and future directions.

ROBO019T — State Space Models Are All You Need

  • Aidan Ong, Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore, Singapore
  • Junxiang Cai, National Junior College, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

SOFT043 — Gaze Link: A Multi-language Low-Cost Mobile Eye-Gesture Communication System With Large Language Models for People With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

  • Xiangzhou Sun, Webb School of California, Claremont, CA, United States of America

TMED025 — Alcott: A Convolutional Neural Network to Predict Multimeric Interactions in HIV-1 Neural Infection

  • Anna Grace Mohanty, Washington-Lee High School, Arlington, VA, United States of America

Honorable Mention

BMED023 — Improving Racial Equity in Skin Cancer Detection: Using Artificial Intelligence Driven Synthetic Image Generation and Cascading Convolutional Neural Networks to Diagnose Cancer in Lesions of Varying Skin Tones

  • Kate Choi, The Potomac School, McLean, VA, United States of America

CBIO033 — A Deep Semi-Supervised Domain Generalization Approach for Epileptic Seizure Prediction Using Electroencephalography (EEG)

  • Sunwoo (Ria) An, Loomis Chaffee School, Windsor, CT, United States of America

ENBM066T — PoDE – A Platform Leveraging Characteristic Time Series Patterns of Oculomotor Control Attributable to Cholinergic Neuron Destruction in the Parietal Lobe, Indicating Early Alzheimer’s Disease Utilizing the PoDE Neural Network

  • Lenny Thomas, The Prince Royal’s College, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Tanyada Thongbai, The Prince Royal’s College, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Tin Potikanond, The Prince Royal’s College, Mueang , Chiang Mai, Thailand

ROBO007T — Advancing Pet Face Recognition: A Deep Learning Approach With a Large-Scale Dataset

  • Hiu Yan Lin, Kao Yip Middle School, Macao, China, Macao Special Administrative Region
  • Nok Him Isaac Lau, Kao Yip Middle School, Macao, China, Macao Special Administrative Region

TMED064 — ALLocate: A Low-Cost Automatic Artificial Intelligence System for the Real-Time Localization and Classification of Acute Leukemia in Bone Marrow Smears

  • Ethan Shuai Yan, Groton School, Burlingame, CA, United States of America

AAAI Student Memberships for each finalist that is part of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Prize Winning projects and 5 Honorable Mention winning projects (up to 3 students per project) (in-kind award / part of the 1st-3rd prize)

AAAI Membership for the School Libraries of All 8 Winners (in-kind award / part of 1st-3rd prize and honorable mentions’ prize)

China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)

China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) is the largest organization of scientists and technologists in China. One of its missions is to promote public understanding of science. Having developed science education programs, CAST supports youth and adolescents in becoming citizens with high scientific literacy. CAST awards are given to the projects that best reflect the originality and innovation of the students’ work in all scientific disciplines.

Award of $1,200

BMED075 — A Novel Identification of the Epigenetic Enzyme JMJD1a in Neuroinflammation

  • Baochan Fan, Hamilton High School, Chandler, AZ, United States of America

EAEV091 — CABMS: The First System Against California Marine Biotoxins Through Deep, Spatiotemporal, Multivariate Prediction and Sensor-Based Data Transmission

  • Yuqin Ma, The Harker School, Mountain View, CA, United States of America

ENBM033 — To Infinity Egg Beyond: Novel Systems for Hyper-Customizable Egg Models

  • Muhammad Hosam Eldin El-Sherbiny, Bergen County Academies, Fort Lee, NJ, United States of America

ENEV043 — Developing a New Alkaline-Activated Cement Based on Carbonation Process to Reduce CO2 Emissions

  • Fatimah Alshakhs, Alanjal Private School, Alahsa, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

ETSD041 — Low-Cost Rapid Response Rocket Launched UAV for Wildfire Hotspot Detection

  • Jason Zhao, Collingwood School, West Vancouver, Canada

MATH031 — Balancing Misclassification Costs (BMC) in Imbalanced Classification

  • Sophia Fu, Carmel High School, Carmel, IN, United States of America

MATS037 — 3D Bioprinting Soft Microrobotic “Niches” for Stem Cell Delivery

  • Cindy Cheng, Laurel Heights Secondary School, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

MCRO001 — Next-Generation Antibiotics: Isolating and Screening Novel Bacteriocins

  • Rishit Arnav Shaquib, Vanguard High School, Ocala, FL, United States of America

PHYS008 — Dust-Repellent and Self-Cleaning Coatings for Solar Panels on Earth, the Moon and Mars (Year Two)

  • Arvid Charles Larsson Vaidyanathan, Winter Springs High School, Oviedo, FL, United States of America

SOFT044 — Solving Second-Order Cone Programs in Matrix Multiplication Time

  • Michelle Wei, The Harker School, Saratoga, CA, United States of America

Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT)

The Drug, Chemical & Associated Technologies Association (DCAT) is a not-for-profit, corporate member-supported, and volunteer-led global business development association for companies engaged in the Bio/Pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain.

DCAT First Prize

BCHM008 — Analysis of Novel Multi-Enzyme Formulation’s Synergistic Implications for the Enhanced Interventional Disruption of E. coli Biofilms

  • Muhilan Balasubramanian, Ballard High School, Louisville, KY, United States of America

BMED006 — Preclinical Investigation to Develop Anti-Platelet and Cholesterol-Lowering Agent for Prevention and Treatment of Stroke

  • Sharmada Palakurthi, W.B. Ray High School, Corpus Christi, TX, United States of America

CELL033 — Rock the Metals! Investigating Manganese as a Trigger of Malignancy and Metal Transporters as Targets in Cancer Treatment

  • Carolina de Araujo Pereira da Silva, Instituto Federal de Educacao Ciencia e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro, Sao Joao de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

CHEM045 — Evaluation of Antimalarial Activity of Artemisinin Derivatives by the Reaction with Fe(II) Ion in Micelles

  • Yumi Tsukai, Tokushima Municipal High School, Tokushima, Japan

MCRO019 — The Antibacterial Effect of Allium sativum on Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria Phase II

  • Antariksha Sharma, Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, Fairfield, IA, United States of America

MCRO038T — Combating Superbugs: Using Natural Compounds as Down-Regulators of Biofilms Formation in ESKAPE Pathogens (An in silico Study)

  • Avi Gupta, Seminole High School, Lake Mary, FL, United States of America
  • Jai Gupta, Seminole High School, Lake Mary, FL, United States of America

TMED062 — Design, Synthesis, and Testing of Novel Small Molecule Interleukin-6 Inhibitors for the Amelioration of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

  • Siddharth Maruvada, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Apex, NC, United States of America

Florida Institute of Technology

Florida Institute of Technology is a nationally ranked, doctoral degree granting research university. The university offers degrees in engineering, science, computing, aeronautics, business, psychology and liberal arts. Its location just south of the Kennedy Space Center provides incredible research opportunities for students interested in engineering and science. Florida Tech will offer three presidential scholarships to ISEF participants that equal full tuition each year for four years upon fulltime enrollment at the university. Awardees must complete the FAFSA to be Eligible.

Full Tuition Presidential Scholarship

EAEV003 — Tree Rings as a Potential Monitoring Tool for Saltwater Intrusion

  • Alynza Isabella McBride, South Sumter High School, Webster, FL, United States of America

ETSD065 — Re-Shaping an Airplane’s Wings to Improve Aerodynamic Efficiency

  • Fernando Andres Andino -Serrano, The San Juan Math, Science and Technology Center, Vega Alta, Puerto Rico

PHYS002 — Analysis of Optimal Rotor Shape: Year 3

  • Jose M. Carvajal-Beltran, Wildwood High School, Wildwood, FL, United States of America

Fondazione Bruno Kessler

The Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK) is a leading research center in Trento, Italy. WebValley is the FBK Summer School program for interdisciplinary scientific research. A team of enthusiastic and motivated high school students and FBK researchers accepts a project challenge, proposed by a visiting scientist. FBK’s Board of Directors will award several Intel ISEF finalists full fellowships to be part of the WebValley team in June.

