2,893 Inspirational Passion Project Ideas
Turn inspirations into your passion project.
This collection of project ideas, shared by Polygence mentors, is meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.
- AI/ML
- Animation
- Arts
- Biology
- Biotech
- Business
- Cancer
- Chemistry
- Cognitive
- Computer Science
- Creative Writing
- Dance
- Dentistry
- Economics
- Engineering
- Entomology
- Environmental Science
- Ethics
- Fashion
- Finance
- Game Design
- Healthcare
- History
- Illustration
- Languages
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Math
- Medicine
- Music
- Neuroscience
- Nutrition
- Organizational Leadership
- Philanthropy
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Physics
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Quantitative
- Social
- Social Science
- Sports Analytics
- Statistics
- Surgery
Alzheimer's Disease Review Paper
We can work on review papers on preventing, reducing, and/or studying Alzheimer's Disease (AD). This review paper can propose a study involving AD or it can be an educational review where the student compares/contrasts publishing papers. I am open to any ideas revolving AD for a review paper project.
Neuroscience
Human Gene Editing and its therapeutic applications
In this project, you will investigate the history of therapeutic human gene editing, what therapeutic gene technologies are available or are currently being developed, and what conditions these tools are being used for. You may choose to focus more broadly on the history and current status of human gene editing tools and therapy, or focus more closely on a specific gene/condition pair that has been or could be explored for gene therapy (e.g. sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis). You may choose to write a literature review paper, write a blog post, or create a podcast outlining the relevant literature and current state of genetic therapeutic technologies... or, you could come up with another presentation method for displaying what you have learned! There are no solid pre-requisites for this project, though highschool level biology would be useful; my philosophy is to meet people where they are at, and modify the project according to their interests and skillset.
Neuroscience, Cognitive
Let's get creative: blog post, podcast, infographic...
Who ever said academia is boring? Let's get your creativity flowing and work toward a final product that makes scientific knowledge fun. This could be a blog post, podcast, infographic, personal memoir, YouTube video, or so on! Based on your specific research question, we'll start by gathering the information you need (through a survey, interviews, reading existing research on the topic, and so on). We'll then work together to present that information in a creative format.
Psychology, Social Science
Reducing risk of Alzheimer's Disease
Reducing detrimental issues or prevention of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) with life style changes such as exercise, diet, and sleep improvement. I can help students work with senior homes to develop a study to test how we can reduce AD.
Neuroscience
Learning (and coping) strategies in this fast-paced and eventful era
When more than half of our global population was confined to bedrooms and to learn and to work, when online courses and meetings became the norm, when our average human attention span is rapidly shrinking while everything else is booming and luring, how do we keep our focus and keep important information from fading? In this project, you will: - gain comprehensive understanding of attention, memory and learning processes - get to know useful tools and methods (such as mindfulness) in boosting attention, memory and general life satisfaction - Evaluate the validity and reliability of certain intervention-based studies that trying to promote/demote certain practices - conduct interviews and/or questionnaires on one or several of the tools and methods we have discussed
Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive
Game-User Experience Research Study
Explore the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) and games user research (GUR) with a small research study that you design. We'll go through forming a research question and hypothesis, designing a qualitative and/or quantitative experiment, collecting and analyzing data, and writing up a report. This could even result in a scientific publication! Some example research questions could be: - How can game developers avoid unhealthy, "dark", and exploitative patterns of game design? - Are games becoming more open to LGBTQ+ topics? - What do players think about moral systems in games?
Cognitive, Game Design
Authorship Text Analysis Project
Stylometry counts the occurrences of words and expressions in a piece of writing. These frequencies can reveal important information, such as who wrote the text. For example, J.K. Rowling was identified as writing under a pseudonym based on similar patterns of words in both The Cuckoo’s Calling and the Harry Potter books. There are many different applications of stylometry, especially in the fields of linguistics, computer science, forensic science, literature, and history. A project could be in any of these fields and could range from lighter computation (i.e. analyzing different word patterns produced by software) to heavier computation (e.g. calculating statistics, coding in Python to extract the frequencies yourself). You will gain skills in setting up a scientific experiment, conducting a quantitative analysis, reviewing scientific literature, and writing up your results.
Languages, Linguistics, Cognitive
My friend, the Lo-Fi Beats study girl
This project would investigate how people form bonds with animated characters they spend time with, such as with the popular live stream "lofi hip hop radio - beats to relax/study to"
Social, Psychology, Cognitive
What makes people happy and/or healthy?
Why do some people meditate but others don't? Exercise? Floss? How do consumer preferences, goals and motivations dictate their product and activity choices and how do they define what it means to be "healthy"? We can use a mix of qualitative and experimental methods to better understand meaning and choice in the health domain.
Cognitive
Review paper on recent developments in neuropsychiatric therapeutics
Student will investigate the advances in neurospsychiatric behavioral therapeutics, including preclinical animal research and clinical findings in humans. Some topics may include deep brain stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and neuropharmacological approaches.
Psychiatry, Neuroscience
Creating a Science Blog
The best way to learn is by enjoying what you are doing. Do you have a passion or interest in a specific scientific area that you love talking about? Are you interested in science communication? Creating a blog (or podcast, etc.) is a great way to practice clear and concise explanation of scientific topics, making it easy for anyone to understand. This is also an excellent foundation to start creating a portfolio that showcases your work.
Biology, Neuroscience, Cognitive, Medicine
Are you a computer?
