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
Writing a Literature Review
In this project, you will learn how to choose effective and reputable sources of information in order to illustrate a larger story. We will work together to identify how different pieces of information (i.e, publications, data, media sources, etc.) fit together to form a new understanding, how to effectively communicate the synthesized information to a specific audience, and how to identify the gaps in the current literature. This process will help you gain a deeper understanding of your chosen topic and provide you with directions for future research projects.
Psychology
How is human behavior shaped by societal factors?
How do societal factors - from culture and class, to economic inequality and political polarization - shape human behavior? In this project, you will pick one societal factor you are interested in and do a "deep dive" into how it shapes psychological processing and how people interact with one another. Together, we can explore a range of questions that most interest you, from how do romantic relationships differ across culture or class, to how does economic inequality influence perceptions of trust and competition? This project can either be a scientific review paper or the product of a secondary analysis of data from publicly available sources.
Social, Psychology, Statistics
The Neurological Basis of "Long COVID"
We know that some people have long-term COVID symptoms (brain fog, lethargy, loss of smell/taste), but we don't know why. This project could focus on finding what researchers already know about the way COVID affects the body and brain, and develop some educated hypotheses about the pathology of long COVID symptoms.
Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology
Finding a Better Approach to Treating Brain Cancer
Brain and nervous system cancers are the 10th leading cause of death with over 18,600 adults projected to die this year alone. Even with the current treatment options, the overall five-year survival for people with a central nervous system tumor is only 36%. In this project we can learn about: - The multiple different types of brain cancers and how/why their prognosis and survival rates differ - The challenges we face in treating brain cancer - The current standard of care treatment for patients with brain tumors - New therapeutics that are emerging and what aspects of the current standard of care could we improve on
Neuroscience, Psychology
How to Get Things Done
Setting - and achieving - our goals can be a daunting process. Yet, a wealth of psychological evidence has documented how we can best succeed in fulfilling our goals. In this project students can track their own goals while learning cutting-edge psychological science behind motivation and goal pursuit. Through this project students will gain greater insight into their own goals and behaviors and will gain a grasp on social psychological perspectives underlying motivation and self-regulation.
Social, Psychology, Social Science, Statistics
Void
How do we represent nothingness? Is it even possible? Curated art exhibit featuring visual representations of oblivion, nothingness, the formless. Also features clippings from literature and the arts that touch upon the things that exist in this void: ghosts, monsters, dreams, and the ethereal.
Philosophy, Psychology, Literature, Creative Writing
Exercise for the Mind
Have you ever taken a study break by walking outside? Do you hit the gym or go for a run to destress? Have you ever worked out before an exam to help you remember items better? In this project we would walk through some of the research on exercise and the brain (and where/how to find reliable information). Psychology is a massive field with a lot of content so we could narrow down what you're interested in. The influence of exercise on anxiety, depression, or memory, motivation, or decision making. This project would allow you to gain a more in depth understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the brain/body, as well as psychological constructs and cognitive processes. Potential outcomes of this project could be a research proposal or paper. But if you want to be more creative, there is enough information on this topic to create a podcast or informative YouTube channel! How will you exercise your mind!
Neuroscience, Psychology, Statistics
The Effects of COVID-19 on teacher motivation
Education is facing extreme levels of teacher burnout and resignations. COVID-19 has added various obstacles to teaching and learning such as transitioning to virtual schooling, an increase in mental health concerns, trauma, and economic disparities. Few studies have examined the lived experience of educators addressing these added obstacles and challenges. Together we can approach this topic through a survey or interviews (or both!) to better understand teachers' lived experiences working with students in the COVID-19 era.
Psychology, Social Science
Exploring Culture and Mental Health
How might culture impact how one views mental health? This project would entail interviewing one person to three people from a culture different from your own and examining their views on mental health.
Psychology, Social Science, Public Health
Mapping out the Connectome
The brain is a highway of connected networks composed of billions of cells that can make trillions of connections (called synapses) that allow brains to function! Understanding how different regions of the brain are connected and communicate with each other is crucial to understanding how the brain works. To uncover how the brain works, scientists have attempted to form a "map" of ALL these connections in the brain, known as the "connectome". Students could look into how scientists are trying to form the connectome, how much progress has been made, and what the future holds for this daunting endeavor!
Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology
Why do some children do better in school than others?
Often, we answer this question by thinking about the skills children come to school with. But what if schools have simply been designed to serve some students better than others? In this project, we’ll do a deep-dive into early education literature, and think through how this relates to structural inequity and children’s early language experiences. This would be an awesome review paper for a student journal.