Award to participate in summer school “Web Valley”

CBIO057 — Gut Microbiome-Cardiometabolic Disease Spectrum Association Analysis Using Machine Learning

  • Gil Ramot, Ilan Ramon, Hod HaSharon, Israel

EAEV059 — Global Pesticide Use and Parkinson’s Disease Incidence: Using Data Science to Optimize Pesticide Regulations and Linking Glyphosate Exposure to Neural Inflammation

  • Angelina Imad Ayoubi, Somers High School, Katonah, NY, United States of America

ENEV058 — Piezocatalysis with Optimized Turbulent Flow in Hydro Turbine for Eutrophication Remediation

  • Emily Zhao, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, NY, United States of America

IEEE Foundation

IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to fostering technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. The IEEE Foundation supports the IEEE core purpose. IEEE awards the $10,000 Presidents’ Scholarship to recognize a deserving student for an outstanding project demonstrating an understanding of electrical/electronics engineering, computer science, or other IEEE field of interest. In addition to the scholarship, IEEE awards a $600 Second Place Award and a $400 Third Place Award. This year, a $1,000 25th Anniversary award will also be presented.

The IEEE Foundation Presidents’ Scholarship Award of $10,000

ETSD037 — An Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) System for Ocean Hazard Recognition and Rescue: Scout and Rescue UAVs

  • Angelina Kim, The Bishop’s School, Del Mar, CA, United States of America

Second Place Award of $600

ENEV044 — CarboFlux Network: Novel Sensor Node Design for Enhanced CO2 Flux Measurement and Global Ecosystem Monitoring

  • Sahiti Bulusu, BASIS Independent Fremont , Fremont, CA, United States of America

Third Place Award of $400

IEEE 25th Anniversary Award

SOFT038 — AuralStudio: A Multisensory Development Environment With a Novel, Bytecode-Compiled Programming Language

  • Abhishek Amit Shah, Green Level High School, Apex, NC, United States of America

International Council on Systems Engineering – INCOSE

The International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded to develop and disseminate the interdisciplinary principles and practices that enable the realization of successful systems. The INCOSE Best Use of Systems Engineering awards are awarded to the best interdisciplinary projects that can produce technologically appropriate solutions that meet societal needs. There will be a first, second, and third place award.

INCOSE Bill Ewald Socio-Technical Systems Engineering Award of $1000, a 1-year free student membership to INCOSE, and free virtual admission to the 2022 International Symposium of the INCOSE

SOFT058 — Securing Global Food: Biopolymers, Cryptography, and Visual Transformers for Affordable Anti-Counterfeit Seed Protection

  • Diana Martynova, Los Gatos High School, Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Second Place INCOSE Best Use of System Engineering Award of $800, a 1-year free student membership to INCOSE, and free virtual admission to the 2022 International Symposium of the INCOSE

ENBM065 — UpLift Mobility: Robotic Lift to Elevate Frequently Falling Individuals

  • Jeslyn Gabrielle Tan, Barker College, Sydney, Australia

INCOSE Best Use of Systems Engineering Award* of $1,500 and free registration and Exhibitor Booth at a future INCOSE Symposium

ENBM047 — Micro RNA223-Biomarker Based Exponential Rolling Circle Amplification CRISPR -Cas12a System for Disease Detection and COPD Diagnostics

  • Robin Chris Dao, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH, United States of America

Certificate of Honorable Mention, a 1-year free student membership to the INCOSE, and free virtual admission to the 2022 International Symposium of the INCOSE

EBED040 — Mitigation of Pressure Injuries Utilizing an Inertial Wearable, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning

  • Maya Julia Trutschl, Caddo Parish Magnet High School, Shreveport, LA, United States of America

ENBM001 — Tableware Jitter Elimination Technology for Parkinson’s Patients

  • Susie Meng Di Yuan, Dulwich College Beijing, Beijing, China

ENBM041 — NeuroHAT: Democratizing Brain-Wellness Monitoring Developing A Wearable System with fNIRs & EEG Multimodality Classification Engine & Miniaturized Device

  • Jingjing Liang, The Harker School, Cupertino, CA, United States of America

ENBM062 — Orthotic Hand Brace to Improve Range of Motion in Patients With Cerebral Palsy

  • Sophia Belle Caramanica, Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI, Shrewsbury, MA, United States of America

ENEV077 — Development of Oil Collecting Submarine Using AI and Hydro-Filter Solution

  • Ayhem Bouker, Lycee Privee des Elites 2, Sousse , Tunisia

ETSD050 — SkyLinker: UAV Autonomous Perpetual Solar Flight for Facilitation of Mobile Communication and Long-Distance Surveillance

  • Michael Xu, Delbarton School, Berkeley Heights, NJ, United States of America

ROBO078 — Zenith Soar X-4: Autonomous Drone for Autonomous Drone for Disaster Relief and Detection

  • Daniel Tyreese Williams, East Coweta High School, Newnan, GA, United States of America
  • Soumyanath Memorial Award

This award is presented by the family of Krishnamurthy Soumyanath (1957 – 2010), for the best project in Computer Engineering. Dr Soumyanath was an Intel Fellow and held the title of Chief Architect, Integrated Platform Research at Intel Labs, USA. He led research and development in circuits and architectures for next-generation transceiver devices. The prize honors the memory of an energetic and adventurous individual who inspired and mentored many young people to excel in all aspects of life.

First Award of $3,000

EBED027 — Detecting Forest Fires and Park Visitors in Distress Using Radio Systems

  • John Willis Parsons, Auburn High School, Auburn, AL, United States of America

$1,000 will be awarded to the winner’s school.

King Abdulaziz & his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity

“Mawhiba “is a non-profit foundation in Saudi Arabia dedicated to fostering a culture of creativity, The Foundation motivates young people around the world to explore innovative methods in diverse fields of study.

Mawhiba Universal Enrichment Program awards (and a $200 cash prize)

CHEM039 — External Magnetic Field Enhanced Plasmonic Au-WO3 Thin Films for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

  • Saleh Abdulaziz Alangari, Riyadh School for Boys and Girls, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

EBED010T — Real-Time Refractive Visual Aberration Correction Display Using Dynamic Point Spread Function-Based Deconvolution

  • Akhilesh Balaji, Neev Academy, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
  • Dhruv Ramu, Neev Academy, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

ETSD020 — Origami Chair: Always Accessible to Everyone, Everywhere

  • Chiyo Nakatsuji, Oin High School, Tokyo, Japan

MATS033 — Development of Electrolyte Additive for Self-Corrosion Control of Aluminum Air Battery Electrodes

  • Jamal Mohammed Al Logmani, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Boys High School, Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia

MATS036 — Development of Anti-Dust Nanostructured Silicon Dioxide Coating for Solar Cells

  • Areej Alqarni, Al-Batool International School, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

ROBO084T — Smart Power Grid Control: Artificial Intelligence-Based Fault Detection in Power Transmission Systems

  • Khazar Huseynov, Educational Complex 132-134, Baku, Azerbaijan
  • Nijat Taghizade, Dunya School, Baku, Azerbaijan

Full Scholarship from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals(KFUPM) (and a $400 cash prize)

CHEM030 — Next-Generation Coating: Tunable Self-Healing Material for Intelligent Protection of Metal Surfaces

  • Shuyi Deng, YK Pao School, Shanghai, China

CHEM054 — Utilizing Polyurethane Foam and Nano-Activated Carbon-Based Composite for Sustainable Eco-Friendly Oil Spill Remediation

  • Jumana Ahmed Ragab, Cairo Manara Language School for Girls Secondary, Nasr City, Cairo , Egypt

CHEM061 — Obtaining a Polyadsorbent From the Natural Diatomite to Purify Wastewater From the Ions of Heavy Metals

  • Sayazhan Zhaksygaliyeva, Miras International School, Astana, Kazakhstan

ENBM042T — A Deep Learning-Base Approach for Ovarian Cancer Subtype Classification

  • Ahmed Hanafy Abdou, Kafr EL-Sheikh STEM School, Alexandria, Egypt
  • Ahmed Kadry Naser, Kafr EL-Sheikh STEM School, Behira , Egypt

ETSD003 — Elastic Waves: Applications of Elastic Wave Propagation in the Recovery of Depleted Oil Patches

  • Ionut Gabriel Stan, Liceul Teoretic International de Informatica Bucuresti, Bucharest, Romania

ETSD007T — Enhancing Bobsleigh Performance Through Biomimetic Design Inspired by the Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) and Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

  • Nicholas Zhang, UJ Academy Maths, Science & ICT School of Specialisation, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
  • Zaahid Sader, UJ Academy Maths, Science & ICT School of Specialisation, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

MATH023 — Along the Path of the Great Kaprekar: A-Function, Repunits and Their Properties

  • Alikhan Zharbolov, National Physics and Mathematics School, Almaty, Kazakhstan

MATH037 — Simulation of Armed Conflict Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in Ground Combat Operations

