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Department of Biological Sciences

Examples of Undergraduate Research Projects

Fall 2021 projects, previous projects.

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Unlock Your World

From laboratory study to archival research to investigations in the field, Harvard students engage in world-class research across all disciplines and make groundbreaking contributions to their fields.

With support from a variety of funding sources, students collaborate with renowned faculty researchers whose work has been featured in top journals and awarded prestigious grants. Whether you assist your professor or lead your own project, you'll receive guidance, support, and the benefit of their expertise.

Research Opportunities

Are there research opportunities for undergraduates.

Yes - available to students as early as their freshman year. You may find research projects through individual inquiries with departments and professors, through the  Harvard College Research Program  (HCRP), or through the  Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program  (MMUF). The  Faculty Aide Program , run by the Student Employment Office, links professors to undergraduates interested in becoming research assistants. Read more about HCRP and MMUF on the  Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships website , and find additional opportunities on the  Student Employment Office website . 

Expanding Our Campus

The state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Complex expands Harvard's campus with an additional 500,000 square feet of classrooms, active learning labs, maker space, and common areas.

Term-Time Research

During the academic year, you can conduct research for credit, as determined by the director of undergraduate study in each department.

Students can also receive funding from one of many sources. Additionally, many faculty members across academic departments hire students directly to serve as research assistants.

funding sources

Harvard college research program.

The  Harvard College Research Program  (HCRP) provides term-time and summer grants for students conducting independent research in collaboration with a faculty mentor.

Faculty Aide Program

The  Faculty Aide Program  (FAP) provides half of a student’s total wages when working for an approved faculty member as a research assistant.

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

The  Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program  (MMUF) provides a term-time stipend, as well as the option for summer research funds, to a group of approximately 20 juniors and seniors, selected in the spring of their sophomore years.

Laboratories

Summer Research

Harvard offers many residential research programs for students staying on campus during the summer. In addition, funding is available to support independent research locally, domestically, and internationally.

Building Learning through Inquiry in the Social Sciences

Building Learning through Inquiry in the Social Sciences  (BLISS) is a 10-week program for students working with Harvard faculty on research projects in the social sciences. BLISS provides a stimulating, collegial, and diverse residential community in which students conduct substantive summer research.

Harvard College-Mindich Program in Community-Engaged Research

The  Harvard College-Mindich Program in Community-Engaged Research  (PCER) introduces students to the field of engaged scholarship, which seeks to advance the public purpose of higher education through scholarship that has impact within and beyond the academy.

Program for Research in Markets and Organizations

The  Program for Research in Markets and Organizations  (PRIMO) is a 10-week summer program that allows students to work closely with Harvard Business School faculty on projects covering topics from business strategy to social media, and from innovation management to private equity.

Program for Research in Science and Engineering

The Program for Research in Science and Engineering  (PRISE) is a 10-week summer program that aims to build community and stimulate creativity among Harvard undergraduate researchers in the life, physical/natural, engineering, and applied sciences.

Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program

The  Summer Humanities and Arts Research Program  (SHARP) is a 10-week summer immersion experience in which students engage in substantive humanities- and arts-based research designed by Harvard faculty and museum and library staff.

Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health Program

The  Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health Program (SURGH) is a 10-week summer program in which students research critical issues in global health under the direction of a Harvard faculty or affiliate mentor. Participants live in a diverse residential community of researchers, attend weekly multidisciplinary seminars with professionals in the global health field, and make connections beyond the traditional health sphere.

Summer Program for Undergraduates in Data Science

The Summer Program for Undergraduates in Data Science (SPUDS) is a 10-week summer data science research experience that encourages community, creativity, and scholarship through applications across the arts, humanities, sciences and more fields. Students interested in mathematics, statistics, and computer science collaborate on projects with a Harvard faculty host.

Voyage of Discovery

The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships helps students navigate the research opportunities available here on campus, in the Cambridge area, and around the world.

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The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project

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Examples of Student Research Projects

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A student’s guide to undergraduate research

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Originally written by Shiwei Wang for Nature journal in March 2019.

Participating in original research during your undergraduate studies can greatly expand your learning experience. However, finding the project can be a challenging task, so here’s a short but comprehensive guide that can help you get the most out of an undergraduate research opportunity.

Choose the right lab

Learn to think like a scientist. A lot of people start their undergraduate research by glancing at the faculty list and e-mailing multiple professors whose work seems interesting. Although this might get you a position somewhere, it is not the most effective approach. Before looking at labs, dive into the science to find out which areas fascinate you. Read a lot, go to talks, and talk to your professors not just about their classes, but about science in general as well.

Subscribe to e-mail newsletters from journals such as Nature and Science. Try to read research highlights and science news regularly. Podcasts and articles by, for example, Nature, Science, Scientific American or Quanta can also be interesting sources of information. Follow academics, journals and universities on Twitter. Start your undergraduate research by learning more about science, thinking like a scientist and working out what you love.