Psychology, Cognitive
Early life experiences impact on mental health
Children and youth are at an influential age. Early life experiences such as family life, education, or adverse events can determine one's trajectory later in life. This project could review existing literature on what circumstances may impact mental health outcomes.
Neuroscience, Psychology, Literature
Social Network Analysis - How are people or organizations connected and why does it matter?
This project explores relationships and patterns found in relationships across individuals, groups, or organizations. If you are interested in strengthening your skills in social network analysis, we can work together to apply this method in your proposed topic. The topics can be diverse, but I hold a dataset of non profit organizations in Genessee county that describes their collaboration patterns with one another. I can support you in the analysis to find any interesting patterns and offer a publication in the form of a student blog to share what you've learned in the process. If interested in another topic, I can work with you to develop a research plan, network survey, and analysis plan. See my paper below for an idea on how social network analysis can be used in child mental health https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0190740920319927
Social, Psychology, Statistics
Examining the effects of digital studying tools on high school exam grades
Flashcards and quizzes offered by test prep websites are increasingly popular with students, but do they offer an advantage over teacher-sanctioned study guides, or are they just another way to reap ad revenue from users? With a control and test sample of high school students, we can determine the value of online study tools and websites compared to traditional textbook review.
Neuroscience, Psychology
The Impact of Historical Pathologization of LGBTQ+ Identities
This study examines the historical pathologization of LGBTQ+ identities in the DSM and its impact. It explores questions about the psychological well-being of LGBTQ+ individuals, community dynamics, stigma, policy implications, and alternative perspectives. The goal is to provide insights into the consequences of pathologization, fostering discussions on LGBTQ+ rights and mental health.
Music, Psychology
Supporting Home Book Reading in Libraries
Early language is critical to later literacy and book reading is the activity that most consistently has been found to be a setting that fosters growth. It is not just book reading, but how books are read that is important. In this project you will work with a children's librarian to develop a method of introducing parents to effective book reading in a reading hour in the children's section of the library. You will identify and practice effective strategeis, with the help of the librarian identify books appropriate for children at different ages, and advertise your sessions. At your sessions you will distribute questionaires and attempt to get parent to volunteer to be contacted by you afterwards. These data will allow you to see how attendees responded to your session, find if some of them adopt and use your methods, if they return for later sessions, and if they note changes in their child's engagement with books. Prerequisites: A willingness to talk with librarians and parents you do not know and to promote your workshop.
Psychology, Social Science, Cognitive
Gray matter atrophy in Alzheimer's patients
I could gather a sample dataset of Alzheimer's disease MRI scans and show you the basics of neuroimaging analysis. From this, we could analyze a dataset together and go through the basics of exploratory data analysis to observe the gray matter differences between patients and cognitively normal adults.
Neuroscience, Psychology, Statistics
Explore your family's global history: Family ancestry & migration project
Students would have the opportunity to research their own family's history, using public historical databases, and create an artistic representation of their lineage (collage, Prezi, graphic design, etc.). Students could focus on learning more about each country and city where their family lived, including art, culture and traditions. They also could focus on interviewing family members and recording stories and tales that have been passed through their family for generations. This project is very flexible and would be adapted to each student, depending on their family's history and their level of connection to family knowledge.
Psychology, Arts, History, Literature, Social Science, Organizational Leadership
Cultural Identity Exploration
What are your cultural identities? How well do you feel like you know/understand your cultural identities? I will be guiding you to look more deeply into your cultural identities and the ways these identities might influence your behaviors, passions, professional interests, etc. You can turn this personal exploration into a blog, website, etc.! I'm open to your ideas for exploration, and I'll work with you to accomplish your goals.
Psychology, Creative Writing, Social Science
The Relationship of Acculturation and Spirituality to Sexual Self-Esteem in Arab American Women
Arab American women are a population of women that have ancestry from any of the four main divisions of the Arab world: The Fertile Crescent, the Nile Valley, the Gulf States, and the Maghreb nations, which altogether constitute 22 countries. There is very limited research into the sexual health of Arab Americans, and in particular, how this can be related to cultural and religious values. Sexual self-esteem, or level of satisfaction with oneself in relation to sex or sexuality, was measured in questionnaires and an interview in a sample of 82 Arab American women who were either first or second-generation immigrants. Correlational analyses and regressions revealed that a participant’s higher affinity to their heritage culture was positively correlated with sexual morality and sexual adaptiveness. This is thought to occur due to the strong bonds and social support offered to the woman through her heritage culture. It was also found that spirituality was negatively correlated with sexual skill and experience. This is consistent with the historical meaning of spirituality, which puts less emphasis on the physical aspect of being.
Social, Psychology, Social Science