  • Volodymyr Borysenko , Cherkassy School Number 28, Town, Cherkasy, Ukraine

MATS001 — A Self-Healing Flexible “Jelly-like” Zinc-Ion Battery: Empowering Wearable Devices and Safe Energy Storage

  • Jonathan Xufeng Hu, Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai, China

ROBO011 — Effective Robotic Swarm Controller Applied to Autonomous Swarm Assembly of Modular Flexible Production Lines

  • Michal Lajciak, Stredna Priemyselna Skola, Trencin, Slovakia

ROBO077 — Renovation of Olive Cultivation Sector Using AI

  • Ala Bouhaouel, Lycée 2 Mars 1934, Moknine, Tunisia

SOFT037 — Automating Quantum Efficiency: An Algorithm for Gate-Based Optimization of Quantum Circuits

  • Abilmansur Rakhmettulayev, Haileybury Astana School, Astana, Kazakhstan

London International Youth Science Forum CIC

Founded in 1959, LIYSF offers a two-week science summer program. Each year 500 students aged 16-21 years old from 70 countries attend, with lecture demonstrations from leading scientists, including Nobel prize winners, scientific visits to world-class laboratories and science universities combined with international cultural interaction. A vital part of the experience of attending LIYSF is creating global citizens through the exchange of different cultures and traditions, and for many students visiting LIYSF offers their first opportunity to travel abroad.

Full scholarship to attend the London International Youth Science Forum, and a $1,500 cash stipend for travel expenses.

Cash stipend for travel expenses associated with travel to and from LIYSF 2024

Long Island University

Long Island University, with two campuses in Brooklyn and Brookville, NY, is in the top 7% of universities with high research activity nationally recognized by the Carnegie Classification. Dassault Systemes designated LIU as the world’s first Center of Excellence in Life Sciences & Research with high societal impact in the fields of precision medicine, pharmaceutical sciences and health care in the digital age. LIU offers majors like Pharmacy, Health Sciences, Veterinary Technology, Biomedical Science, Health Care Administration, Nursing, and more. For more information, visit liu.edu.

Presidential Scholarships

ANIM008 — Why Is the Mare Acting Like a Stallion?: Novel Test to Diagnose Granulosa Cell Tumor

  • Melina Esha Kumar, Clear Lake High School, Houston, TX, United States of America

BEHA061 — GaitNet: A Medically Interpretable Video-Based System for Assessing Parkinsonian Gait Impairment Severity Using 2-Stream Spatiotemporal Neural Network

  • Andrew Y. Liang, The Harker School, San Jose, CA, United States of America

CBIO025 — A Novel Machine Learning Model for Estrous Cycle Classification

  • Saachi Goyal, Academy of Information Technology and Engineering, Stamford, CT, United States of America

EAEV023 — Sponge Studies: Assessing the Effects of Environmental Impacts on Marine Sponge Detritus Production, and Use as a Natural Deep Sea eDNA Sampler

  • Kian Kenneth Francisco Sanchez, University Laboratory School, Honolulu, HI, United States of America

ENBM083 — BrainStorm: Reconstructing Natural Vision from fMRI Using Generative Models for Communication and Covert Awareness in Neurological States

  • Yashvir Sabharwal , Battlefield High School, Bristow, VA, United States of America

ENEV035 — The Homemade Integration of Biodegradable Materials Into Hydroponics: Using Sawdust and Tannins to Detoxify Greywater

  • Ian James Lentz, Camp Hill High School, Camp Hill, PA, United States of America

PLNT031 — Aqua-Arsenic Remediation: Analysis of the Oryza sativa metagenome and Wet-Lab Approach to increase O. sativa Tolerance to Drought and Arsenic Through Hyper Expression of Aquaporin OsNIP2;1, OsNIP3;2, OsPIP2;2 genes (Year IV)

  • Prisha Bhat, Plano East Senior High School, Richardson, TX, United States of America

ROBO046 — Home Occupancy Simulation Using Machine Learning

  • Humam Al-Shami, Arkansas Connections Academy, Magnolia, AR, United States of America

TMED042 — An Investigation of the Combination of Y15 and Metformin for the Treatment of Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

  • Isabela Lucero Mendez, Brownsville Early College High School, Brownsville, TX, United States of America

Mary Kay Inc.

Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand with one goal: to enrich women’s lives. That dream blossomed into a global company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in preserving our planet for future generations, protecting women impacted by cancer and domestic abuse, and encouraging youth to follow their dreams.

First Prize

TMED030T — IdentiCan: The App That Detects Brain, Breast, Lung, Skin, and Pancreatic Cancer

  • Keshvee Sekhda, North Gwinnett High School, Sugar Hill, GA, United States of America
  • Nyambura Sallinen, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA, United States of America

Second Prize

CHEM017T — HidroQapa: Waterproof Bioplastic Made From Chitosan Extracted From Shrimp Shell Waste

  • Frederico Reis Mauritty, Colegio Valsassina, Lisboa, Portugal
  • Madalena de Castro Filipe, Colegio Valsassina, Lisboa, Portugal

Third Prize

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,200 students. Located in Rolla, MO, S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top universities for return on investment. Missouri S&T is proud to offer these awards to ISEF participants: * THREE $8,000 scholarships over the course of four years for first-year (freshmen) students choosing to attend Missouri S&T. * FIVE Missouri S&T summer camp scholarship up to $1,500 to be used towards the camp and travel expenses

Summer Camp scholarships (camp tuition and travel expenses, valued at up to $1,500)

BMED082 — Obesity and Fresh Food Access: New Evidence and Solutions From Geospatial Data

  • Saswat Sasha Tripathi, Parkway West High School, Chesterfield, MO, United States of America

EGSD048 — Renewable Energy Using Peltier Tiles

  • Jessica Haley Castro, Saint Pius X High School, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

TMED028T — Revolutionizing Non-Invasive Skin Cancer Detection Through a Novel Vision Transformer Application

  • Aryaman Om Mishra, Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, Portage, MI, United States of America
  • Jason Shaye, Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, Kalamazoo, MI, United States of America

$2,000 tuition scholarship (renewable for up to 4 years)

EGSD020 — Efficiency of a 3D-Printed Pico-Hydroelectric Generation System Using a Fused Deposition Modeling Printer

  • Simon David Wibbenmeyer, Perryville Senior High School, Perryville, MO, United States of America

EGSD041 — Exploring the Use of Leaf Biomimicry and Electromagnetic Induction for Electricity Production

  • Grace Echevarria Rivera, Escuela Bilingue Especializada en Ciencias y Matematicas Papa Juan XXIII Secundaria, Bayamon, Puerto Rico

ROBO066 — Optimizing Lip Reading Using Convoluted Neural Networks

  • Daniel Nkunga, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Sherwood, AR, United States of America

Mu Alpha Theta, National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society

Mu Alpha Theta, the National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society, strives to promote the enjoyment and scholarship of mathematics. The Mu Alpha Theta Award is given to the most challenging, thorough, and creative investigation of a problem involving mathematics accessible to high school students. Components of the investigation often include mathematical proof, mathematical modeling, statistical analysis, visualization, simulation, and approximation.

First Award of $ 1,500

MATH022 — Factorization Properties of Puiseux Monoids

  • Jason Mao, The Academy for Mathematics, Science & Engineering, Towaco, NJ, United States of America

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the nation’s civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA drives advances in science, technology, aeronautics, and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality, and stewardship of Earth. NASA inspires the world through discovery.

TMED035 — Photobiomodulation on In Vivo and In Vitro Wound Models Under Simulated Microgravity for Future Space Travel

  • Leanne Fan, Westview High School, San Diego, CA, United States of America

PHYS031 — A Novel System for Long-Range Wireless Power Transmission

  • Anish Anand, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Ranch Palos Verdes, CA, United States of America

ETSD008 — Modelling Lunar Drivetrain Technology Through the Design of a Differential Swerve Drive

  • Sumana Subramanian, Clear Brook High School, Houston, TX, United States of America

PHYS056 — Discovery of New Extragalactic Planet Candidates: A Novel End-to-End Machine Learning Pipeline for Efficient Transit Detection in the X-ray Spectrum

  • Emily Nicole Aleman, Centro Residencial de Oportunidades Educativas de Ceiba, Río Grande, Puerto Rico

National Anti-Vivisection Society

Since 1929, the National Anti-Vivisection Society has promoted greater compassion, respect and justice for animals. NAVS educational and advocacy programs advance better, more humane science; support the development of alternatives to the use of animals in research, testing and education; and effect changes which help to end the unnecessary suffering of animals.