Does a person's mind relate to their body as a computer's software relates its hardware? Those who answer ``yes'' endorse the Computational Theory of Mind (CTM). CTM commits you to the view that many, if not all, of a person's mental processes (e.g., their thinking and reasoning) are computer softwares executed by their brain. CTM is fascinating because it gives a unifying answer to a wide array of questions from across the history and philosophy of psychology. Nevertheless, there is broad disagreement over whether CTM is a genuine scientific organizing principle or a merely convenient metaphor. We'll start by familiarizing ourselves with the origins and content of CTM. After that, we'll branch out in accord with your interests. Whichever way we go, we'll strive for a deeper philosophical understanding of how our mental processes facilitate our capacity to navigate and alter our environment. Pre-requisites: A curiosity for the relationship between the mind, body, and environment is all that's required. We will start with thoughtful columns, podcasts, or videos authored by science communicators and public philosophers and engage with recent research and historical movements where needed.
Linguistics, Cognitive
Data Analysis of an Open EEG Data Repository
Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive neural recording that measure electrical potentials generated by the brain using scalp electrodes. In an effort to open scientific collaboration to global researchers, scientists have released EEG datasets as open repositories on websites such as OpenNeuro and PhysioNet, among others. This project would involve analyzing a dataset using data science and statistical methods in pursuit of scientific insight regarding a hypothesis-driven research question. This project will utilize skills ranging from scientific literature review, hypothesis generation and research design, implementation of statistical methods, and programming in Python/MATLAB. This project would be ideal for a student interest in neuroscience or medicine with an aptitude for quantitative methods and coding.
AI/ML, Statistics
How trauma becomes central to our life story
When people are exposed to potentially traumatic events, memories of the traumatic event sometimes become central to their life story. What's more, their ability to recall other, non-traumatic memories can become weakened, a phenomenon known as autobiographical memory disturbance or overgeneralized memory. What causes this disruption to memory? How can clinicians treat these disturbances? And how does this disorganization of memory affect traumatized individuals?
Psychology, Cognitive
Cognitive Compensation Strategies for Individuals with Cognitive Impairment
This project could be a review paper on research-based strategies to help people compensate for cognitive difficulties that may be a result of different physical or mental health conditions. Tasks involved in this project would include exploring current research studies in fields such as clinical psychology, rehabilitation psychology, or others that apply these kinds of interventions and discuss their effectiveness. This could be specialized to a certain population or diagnosis, such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, or others. Ideally, the findings of these studies would be summarized and discussed in a written review, with the goals of professional presentation or publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This could also be a more practically focused piece that could be published in an academic blog or other formats more easily accessible to the general public.
Philosophy, Cognitive, Statistics
How does mindfulness reduce anxiety?
This research idea would allow the student to investigate some of the mechanisms through which both mindfulness and anxiety act, and draw connections between the two to determine how they interact. Through searching existing literature online in research databases, the student would learn to conduct a literature review on a given topic and identify gaps in the literature. The review could be written up and submitted for publication to a scientific high school journal.
Social, Psychology, Cognitive
Analyzing and Understanding Moisture Detection
Human tactile senses are rich and dynamic. By combining information about changes in temperature, chemical environment, and vibration and indentation stimuli, we can construct highly detailed and precise neural representations of objects. Our sense of discriminative touch is based in neurological responses to vibration and indentation stimuli. In our skin we have a wide array of different fiber types, each tuned to a specific stimulus type and intensity, that mediate our sense of touch. While many insects have hygroreceptors that allow them to perceive changes in humidity and moisture in their environment, without these receptors, humans are left to use cognitive processing to discern changes in moisture and wet from dry. Moisture requires sensory integration in the central nervous system and is an emergent sensation that occurs from the integration of inputs rather than a direct signal from the periphery (i.e. touch or heat). Moisture detection proves essential for sensing the world: texture discrimination, object grasping, or gait changes on slippery surfaces. The aim of this project is to understand the way our bodies interact with the physical world through touch. We will learn of the basics of neuroscience and a foundational understanding of our sense of touch. We will investigate how different neurons respond to different stimuli, how this code is transduced, and what properties of physics make this possible. Following this, we will work through the scientific method, analytic statistics, and experimental design. From there, you will write your own project proposal and emulate a laboratory to conduct home experiments to build a qualitative and quantitative understanding of how we detect varying moisture levels.
Neuroscience
Green Exercise and Stress
This study could evaluate how one's level of physical activity - both in an indoor setting and an outdoor setting - impacts them psychologically. Research trends suggest that one's engagement in outdoor physical activity provides more cognitive and psychological benefits than indoor physcial activity. Exploring "green exercise," green space, and one's access to these settings might inform campaigns regarding what type of exercise they should promote most heavily.
Psychology, Statistics
Why do some plants hate tap water?
This project will explore plant physiology by studying the effects of different water sources and filtration methods on house plants. Important topics will include: how do plants process minerals and chemicals in tap water? What solutions can home gardeners use to help their plants thrive? Learn how to conduct controlled experiments to test hypotheses.
Biology, Psychology, Cognitive
Cookies Galore: Why Do We Crave Junk Food?
This project will look at the psychological nature of food cravings and how our mind and body turn us to unhealthy foods, even when (and especially when) we attempt to limit or eliminate them from our diet. For this project, we will look at readings from different perspectives, or schools of thought, surrounding this feeling, and possible ways to combat it.
Psychology, Cognitive
