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
Critical Humanities Study of Your Choice
We can design and carry out together a project on anything in the humanities that interests you. Though I'm mainly a scholar of literature, philosophy, and music, we can work on anything in the humanities that interests you.
Music, Philosophy, Linguistics
The Qur'ān and Literary Narrative
This project would engage how the semiotics (meaning-making narrative) of the Qur'ān is structured. The Qur'ān is often thought to be a disconnected and 'non-linear' text. This project would engage how, while discursive, the Qur'ān displays coherent thematic connectivity (i.e ring composition) and rhetorical structure. The learning outcomes would be applicable to different literacy genres in general, not simply sacred scripture, and could highlight how semantic shifts, pronominal shifts, shifts in narrator voice, and other features of 'post-modern' literature can still create a thematically connected 'text'.
Philosophy, Languages
Archives! What are they, and how do you use them?
Historians often talk about doing research in archives, but what does this mean in practice? That is, what counts as an "archive," how are they found, what can you do to prepare for archival research, what can you expect to find when you arrive, and what do you actually *do* when you get there? In this project, students will have an opportunity to receive mentorship, advice, and practical guidance on this often crucial—if sometime nebulous—part of the historical research process.
Philosophy, History
Law and Justice
Creating a blog, podcast or written project on law and justice today, questioning different forms of justice and trying to understand how the law relates to society. This could relate to current issues in the news or a historical topic of interest.
Philosophy
Podcast or YouTube Channel
I have co-hosted an evidence-based mental health podcast for two years and was previously hired by TVGuide to host a recap podcast. Given my experience, I can help students craft episodes that incorporate research on a topic of their choice.
Philosophy, Psychology, Creative Writing
Foundations of Quantum Computing and Quantum Algorithms
In this project, you will learn about the theoretical foundations of quantum mechanics and quantum computing as well as explore how quantum computers operate and what makes them efficient. You will write a scientific research paper in Physical Review style surveying the relevant literature and key results about the following topics: • applications of quantum computers to breaking encryption • accelerating search in a database using Grover's algorithm • using quantum computers for scientific modeling and discovery • understanding quantum supremacy • surveying the physical systems used to build quantum computers
Philosophy
An era of gene editing
The 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to two scientists who pioneered the CRISPR gene editing system. CRISPR allows us to make precise edits in a genome, arming researchers with a shiny tool and hopes of making a world with less disease and better crops. With this project, you will choose a question or problem that you think could be addressed using gene editing with CRISPR. After learning how CRISPR works on a technical level, you can design an experiment to edit a gene of interest. The last phase of this project has you consider the broader consequences of gene editing. You can share your insights in an educational video, infographic, or other mediums.
Philosophy
Fix Section 230
Section 230: seems like everyone loves to hate it. Trump hates it. Some Democrats hate it. What gives? Is it the bane of our existence in a world of big tech and big power? Or is it the key to freedom on the Internet? What does it even entail exactly? Put together a policy proposal about how to (if at all) revise Section 230 that would have a chance of bipartisan support.
Philosophy
Review Paper
A review paper is a great way to become a mini-expert in a subject. I will help you find research papers pertaining to your interest and help you craft a paper that synthesizes the research and provides ideas for future study.
Philosophy, Psychology, Creative Writing
Finding Meaning In Game: How Video-Games Use Literature and Philosophy to Create Meaningful Experiences
In this project, a student focuses on a popular video-game and explores how the game's setting, story, characters, and maybe even mechanics are influenced by works in Literature and Philosophy. The student's research would focus on drawing parallels between the game a specific literary/philosophical works and also explores how the presentation of those ideas in the context of the game deviate or align with the original work. A particularly ambitious student might also work on developing a thesis addressing why these texts serve as inspirations for the game or even how the game's use of specific themes and ideas can help illuminate social, political, or economic problems in the present.
Philosophy, Psychology, Arts, Literature
What Can Games Teach Us About Politics?
Politics is often described as a game, where competing "teams" try to score political "points" against each other. This project explores how far the games-politics analogy can take us. In particular, it considers what lessons thinking about sportsmanship and game design might have for political ethics and the design of political institutions. As a final project, students will attempt to create a board game that captures the rules of the political game, both as they are and as they would need to be for the game to be worth playing. Note: Politics is complicated, so be ready to unleash your inner board game geek!
Philosophy
Behavioural economics: effects of nudges
Using either data you collect via an experiment or data found from other sources, you can test how people make different spending decisions based on small changes such as language used in advertisements/informational brochures, design elements choices, curated interactions with peers, updated information on risk, or other features you come up with! In this project you will learn data collection and analysis techniques and explore what subtly influences peoples' choices sometimes even subconsciously. You will read about bounded rationality, information distortions, and biases that affect people's perceived options.