Awards of $3,000

ANIM049 — DOGMA (Dogs’ Oncological Genomic Metabolite Analyzer): Diagnosis of CMTs in Dogs Using a Machine Learning Model

  • Asher Wang, Holicong Middle School, Jamison, PA, United States of America

BCHM034 — Novel Complementary and Alternative Medicines to Mollify Long COVID and Post-COVID Conditions Studied Using Controlled Environment Agriculture

  • Rohan Prakash Bhosale, Carmel High School, Carmel, IN, United States of America

ENBM025 — Developing Optimal Fused Deposition Modeling Surfaces for Cell Growth in Lab-On-A-Chip Applications

  • Suraj Dixit, Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, Kalamazoo, MI, United States of America

ROBO059 — Democratizing Multi-Species Object Detection in Drone Imagery for Cost-Effective Population Monitoring of Endangered Animals

  • Sowmya Sankaran, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

TMED014 — Wound Simulator: An in vitro Study of a Novel Biological Growth Factor Concentrate on Oral Mucositis

  • Keerthana Rajesh, Greenwood High International School Bangalore, Bangalore , Karnataka, India

National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas. The National Geographic Society is presenting special awards to Regeneron ISEF participants whose projects display excellence in Geography and Geospatial Science.

Excellence in Geography and Geospatial Science Award

EAEV033 — Global Soil Respiration Insights Through Machine Learning: Projections and Future Climate Change Implications

  • Manfred Lim, Jericho High School, Jericho, NY, United States of America

EAEV058 — Forecasting Post-Wildfire Vegetation Recovery in California Using a Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Tensor Regression Network

  • Jiahe Liu, Edgemont High School, Scarsdale, NY, United States of America

EAEV079 — Flood Mitigation of Tarlac City Through 3D Simulation of Groundwater Discharge to Flood Inundation Using Rainfall Prediction and Integration of Spatio-Temporal GIS in Hydrodynamic Models

  • Arnon Yzabel Guzman Guinto, Tarlac National High School, Tarlac City, Tarlac, Philippines

ROBO043 — Urban Slum Detection and Mapping: Semantic Segmentation on VHR Satellite Imagery

  • Meenakshi Nair, Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, CA, United States of America

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a United States government science agency with a mission of science, service, and stewardship. NOAA enriches life through science, with a reach that goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor. They work to keep the public informed of the changing environment around them, protect life and property, and conserve and protect natural resources. NOAA’s Special Awards recognize outstanding projects in ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences with cash awards.

Judges’ Award

EAEV093T — Algae as a Resource for Bioplastic Production: Evaluating Species-Specific Characteristics and Biodegradability of Closterium, Chlorella, Scenedesmus, Volvox, Spirogyra, Saccharina latissima and Alaria esculenta

  • Joseph Jeong, Forest Hills High School, Queens , NY, United States of America
  • Madison Janice Bennett, Forest Hills High School, East Elmhurst , NY, United States of America
  • Pretom Chowdhury, Forest Hills High School, NYC, NY, United States of America

ENEV066 — Microplastic Flotation: A Novel Method to Analyze and Remove Microplastics

  • Elizabeth Rose Barnes, Shawnee Mission West High School, Shawnee, KS, United States of America

Science Communication Award

EAEV050 — A Novel Approach for Tropical Cyclone Track Forecast Across the Atlantic Basin

  • Nikita Agrawal, Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, Chicago, IL, United States of America

Taking the Pulse of the Planet First Award

EAEV062T — Acoustic Filtration: Harnessing Ultrasonic Technology for the Streamlined Removal of Microplastic Particles From Water Flow

  • Justin Yizhou Huang, College Park High School, The Woodlands, TX, United States of America
  • Victoria Ou, College Park High School, The Woodlands, TX, United States of America

ENEV080 — Year II: Resistant Electromagnet Propulsion for Petroleum Removal Employing Biocompatible Magnetorheological Fluid in Oil Spill Applications

  • Tiffani Rai Gay, Orlando Science Schools, Apopka, FL, United States of America

National Security Agency Research Directorate

The NSA Research Directorate is one of the most established research organizations in the U.S. Intelligence Community. As a world leader in science and technology, Research engages with leading industries, universities, and national laboratories to both advance core competencies and to leverage work in overlapping disciplines. The ISEF Special Awards recognize exceptional research that demonstrates world-class skills in mathematics, computer science, cybersecurity, engineering, physics, and neuroscience while promoting research that can assure and protect cyberspace.

Third Place Award Mathematics

Second Place Award Mathematics

First Place Award Mathematics

Third Place Award Cybersecurity

SOFT036 — Unmasking Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities in Direct and Transitive OSS Dependencies

  • Sebastian Rae Alexis, Northwood High School, Irvine, CA, United States of America

SOFT040 — A Novel Approach to Detecting Academic Dishonesty Involving Artificial Intelligence

  • Jun Jang, Oxford High School, Oxford, MS, United States of America

Second Place Award Cybersecurity

SOFT024 — Engineering a WebAssembly-Based Shell

  • Diego Zhen-Yi Frias, Oregon Episcopal School, Portland, OR, United States of America

SOFT033 — Improving the Ransomware Detection/Mitigation Proof-of-Concept With Machine Learning

  • Eric Ruike Song, Yorktown High School, Yorktown Heights, NY, United States of America

First Place Award Cybersecurity

ROBO057 — AdvMed: Detecting Adversarial Attacks in Medical Deep Learning Systems

  • Ayushi Mehrotra, Troy High School, Irvine, CA, United States of America

Third Place Award Principles of Security and Privacy

Second Place Award Principles of Security and Privacy

EBED003 — Terahertz Gap Communication Using Black Body Radiation

  • Jonathan Luke Dorminy, Sola Fide Home School, McDonough, GA, United States of America

First Place Award Principles of Security and Privacy

First Place Award Material Science

MATS030T — Engineering a Greener Future: A Novel, Biodegradable, Self-Powered, Chitosan-Based Food Packaging Material

  • Grace Yuan, College Park High School, Spring, TX, United States of America
  • Nikita Catherine D’Souza, College Park High School, The Woodlands, TX, United States of America

National Taiwan Science Education Center

National Taiwan Science Education Center (NTSEC) is a national organization and science center aiming at promoting science education in Taiwan. NTSEC holds Taiwan International Science Fair (TISF) every year to encourage Taiwanese students as well as international participants with excellent performance in science research to showcase their work. Taiwan International Science Fair Special Award recognizes projects with the best creativity and scientific applications and offers opportunities to participate in TISF.

ANIM042 — BeeMind AI: Development of an AI-Based System to Assess Honeybee Health, Behavior, and Nutrient Effects on Learning and Memory

  • Matthew Allen Lo, The Haverford School, Berwyn, PA, United States of America

BCHM013 — Characterization of Antimicrobials From the Soil Bacterium Xenorhabdus szentirmaii

  • Ritisha Dey, Shorewood High School, Shorewood, WI, United States of America

NC State College of Engineering

NC State is home to one of the world’s finest colleges of engineering and computer science. NC State Engineering integrates classroom learning, research, and hands-on experience, and our graduates emerge with the skills they need to succeed. Award winners will take part in a week-long summer camp, completing hands-on engineering challenges, exploring solutions, and sharing achievements along with other aspiring engineers.

