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.

Check out some projects

Improving Efficiency in Manufacturing by Minimizing Waste

Waste is detrimental to any process and ubiquitous in manufacturing. Lean principles like eliminating wasted movement, 5S (sort, straighten shine, standardize, and sustain), value stream mapping, and work-cell design can reduce waste. Each of these principles can also be applied to every day tasks such as cooking a meal in your kitchen. Statistical tools help to determine if changes to processes have been successful. Six Sigma provides a standard set of statistical analysis that can measure if a significant change has been made. Once again, these tools are not limited to manufacturing but could be applied in a variety of projects.

Philanthropy, Business, Statistics

Chris

Product Management 101

Gain real-world experience at product management. Whether you're more interested in traditional product management, UX design, UX research, or product analytics, we'll create a custom experience that lets you learn.

Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Jessica

Launch a volunteer program

We will explore the unique skills and resources that you bring the table, what needs you see in your local community, and what resources you might be able to leverage. From there we will work together on everything from ideation to market research to go-to-market strategy, taking your idea from an initial concept to a robust, actionable plan. Volunteer programs are unique in that they are more successful the more people you're able to involve - along the way, you'll learn and practice key skills around growing and leveraging an engaged network.

Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Jessica

Communications Platform for Wildlife Conservation News

Wildlife policy is a constant cause of conflict between society's differing environmental values. This conflict can lead to polar approaches in wildlife management, suboptimal results for conservation, and often publicly accepted misinformation. The student will address this issue by creating a communications platform for sharing accurate, unbiased and scientific information on high profile wildlife topics of mutual interest. Based on a target audience of students and young professionals, the appropriate medium (blog, website, social media, podcast, etc.) will be designed and specific content curated for this demographic. This content, to also be independently researched and maintained, may include materials generated by the student and credible secondary news articles. Experience in establishing such a tool will provide working knowledge in current events and authoritative sources of information, along with skills gained in strategic and effective communications in science journalism.

Philanthropy, Environmental Science

Joseph

The Psychological Effects of Opioid Use

Through this project, a student can research the psychological effects of opioid use through major psychology and medical journals. The student will write a research paper that could potentially be published.

Psychiatry, Social, Psychology, Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Simran

High School Students and Political Media

This project would address the question, "how are high school students influenced by the politically-focused media they consume?" The student could conduct interviews or focus groups with peers to understand how political news impacts their views on topics in the news, wellbeing, and more. The student could also draw on existing literature to understand the impacts political news has on young people.

Philanthropy, Business

Sonia

Write and pitch an op-ed

Learn how to research, structure, write, edit, and successfully pitch an op-ed or other piece of persuasive writing.

Philanthropy, Organizational Leadership

Matt

Food Industry Case Study

Review the fast-food and/or health and wellness industries and conduct a SWOT analysis on the future of sustainable food, on a national and/or global scale.

Philanthropy

Charlotte

Researching the Application of the 4th Amendment in the Criminal Justice System

This project can focus on investigating how the 4th Amendment is applied in different circuit courts. The student would conduct legal research and draft a paper with findings on the issue. The paper could potentially be published in a research journal.

Psychiatry, Social, Psychology, Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Simran

Launching a Small Business

Channel your passion into profit! Learn what it takes to start a business and how to seek investor funding to help it grow.

Philanthropy

Charlotte

Start-Ups 101

Learn everything you need to launch, refine, or expand your start-up. Haven't started yet? We'll begin with ideation, market research, go-to-market strategy and more, taking your idea from an initial concept to a robust, actionable business plan. Already have something built? We'll evaluate where you are, determine what is needed next, and take things from there. You'll learn not just how to move forward (or not!) with your current business idea, but a strategic way to evaluate potential businesses, programs, or products in the future.

Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Jessica

Develop an advocacy plan for a policy issue

Learn how to develop an advocacy plan that targets a specific audience to increase their support for and/or adoption of a particular policy issue.

Philanthropy, Organizational Leadership

Matt

Mental Health Career (or Startup)

Brainstorm potential careers in the mental health space or help with the early stages of a mental health startup, both in the for profit and in the nonprofit world. By the end of the project, students will be able to (i) make a career choice and understand the potential avenues to work with mental health; or (ii) start their own venture in mental health.

Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Luciana

Freedom of Information

Using freedom of information (FOI) requests, uncover and share information currently unknown by the public. Work to develop a compelling story and deliver it to those whose lives would be improved by this knowledge. Learn to file FOI requests, develop an understanding of local, state, and/or federal government transparency procedures and current obstacles to obtaining information. Establish routines and benchmarks for high-quality writing and compelling story crafting. Understand the mechanisms that allow for stories to have a positive impact.

Philanthropy, Organizational Leadership

Conner

Studying Organization Design

Learn about how to design a company that best fits the needs of the business.

Philanthropy

Charlotte

Policy Analysis of U.S. Endangered Species Act

Implementation of the United States' Endangered Species Act is hotly debated, with questionable outcomes for example in private land conservation or international wildlife trade. After reviewing the legislation and its related administration, along with researching grey literature and ongoing reform positions, the student will draft an impact assessment, make recommendations, and propose specific measures for the appropriate decision makers. This policy analysis will give the student experience in environmental legal mechanisms in the U.S. government and natural resource policy more broadly.

Philanthropy, Environmental Science

Joseph

The Impact of Political Party on Charitable Giving

Analyzing data trends in charitable giving in order to assess how political party impacts individual donations.

Philanthropy, Business

Rebecca

Examining the Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Interpersonal Violence

A devastating unintended consequence of the Covid-19 Pandemic has been an increase in domestic violence cases, particularly among marginalized and under-resourced communities. This project will investigate how the pandemic has interacted with interpersonal violence through the lense of structural inequities.

Philanthropy, Healthcare, Public Health

Zoie

Management Consulting 101

Interested in consulting? The best way to learn is to just get started. We'll work together to find a real business that can use your support, and go from there. You'll gain firsthand experience scoping a project, managing client communications, and leveraging qualitative and quantitative data to execute on a project. We'll close with making sure your resume and LinkedIn showcase your experience.

Philanthropy, Business, Organizational Leadership

Jessica

Mapping a Wildlife Migration Research Problem

Animal migration and habitat corridors is an emerging field of study for conservation biologists and wildlife managers in the American West and around the world. The student will first conduct a robust in-depth literature review on the science of wildlife migration and then create a mapping tool to illustrate a specific research problem. This map can be designed using GIS or other software applications, and from publicly available data sources identified by the student. Skills will be learned in project design, independent research, review of scientific literature, and synthesizing complex issues into concrete management tools.

Philanthropy, Environmental Science

Joseph