Philosophy, Economics, Math
Philo and Monotheism
Some have argued that "monotheism" as a category is anachronistic and problematic when used to describe Judaism and Christianity around the first century. Would a Jewish philosopher like Philo agree? Philo both says that Jews should respect the gods of other nations, but also refers to his God as the one God. For this project we would look at Philo in his historical setting, understand his views, and then communicate those in either a paper or through film.
Philosophy, Literature
The effects of acquired vocabulary and internal dialogue on self-perception in goal-setting and motivation.
In the fields of philosophy and psychology, the use of spoken communication to convey abstract thoughts contains both what is being verbalized and what is not. Additionally, the use of words and their meaning falls on a spectrum of intentional selection (fully attentive or not), and the emotional state of the individual. However, while the range of human expression lies on a spectrum, oral communication is inherently binary when measured by what is said verses what is not said. Our thought and beliefs dictate the way in which we use the words we acquire through various means of exposure (for example, visual or auditory). Interestingly, our thoughts can further emotionally 'charge' how we choose to communicate both with ourselves and with other people. Some possible research questions could include: Are the words acquired by an individual over their lifetime a determinant of internal self-talk directly influencing external communication? Is a feedback loop formed as the external world responds to what is communicated orally by the originating thinking individual? This project may be investigated using various means of data gathering methods, such as self-report surveys, interviews, and prompted short essay responses, to actionably illustrate the process of forming and qualitatively measuring a research hypothesis.
Biology, Philosophy, Neuroscience, Psychology
German Art Song (Lieder)--the Philosophy of Music and Poetry
I wrote my beloved dissertation on a form within the so-called German classical music tradition called "art songs" or "Lieder" (singular: "Lied"). A Lied is a poem set to music, usually by someone other than the poet. The poet may or may not have known the composer, or given their blessing to having it set to music--there was no copyright in those days, so the composer could use any text they wanted and do anything they pleased with it. My greatest fascination is with the meeting--or confrontation--of two separate artistic wills, and the magical transformation that happened when a composer like Franz Schubert or Robert Schumann set a poem to music. When it went well, the whole is more than the sum of its two parts. I'm hoping to turn this dissertation into a book and will need help with many parts of the process, including finding citations for quotes and sources that I already have, and also finding new material to enhance or deepen the argument. I might even need help getting permission from various places to use quotes, materials, or pictures (don't worry, I'd help you help me with technical stuff like that!). If you're interested in queer studies, there's also a connection (even if not a very obvious one) between that and my German art song project that I'd love help developing. Knowledge of German, or at least curiosity about it and a desire to learn, is helpful though not required--same goes for music.
Music, Philosophy, Linguistics
Write, Design, and Edit Your Own Zine!
First appearing in science-fiction circles as early as the 1930s, zines are a creative outlet that has become synonymous with counter-culture and self-expression. From 1980s punk zines to photography and poetry zines, this versatile art and literary form is meant to be self-published and shared to create networks with like-minded people. In this project, I will guide you through the wonders of zine-making, to create your very own self-published zine! Whether you are looking to expand your creative writing skills, considering a more journalistic approach, or even want to connect to a fan community through your writing and art, this project will be the perfect opportunity to expand your writing and crafting abilities!
Philosophy, Literature, Languages
Is consent sufficient for permissible sex?
Consent is sometimes thought of as "moral magic." A physical act that would otherwise constitute (at least) battery is magically transformed into something morally permissible if there's consent. Is it really that powerful? Even assuming it's necessary to not be, say, charged with sexual assault --- is it all that is needed for decent sex? Put together an educational project for high school or college students that would convince them that consent is (or isn't) as important as our culture makes it out to be.
Philosophy
Problem White-paper:
Are you interested in a problem and want to raise awareness about it? We can brainstorm causal factors, find the latest research, and identify key stakeholders. White-papers are often used to help decision makers learn more about a topic.
Philosophy
Simulation Projects with Robotics
Simulation technology has drastically changed our ability to work with technical systems that aren't physically in front of us. Namely, robotics simulation technology has become increasingly advanced. We will leverage tools from major companies like Google and Amazon to tackle questions in robotics all in simulation!
Biology, Philosophy, Engineering, Computer Science, Photography
Social welfare/quality of life metrics
In this project you will analyze various different measures of social welfare, happiness, and living standards and make a case for what features you think should be included in a general wellbeing indicator. You will learn about data collection and methodology issues, GDP distortions, how education, healthcare and income inequality can be incorporated into wellbeing, and how different countries/other geographical areas stack up on different quality-of-life metrics.
Philosophy, Economics, Math