BCHM036 — On the Synthesis of Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles From Eggshells via the Sol-Gel Method

  • Viraj Luthra, Chantilly High School, Chantilly, VA, United States of America

BMED019 — Accelerating Breast Cancer Diagnoses: Leveraging Machine Learning to Accurately Predict Breast Cancer Presence and Growth With Hormonal Data

  • Joshua Hyungwan Kim, McCallie School, Chattanooga, TN, United States of America

CBIO011 — Utilizing Deep Learning to Facilitate Diagnosis of Look-Alike Leukemia Subtypes

  • Tessla Chan, Roslyn High School, Roslyn, NY, United States of America

ENBM076 — Utilizing 3D Additive Biomanufacturing To Develop a Biocompatible, Customizable and Durable Mechanical Aortic Valve – Year 2

  • Aadi Nishant Bhensdadia, Pine View School, Sarasota, FL, United States of America

ENEV079 — Democratizing Desalination: Study of Materials and Methods To Make Desalination Less Energy Intensive and Affordable

  • Ahil Thendral, Northwest High School, Germantown, MD, United States of America

MATH036 — Data-Driven Predictive Mathematical Model of Fish Population Dynamics

  • Eleanor Kathleen Rossi, Jamestown High School, Williamsburg, VA, United States of America

BMED003 — E-cadherin Expression as a Predictor of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Early Onset Colorectal Cancer

  • Anika Bhandare, Sebring High School, Sebring, FL, United States of America

EBED025 — Omni Wheel: An Innovative Wheel Design for a Walker With Pressure Tracking, Lidar Sensing and Braking Capability

  • Annika Chadha, duPont Manual High School, Louisville, KY, United States of America

ENEV005 — An Integrated Algae Mitigation System to Seek & Abate Harmful Algal Blooms (Year 5)

  • Sharanya S. Natarajan, Edgewood Junior Senior High School, Melbourne, FL, United States of America

Non-Trivial

How can you actually change the world? The Non-Trivial Fellowship is an online part-time program for high school students aged 14-20 to start solving the world’s most pressing problems. You’ll learn from experts like artificial intelligence pioneer Yoshua Bengio, get a $500 scholarship, and up to $15,000 in funding. We participate in ISEF to recognise and encourage projects tackling the world’s most pressing problems, like climate change, pandemics, and risks from artificial intelligence. Read more and apply: nntrvl.org/ISEF

10 scholarships for Non-trivial

ANIM004 — Analysis of the Larvicidal Biopotential of Jua Bravo (Solanum viarum Dunal) on Mosquito Larvae Causing Tropical Diseases

  • Pedro Paulo Milhomem Braga, Escola Santa Teresinha, Imperatriz, Brazil

ANIM007 — Utilizing Microbiome Transplants to Improve Landscape-Scale Mosquito Suppression

  • Logan Tokuzo Kaenohomekahau’oli Lee, Iolani School, Honolulu, HI, United States of America

CBIO013 — Atomically Yours: Novel DeepGraphDTI Takes Fight Against Future Pandemics to the Next Level

  • Wan Qin Lim, Hwa Chong Institution, Singapore, Singapore

CELL031 — Identification of Survivin as a Novel Longevity Biomarker: Towards Developing Novel Anti-Aging Therapeutics

  • Lana Hamza Almazroei, Dar Al-Tarbia Al-Hadetha, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ENBM059 — DengueScreen: A Novel Computer Vision-Based Diagnostic Alternative for Dengue Fever Prioritizing Efficiency, Cost-Effectiveness, and Accuracy

  • Jackson Wilson, Highlands High School, Fort Thomas, KY, United States of America

ROBO063 — Bias in Large Language Models (LLMs); Paving the Way for an Equitable Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

  • Rihito Kotani, Tokyo Gakugei University International Secondary School, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan

SOFT019 — Back Propagation Neural Network Based Framework for Unknown Malware Detection

  • Yi-Jhe Chen, The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, New Taipei City, Taiwan

TMED044 — MalaScope – A Low-Cost Deep Learning Sensor for Label-Free Detection of Malaria

  • Gurnoor Kaur, Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute , Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Office of Naval Research on behalf of the United States Navy and Marine Corps

The Naval Science Awards Program (NSAP) is a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps program that encourages our nation’s students to develop and retain an interest in science and engineering. NSAP recognizes the accomplishments of eligible students at regional and state science and engineering fairs, as well as the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in producing and presenting quality science and engineering projects.

The Chief of Naval Research Scholarship Award of $15,000

EBED013 — Project Vision: Assisted Navigation & Waypoint Positioning Through 3D Mapping

  • James Nagler, Garden City High School, Garden City, NY, United States of America

ETSD025 — How Magnetically Suspended Tires Utilizing High-Temperature Superconductivity and Electromagnetism Creates the Most Eco-Friendly Vehicle

  • Isabella Alexandria Pinto, Hanford High School, West Richland, WA, United States of America

ETSD039 — Impact of Toroidal Propeller Design on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Acoustic Signature and Aerodynamic Performance

  • Hannah Brooke Jansen, Governor’s School at Innovation Park, Nokesville, VA, United States of America

ETSD061 — Higher-Efficiency Altitude-Adaptive Dynamic Rocket Engine Nozzle

  • Timucin Erbas, Acton Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, MA, United States of America

Patent and Trademark Office Society

The PTOS is a membership-based organization for Patent and Trademark professionals and other interested individuals. From its inception in 1917, the Society has been dedicated to the improvement and appreciation of the United States Patent and Trademark Systems through promoting the systems’ growth and well-being, as well as promoting the social and intellectual welfare of the Society members.

A flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol will be given to the top winner of this Special Award.

Top Award of $1,000, and an American flag and a framed copy of the first patent granted in the USA

Second Award of $500

ANIM047 — Determining the Distribution of Arginine in Gracilaria salicornia and Codium edule and Fibropapillomatosis Rates in Chelonia mydas in Kāneʻohe Bay

  • Maddux Alexander Springer , Iolani School, Kaneohe, HI, United States of America

BMED020 — Early Detection of Ankylosing Spondylitis Using Analysis of Breathing Patterns With Neural Networks

  • Jayveer Sachin Kochhar, Jamnabai Narsee International School, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

ENBM082 — AquaGuard: A Device for Real-Time Drowning Detection in Swimming Pools Utilizing Visual-Spatial Perception With Deep Encoder-Decoder Neural Networks

  • Aadi Deshmukh, Moravian Academy, Macungie, PA, United States of America

ETSD042 — Submersible Aerial Vehicle Design Study

  • Chetana Gunawardhana, Broad Run High School, Ashburn, VA, United States of America

PHYS012 — Development and Demonstration of a Low-Cost Strip-PET Scanner Prototype

  • Samikshya Mahapatra, College Station High School, College Station, TX, United States of America

PHYS040 — Development of New Beam Configurations for OMEGA To Achieve Highly Uniform Indirect Drive Implosions With Cubic Symmetry

  • Edward Wu, Pittsford Sutherland High School, Pittsford, NY, United States of America

SOFT008 — Revolutionizing CVD Prevention and Management: A Comprehensive AI-Powered Solution

  • Adi Abedalqader AlHourani, Islamic Educational College – Jubeiha, Amman, Jordan

Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation Council

The Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council is committed to promoting advancements in research, development, and innovation initiatives locally and globally. QRDI catalyzes progress across various sectors, fostering collaboration and partnerships to address pressing societal issues and promote sustainable growth. The QRDI Awards acknowledge outstanding achievements in research and innovation across four distinct categories. Each team will receive a $500 award for their remarkable contributions to research and discovery.

The Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation Council awards will recognize 10 projects in the following categories: Cellular and Molecular Biology, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics, Environmental Engineering, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Robotics and Intelligent Machines, Materials Science, Environmental Engineering, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Embedded Systems

BEHA011T — A Sensor-Integrated Wearable Device for Support During Autism Spectrum Disorder Meltdowns by Applying the Deep Pressure Stimulation

  • Dana Mazen Al-Momani, Jubilee School, Amman, Jordan
  • Layan Atef Al-Shobaki, Jubilee School, Amman, Jordan

BMED040 — The Effect of Sugar Substitutes on Amyloid-BETA Plaque Aggregation: A Novel Link Between Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease

  • Paige Hinkle, Wilson High School , Sinking Spring, PA, United States of America

CELL032T — Decoding ASXL3: A Novel Biomarker for Neurodevelopmental Disorders

  • Lara Hammoud, Detroit Country Day School, Franklin, MI, United States of America
  • Maya Sarah Hammoud , Detroit Country Day School, Franklin , MI, United States of America

EAEV070 — Forward Modelling of Climate Change-Induced Sedimentation and Effects on Coastal Ecosystems

  • Kevin Hao, Knox Grammar School, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

EBED021T — A Comprehensive Assistive System for Enhancing Independence in Individuals with Quadriplegia

  • Sultan Nasser Al-Malki, Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School for Boys, Doha, Qatar
  • Talal Eisa Ghanem, Qatar Science and Technology Secondary School for Boys, Doha, Qatar

ENEV018T — Development of a Solar Powered Buoy to Measure and Report the Pollution Level of Wetlands

  • Eray Akin, Izmir Fen Lisesi, Izmir, Bornova, Turkey
  • Murat Leylekoglu, Izmir Fen Lisesi, Izmir, Turkey
  • Nisa Iltekin, Izmir Fen Lisesi, Izmir, Bornova, Turkey

ENEV028 — Aerosol Driven Purification: A Novel Method for Purifying Water Utilizing Phase Changes

  • Megan Reyna Yeager, Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School, Gambrills , MD, United States of America

ETSD017 — SMART (Sustainable, Modular, Additively-manufactured, Robust, Tower-style) Urban Farming

  • Gedeon Kusuma Ang, Raffles Institution, Singapore, Singapore

Qorvo technology has been at the heart of systems that connect, protect and power the planet for more than 30 years. As a company, we foster multiple outreach activities, focus on building a strong foundation for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). An important pillar of our Qorvo Cares Program is promoting STEM Education, where the passions of our scientific communities are cultivated, inspired, and transferred to the next generations of young people, including our future employees, customers, and global community networks.

Qorvo Innovator Award – 1st Place

Qorvo Innovator Award – 2nd Place

ROBO047 — Extraterrestrial Exploration Hexapod With Tactile AI-Based Gait Adjustment

  • Haodong Wei, Cranbrook Kingswood School, Troy, MI, United States of America

Qorvo Innovator Award – 3rd Place

EBED019 — MagGrid: Non-Levitative Electromagnet Robot Propulsion Method for 2-D Material Handling

  • Shangqiu Li, Camas High School, Camas, WA, United States of America

Ricoh USA, Inc

Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services that enable individuals to work smarter from anywhere. With cultivated knowledge and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 86-years history, Ricoh is a leading provider of digital services and information management, and print and imaging solutions designed to support digital transformation and optimize business performance. Ricoh has a long-standing environmental mission and commitment to sustainability, bringing corporate, social and environmental responsibilities into balance.

Ricoh Sustainable Development Award of $10,000

EGSD018 — SkyWindFarm: Harnessing High Altitude Wind Power in Scalable Manner

  • Yash Dagade, Eden Prairie High School, Eden Prairie, MN, United States of America

Serving Society Through Science

Serving Society Through Science (SSTS) is dedicated to recognizing talented individuals who seek to serve humanity. SSTS awards creative, outstanding projects that have the potential to improve the lives of people or represent a dramatic scientific advancement.

First Award of $1000

BMED037 — Recasting an Anti-Psychotic as a Prevention for Multiple Arthritides: Discovery of a Novel Receptor and Mechanism of Action

  • Vidya Ambati, Albemarle High School, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America

MATH021 — The Perforation of p-adics: Closing a Gap in Hensel’s Lemma Through the Convergence Inequality

  • Imaad Uzun, New Rochelle High School, New Rochelle, NY, United States of America

EGSD030 — A Self-Adjusting Resonating Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Collector Based on a Cantilever Structure

  • Jiayang Wang, Menaul School, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

ENBM056 — Investigating the Effects of Hemarthrosis on the Structure and Function of ACL Repair

  • Kento Luke Hong, Edgemont High School, Scarsdale, NY, United States of America

ENEV042 — A Novel Shade Dome to Reduce Water Evaporation in the Great Salt Lake

  • Christina Zhang, InTech Collegiate High School, North Logan, UT, United States of America

PHYS049 — Discovery of Two Potentially Habitable Super-Earths! StealthPlanetFinder: Innovative & Computationally Efficient Algorithms to Detect Exoplanets Overcoming Low Signal-to-Noise Ratio

  • Khedaar Kashyap, Leland High School, San Jose, CA, United States of America

ROBO038 — Design of a Low-Cost, Low Inertia, Backdrivable Upper-Body Humanoid

  • Jilly Abraham Choi, duPont Manual High School, Louisville, KY, United States of America

TMED048 — Analyzing the Effects of Altretamine Chemotherapy Drug on Drosophila melanogaster Ocular Melanoma Models

  • Diya Ghosh, Academies of Loudoun, Leesburg, VA, United States of America

Shanghai Youth Science Education Society

Shanghai Youth Science Education Society (SYSES) is committed to popularizing and disseminating science and technology to young people and the public. As a leading STEM education organization which has a long history, SYSES works with hundreds of researchers and industry experts in STEM field, providing high-quality online and on-site STEM education resources and training programs. Awards are given to recognize outstanding projects in all disciplines.

ENBM011 — STEPs Ahead: Self-Powered Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Dynamic Multidirectional Pressure Sensing

  • Jiaqi Wu, NUS High School of Mathematics & Science, Singapore, Singapore

ENEV002T — Autonomous Ecosystem Surveillance Vehicle: An Autonomous Aquatic Environmental Patrol Boat Aimed at Reducing Current Capability Gaps in Aquatic Bio-Security Sector by Realtime Data Transmission

  • Chit Bryan Lao , Pui Ching Middle School, Macau, China, Macao Special Administrative Region
  • Pok Man Han, Pui Ching Middle School, Macau SAR, China, Macao Special Administrative Region
  • Wang Hei Lei, Pui Ching Middle School, Macau, China, Macao Special Administrative Region

PHYS057 — A Novel Hadronization Model Explaining Charm-Quark Hadronization in Different Collision Systems Through Yet-Unobserved Excited States and Cluster Volume Dependence

  • Shuhan Luo, Worcester Academy, Worcester, MA, United States of America

ROBO032 — Tremor-Adaptive Assistive Dining Solution: A Robotic Arm Integrating Computer Vision and Active Stabilization for Enhanced Autonomy

  • Tianhao Shao, Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School, Shanghai, China

TECA004T — Revolutionizing Language Learning With Connexelerator: An AI-Powered Approach

  • Ethan Snow, Liberty High School, Hillsboro, OR, United States of America
  • Jared Lim, Liberty High School, Hillsboro, OR, United States of America

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

Founded in 1886, Sigma Xi is the international honor society of research scientists and engineers, with a distinguished history of service to science and society. This multi-disciplinary society includes members who were elected based on their research achievements or potential, and historically, more than 200 members have won the Nobel Prize. The Society is pleased to offer awards for the best demonstration of interdisciplinary research.

First Life Science Award of $1,200

ANIM027T — Identifying New Sponge Species From Qatar Marine Environment Using Molecular Techniques

  • Alanood Ali Aljalahma, Qatar Technical School For Girls, Doha, Qatar
  • Fajer Saif Albloshi, Qatar Technical School For Girls, Doha, Umm Qarn, Qatar

Second Life Science Award of $800

ANIM023T — Reducing Carbon Footprint and Producing Biofuel From Waste Degradation and Conversion by Black Solider Fly

  • Naphudon Sriratana, Bangkok Christian College, Bangkok, -, Thailand
  • Paponphat Viroonvaiwut , Bangkok Christian College, Bangkok , Bangkok , Thailand

First Physical Science Award of $1,200

MATS048T — Enhancing Tea-Waste Based Biopolymer Nanocomposite Performance Through a Biomimetic Cuticular Hydrocarbon Coating: A Sustainable Packaging Alternative

  • Amal Fayad, Arizona College Prep High School, Gilbert, AZ, United States of America
  • Siyaa Poddar, Arizona College Prep High School, Chandler, AZ, United States of America

Second Physical Science Award of $800

ENEV069T — Eco-Friendly Fabric: Use of Algae and Seagrass in Paper Production

  • Martin A. I. Stella Nieves, Colegio Bautista de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico
  • Patrick Noah Pena, Colegio Bautista de Caguas, Caguas, Puerto Rico

First Award Behavioral and Social Science Award of $1,200

BEHA028T — The RIGHT Model: A Novel Personal Development Tool for Adolescents

  • Jia Hui Keng, Heng Ee High School , Penang , Georgetown , Malaysia
  • Sher Meng Neoh, Heng Ee High School , Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia
  • Wan Yunn Ng, Heng Ee High School , Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Second Behavioral and Social Science Award of $800

The University of Texas at Dallas

As one of the nation’s fasting growing research public universities, The University of Texas at Dallas is a Carnegie R1 doctoral classification university of very high research activity established by the founders of Texas Instruments. With nearly 31,000 students from over 100 different countries, UT Dallas offers top-ranked programs in the arts and sciences, engineering and management with a commitment to graduating well-rounded members of the global community whose education has prepared them for rewarding lives and productive careers in a constantly changing world.

Scholarship awards of $5,000 per year, renewable for up to four years

BEHA019 — Illuminating Minds: Shining a Light on Atypical Dyslexia Therapies

  • Madilyn Ann Dickinson, St. Patrick Catholic High School, Gulfport, MS, United States of America

BEHA024 — Using Bidirectional Transformer Neural Networks for Advancing Gender Bias Recognition in STEM Job Advertisements

  • Nina Van Zandweghe, Solon High School, Solon, OH, United States of America

CBIO010 — Using Machine Learning to Detect Sequential Patterns in the Temporal Ordering of Dynamic States as Candidate Biomarkers for Parkinson’s Disease

  • Yahya Younus, Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, AR, United States of America

CBIO016 — Combating the Drug Epidemic: A Machine-Learning Framework to Predict Novel Drug-Drug Interaction Risks of Illicit Drug Abuse

  • Dean Wang, Century High School, Rochester, MN, United States of America

CBIO043 — Elucidating RSV-Host Protein-Protein Interactions: Novel implementation of Graph Attention Networks (GAT) and Structural Visualization

  • Aditya Lakshminarasimhan, BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

CELL036 — Tinted Truths: Revealing the Relationship Between Tartrazine and the Dysregulation of Retrotransposons and p53 Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

  • Manya Gummaraju, Plano East Senior High School, Plano, TX, United States of America

CHEM052 — Analyzing Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Through Atomistic Simulations

  • Akilan Sankaran, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, NM, United States of America

EBED014 — SkyCatcher: An Annular-Structured UAV for Enhanced Grasping and Delivery Solutions

  • Zijun Xu, Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX, United States of America

ENBM017 — GlaucoScreen: A Novel Deep Learning-Based System for Glaucoma Detection and Progression Monitoring

  • Siddhartha Reddy Milkuri, Bentonville High School, Bentonville, AR, United States of America

MATS017 — Colorimetric Smart Packaging System: A Carbohydrate-Based Plastic Alternative for Detecting Food Spoilage

  • Cuauhtemoc Zamora, Veterans Memorial High School, Corpus Christi, TX, United States of America

MCRO018 — Bioinspired Materials to Reduce Infective Endocarditis in Artificial Heart Valves

  • Megan Alexandria Whitt, Wilsonville High School, Wilsonville, OR, United States of America

PHYS011 — Investigating the Use of Parallel Computing With Quantum Computers

  • Jesse Daniel Miller, College Park High School, The Woodlands, TX, United States of America

PHYS014 — Reinforcement Learning Based Kinematic Controller and Proportional-Integrative-Derivative Based Dynamic Controller for Soft Robots

  • Anirudh Mazumder, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Euless, TX, United States of America

ROBO013 — GaitGuardian: Real-Time Freezing of Gait Prediction and Progression Analysis for Parkinson’s Disease

  • Viren Rayappa Bankapur, Independence High School, Frisco, TX, United States of America

TMED007 — Utilizing Indocyanine Green and Sodium Alginate With Microsphere Drug Delivery and Infrared Imaging: A Model to Create More Accessible Therapeutic and Diagnostic Tools for Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer

  • Rashmi Rani Basu, Keystone School, San Antonio, TX, United States of America

TMED012 — Selection and Preclinical Testing of DNA Aptamers as Targeted Tau Therapies: A Novel Approach to Slow the Progression of Tauopathies

  • Maya Reddy, Leander High School, Leander, TX, United States of America

TUBITAK The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Türkiye

TÜBİTAK is the leading agency for funding and conduct of research in Türkiye. TÜBİTAK is responsible for promoting, developing, organizing, conducting, coordinating research and development in line with national targets and priorities. TÜBİTAK not only supports innovation, academic and industrial R&D studies but also develops scientific and technological policies and manages R&D institutes, carrying on research, technology and development studies. TÜBİTAK will distribute 5 cash awards to the best projects, each of which is in the amount of $1,000 in ISEF 2024.

1st Prize Award

BMED038 — A Novel Enhancement of Statinsâ Solubility with Hydroxypropyl BETA-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex via Molecular Dynamics and in vitro Validation

  • Elyas Khan, Dar AlFikr Schools, Jeddah, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

CELL018T — Modeling the Possible Connection Between the Variation of Homozygous Birc6 Gene and the Premature Ovarian Insufficiency on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

  • Deren Zehra Unuvar, Izmir Ozel Ege Lisesi, Izmir, Kemalpasa, Turkey
  • Zeren Ovul, Izmir Ozel Ege Lisesi, Izmir, Karsiyaka, Turkey

EGSD016 — Improving Aerodynamic Characteristics of Helical Wind Turbines With Modified Blades

  • Anne Marie Bobes, Markgraf-Albrecht-Gymnasium Osterburg, Seehausen, Germany

U.S. Agency for International Development

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the government agency that helps people create better futures for themselves – no matter what country they live in. USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people progress beyond assistance. USAID is leveraging the promise of innovation, technology and research to bring about positive change and solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

USAID Science for Development First Award – Global Health and Nutrition

ROBO036T — SCOMAE: Diagnosing Tuberculosis From Cough Acoustics Using Supervised COntrastive Masked AutoEncoders

  • Faisal Isam Nabulsi, Acalanes High School, Walnut Creek, CA, United States of America
  • Michael Xu, The Taft School, East Brunswick, NJ, United States of America

Second Award Global Health and Nutrition

MATS042T — Alternative Organic Sanitary Pads From Plant Fibers Enhanced with Gooseberry Extract Coating

  • Siriarpha Panturaporn, Montfort College, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Siripapha Panturaporn, Montfort College, Hang Dong, Chiang Mai , Thailand

Third Award Global Health and Nutrition

USAID Science for Development First Award – Education and Youth

Second Award Education and Youth

BEHA032 — Prevention of Gun Violence Through the Buffering Effects of Intellectual Humility in Traumatized Psychopaths

  • Maya Shah, Martin STEM School, Arlington, TX, United States of America

Third Award Education and Youth

BEHA054 — A Review of the Use and Promotability of Mental Health Apps by Teenagers

  • Nira Goyal, Martin County High School, Palm City, FL, United States of America

USAID Science for Development First Award – Climate and Environmental Protection

ENEV036 — A New Cost-effective Adsorbent Device for Civic Remediation to Reduce Lead, Copper and Cadmium in Surface Water Runoff

  • Kshemaahna Nagi, Vidyashilp Academy, Bengaluru, India

Second Award Climate and Environmental Protection

ENEV011 — A Low Cost and High Performance Xylem-Activated Carbon Filter Water Purification Device: A Novel Approach to the Global Clean Water Crises

  • Ruvarashe Moyo, USAP Community School, Harare, Harare, Zimbabwe

Third Award Climate and Environmental Protection

ENEV004T — Leveraging Electrochemistry and Light Scattering to Improve Air Quality Detection

  • Haaris Masood, Scarsdale International School, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
  • Haon Kim, Scarsdale International School, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

USAID Science for Development First Award – Working in Crisis and Conflict

Second Award Working in Crisis and Conflict

EBED006T — A Mesh Network-Integrated Multi-Robot Team With Electronic Nose for Human Detection Under Rubble in Post-Disaster Scenarios

  • Burak Eren Demir, Ataturk High School of Science, Yalova, Turkey
  • Muhammet Basar Ozcan, Ataturk High School of Science, Manisa, Turkey
  • Salih Celik, Ataturk High School of Science, Afyonkarahisar, City Centre, Turkey

Third Award Working in Crisis and Conflict

United States Environmental Protection Agency

From nanomaterials a billionth of a meter in size to global climate dynamics, EPA scientists and engineers are investigating every scale of our environment and the links between environment and human health. EPA conducts research that addresses the highest priority science needs of the nation. The work performed by EPA scientists, engineers and their research partners improves the quality of the air we breathe, the water that sustains us, and the land upon which we live.

The Patrick Hurd Sustainability Award covers travel for the ISEF finalist to attend and participate in EPA’s National Sustainable Design Expo

EAEV065 — Spectroscopic and Colorimetric Analysis of Textiles Dyed With Local Invasive Plant Species and Waste-Derived Mordants

  • Lucia Marie Lammers, Harrison High School, Harrison , NY, United States of America

ENEV039 — From Trash to Treasure: Fighting Desertification With Sustainable Soil Amending Hydrogels Synthesized From Food Waste

  • Sarah Rumei Gao, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, CA, United States of America

University of Arizona

Established in 1885, the University of Arizona is the state’s land-grant university. Recognized as a global leader, Arizona is also a leader in research, bringing more than $622 million in research investment each year, and ranking 21st among all public universities. Arizona offers over 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in 16 academic colleges. Arizona will award scholarships to outstanding awardees who have demonstrated robust research for the greater good of society.

Renewal Tuition Scholarship

ANIM024 — Analysis of Equine Gut Microbiota by Living Environment

  • Lauren Tittel, Oregon Episcopal School, Sherwood, OR, United States of America

ANIM041T — Investigating the Apoptotic Induction Potential of Various Chemical Food Preservatives on Caenorhabditis elegans

  • Jishnu Nayak, Arizona College Prep High School, Gilbert, AZ, United States of America
  • Ohm Patel, Arizona College Prep High School, Chandler, AZ, United States of America

BMED029 — Unraveling the Achilles’ Heel of Human Tumors: Moving Towards Inducing Mutational Meltdown by Deciphering the Most Deleterious Mutational Processes

  • Auhona Hia Shil, University High School, Tucson, AZ, United States of America

BMED077 — FungiBug: Detection of Fungal Infection via a Rapid, Accurate, Handheld Small Blood Volume Diagnostic Device and Color Analysis

  • Rishabh Sreepathy, ASU SCENE, Scottsdale, AZ, United States of America

BMED090 — Development of a Cathepsin B-Responsive Hydrogel for the Targeted Delivery of Cancer Immunotherapy

  • Noah Russell Kaleekal, Irvington High School, Fremont, CA, United States of America

CBIO012 — A-BiRD: Automated Bird Recognition Device – Revolutionizing Ornithological Research for Global Bird Conservation

  • Finnegan Liam McGill, Tanque Verde High School, Tucson, AZ, United States of America

CELL027 — The Function of p53 in Intestinal Epithelium Wound Healing

  • Sohini Mallick, University High School, Tucson, AZ, United States of America

CELL043 — Dissecting Glioblastoma: CRISPR Knockout of Hif-1ALPHA Disrupts Downstream Targets

  • Neve Eliza Bawden, Bountiful High School, Bountiful, UT, United States of America

EAEV031 — Ferrofluid Extraction of Microplastics

  • Juliannah Gavin, Veritas Christian Community School, Sierra Vista , AZ, United States of America

EAEV086 — Aquatic Toxicity of Sunscreen Ingredients in Freshwater Ecosystems

  • Mallika Joy Sinha, BASIS Peoria, Peoria, AZ, United States of America

ENBM067 — A Rigid-Elastic Hybrid Finger Exoskeleton Rehabilitation System (FERS) for Stroke Patients With Motor Impairment

  • Brad Wu, Arizona College Prep High School, Chandler, AZ, United States of America

PHYS054 — Beyond the Star: A Data-Driven Approach to Exoplanet Classification

  • Prithika Chauhan, Hamilton High School, Gilbert, AZ, United States of America

PLNT058 — A Prickly Project: Extracting and Quantifying Oxalate Concentrations in Opuntia engelmannii

  • Ella Walsh, University High School, Tucson, AZ, United States of America

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Westlake University

Established in 2018, Westlake University is a leading research university with a strong emphasis on fundamental scientific research and cutting-edge technological innovation in Hangzhou, China. Our university is making pioneering research breakthroughs and advancing the frontiers of knowledge by inspiring the next generation of leaders in science and engineering from diverse cultures through world-class research, international collaboration, and academic programs taught in English.

Westlake University is awarding Pre-college Summer Program Scholarships, covering the program fee, lodging, food, insurance, round-trip international airfare, and excursions in Hangzhou & Shanghai this summer, to two finalists. Outstanding students will be given priority with full scholarships for undergraduate admissions, applicable to any major, at Westlake University.

YM American Academy

YM American Academy (YMAA) is a leading education consulting organization, dedicated to help US and Chinese students apply to US universities, graduate schools and high schools. We are focusing on the student’s life growth through our comprehensive service and guidance. YM American Academy (YMAA) is pleased to award outstanding projects that display outstanding creativity, ingenuity in science and engineering, focusing on all areas in chemistry sciences.

CHEM064 — Unveiling New Horizons in 2D Materials: Computational Discovery of a Metallic Boron Nitride Monolayer

  • Jerry Chen, Saint John’s School, Carolina, Puerto Rico

Second Award of $1000

CHEM025T — B.O.P.I : Black Pepper, Oregano and Pineapple Peel Insecticide as an Novel, Cost-Effective and Eco-friendly Fumigant to Eradicate Sitophilus oryzae

  • Khai Chin Ong, Chung Ling High School Penang, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
  • Shun Zhan Na, Chung Ling High School Penang, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Third Award of $500.00

CHEM049 — Quantifying Live Cell Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation Condensates

  • Lilian Gan, University High School, Irvine, CA, United States of America

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Home > ETD > Doctoral > 5520

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Multiple perspectives examining how a high school junior reserve officer training corps (jrotc) program affects student development: a case study.

Kurt Duane Barry , Liberty University Follow

School of Education

Doctor of Philosophy

Jerry Woodbridge

motivation, self-efficacy, accomplishment, belonging, student development, discipline, JROTC

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership

Recommended Citation

Barry, Kurt Duane, "Multiple Perspectives Examining How a High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) Program Affects Student Development: A Case Study" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects . 5520. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5520

The purpose of this case study was to examine how a high school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program affects student development of their personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment by fusing the perspectives of the school administrators, JROTC instructors, and school guidance counselors for a more holistic view. The theories guiding this study are Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, which relate to secondary student development for cadets in the JROTC program. The central research question focused on the benefits of a school’s JROTC program to the cadets enrolled. The research setting engaged 12 participants from three school districts throughout Georgia. Three of the four traditional military service branches (Air Force, Army, and Navy) were represented in these school district’s JROTC programs. A qualitative explanatory case study was selected since it would give more flexibility and greater depth of research than a pure phenomenological study. The data collected includes online surveys, open-ended and structured interviews, and focus groups. The data analysis used coding and theme delineation. Commonalities among the responses provided codes and four emergent themes emerged, including the development of discipline, a sense of belonging, motivation, and confidence. This study highlighted the positive outcomes of the JROTC program, which provided the development of discipline, supported by a sense of belonging, motivation, and increased confidence through self-esteem and self-efficacy behaviors of those enrolled in the JROTC program.

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Two Lubbock students showcase research at international science fair

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Two young Lubbock scientists are back home after representing the Hub City on a global level. High school seniors Calvin Carpenter and Aaron Chaloupka competed at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles last week.

Carpenter, a senior at All Saints Episcopal School, placed fourth this year, his third time at the competition. After a trip to Carlsbad Caverns in the fourth grade, he’s been studying bats for nine years. He’s been able to work with a mentor at Texas Tech, researching a deadly fungus threatening the population.

“I’ve always been a curious kid, but whenever I found out about bats, I just started working on the science fair project,” Carpenter said. “I just kept going because I saw I was on par with scientists and was right there with them doing the research. I was very excited and that’s that’s what pushed me to to keep going.”

Christ the King Diocesan School senior Aaron Chaloupka has also been a part of researching real-world issues. His project focuses on depleting water sources and helping farmers and golf courses make better use of the water they can get.

“That’s huge because normally you don’t see kids getting to be a part of the solutions,” Chaloupka said. “We were looking at creating a chemical application to kind of combat the water issue with the high salt content, so they’re not spending a ton of money or having to redo their entire course in order to fix the issues.”

Sandra Hancock has been helping students reach the International Science and Engineering Fair for years.

“It’s amazing just to see the light come on, and some of the kids eyes for what they’ve done or what they’ve discovered, you know, that aha moment. Like OK, I was doing this and I really found this out,” she said.

She’s the executive director for the South Plains Regional Science Fair . Fourth through twelfth graders who win their school science fairs can move on to the regional, which covers 42 counties.

Hancock says Covid has taken a toll on the competition. It usually hosts about 570 students, but last year only 368 students competed. Hancock hopes Carpenter and Chaloupka’s stories will encourage more students to participate.

Chaloupka says it’s helped him prepare for what’s to come studying horticulture at Texas A&M in the fall, and come out of his shell.

“All these people are excited about science and they’re excited to talk and communicate about what they’ve learned. They’re excited to learn about new people from different cultures,” he said.

Carpenter has placed internationally for three years. He says it probably made an impact on his acceptance letter from Cornell University, where he’s headed in the fall.

“Science fair, it’s not something that’s necessarily easy to do...colleges know that this is something that’s hard to do and something that takes a lot of grit in order to get past and just stick with it,” he said. “That’s been my dream school. I wanted to go there and so, I was dead set on trying to figure out how to get there.”

Hancock is excited to see which problems students will help solve next, and where the science fair will take them. Click here to learn more about the South Plains Regional Science Fair .

Copyright 2024 KCBD. All rights reserved.

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