Look for questions, not subjects. You might have chosen a major to study, but don’t let this limit your search for research labs. Modern labs are interdisciplinary and very different from what you do in undergrad labs. Instead of limiting your search to your department, try to look at labs in all related departments. Choose labs on the basis of the questions they’re trying to answer.

Mentoring is as important as research. Contact group members to learn about your prospective laboratory’s environment. Are the group members close? Is the lab friendly or competitive and condescending? Is the lab head hands-off or hands-on? The size of the group is also important. If you join a small group, you’ll have a higher chance of being mentored directly by your principal investigator, whereas in a big group, you are more likely to be mentored by a postdoctoral researcher or graduate student.

Reach out with confidence. Once you’ve determined that the research programme interests you and the group dynamic is healthy, send the principal investigator an e-mail. Make sure to explain why you’re interested in working in the lab and that you have spoken to other lab members. Be patient if they don’t reply. If you don’t receive a response after a week or so, send a second e-mail or reach out in other ways, such as by asking group members to enquire for you.

Get the most out of the experience

Start your research with reading, and keep on reading. Usually, the principal investigator will assign you a mentor and a project. Ask for literature to read: learning about the state of the field and why the work is important will help you to push the project forward. Read about your field as well as other, totally unrelated fields. As an undergraduate, you have the freedom to change your major and your future plans. Make sure to strike a balance between reading and conducting experiments. It’s hard to do both at the same time, but it will make you a better scientist.

Set specific goals for yourself and let your mentors know. Think about what you want from your research and how much time you are willing to put in. Besides learning the techniques, do you want to learn how to analyse results and design experiments? Do you want to learn how to write proposals by applying for undergraduate research grants? Do you want to improve your presentation skills by going to conferences? Do you want to potentially finish a project for publication? Working out what you want to achieve will help you to direct your time effectively.

Research takes time. Don’t blame yourself if experiments don’t work or the project is not moving forward as fast as you expected. Science is about failing and trying again. Getting used to and coping with frustration is part of the learning curve of research.

Find a healthy balance. University is already a lot of work, and research will only take up more time. When planning your schedule, try to allocate large blocks of time (whole afternoons or individual days) to research. Rushing through a procedure could be unsafe and will often produce useless results. Always plan extra time for experiments. Consider working less in the lab during exam weeks so you don’t get overwhelmed. Talk to your mentor about your schedule and feelings regularly, so that you can arrange experiments at times that suit you, and you can keep on top of your mental health.

Find financial support. If you wish to do research at your own institution over the summer, your institution might offer funding to cover your expenses. If you want to go to another university, you can apply for funding from that institution’s undergraduate research programme, or from foundations, companies or academic societies. For example, the US National Science Foundation offers a Research Experiences for Undergraduates programme. Universities, foundations and academic societies might also offer grants to cover your travel expense to various conferences. Don’t let money limit what you want to do. Talk to senior students or professors, or search online to find all the opportunities!

Always think about the big picture. Your undergraduate research doesn’t define what you’re going to do after your degree. Keep reading and taking classes outside your comfort zone. Explore and learn as much as possible. Working out what you love is the best preparation you can get for the rest of your career.

Read the full article on the Nature website.

To find a research opportunity at Johns Hopkins University, visit the Hopkins Office of Undergraduate Research website .

Sample Project Proposals

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Check out a few sample grant proposals below. Read ones annotated with reviewer notes (even if the topic is outside your area of interest) to learn what reviewers look for. You can also see also how resubmitted proposals respond to reviewer comments.

Please note that these proposals serve as exemplars for students applying for VPUE Student Grants. They may not be copied, retained, or distributed, and their use is subject to the Stanford Honor Code.

**To view the following samples, Stanford affiliates will be required to login with their SUNET ID. Individuals external to Stanford will not be granted access to these proposals and any requests for access will be automatically declined/deleted. **

• Arts, Creative Project, Visual Arts, Major Grant ( S. Bedford )
• Arts, Creative Writing, Chappell Lougee Scholarship ( J. Kim )
• Arts, Creative Writing, Chappell Lougee Scholarship, annotated (w/ remote plan) ( L. Laniyan )
• Arts, Music, Theater, Small Grant, annotated ( T. Pauly )
• Humanities, English, Major Grant ( J. Schaffer )
• Humanities, History, Chappell Lougee Scholarship, annotated (w/ remote plan) ( A. Kassam )
• Humanities, History, Major Grant, annotated ( J. Sonnenberg )
• Humanities, Religious Studies, Small Grant, annotated ( L. Funk )
• Humanities, Classics, Chappell Lougee Scholarship ( S. Beller )
• STEM, Biology, Major Grant, annotated ( J. Bui )
• STEM, Biology, Major Grant, annotated (w/ remote plan) ( S. Kong )
• STEM, Biology, Small Grant ( J. McGregor )
• STEM, Chemical Engineering, Major Grant ( J. O'Leary )
• STEM, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Major Grant, annotated ( V. Rosen )
• STEM, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Small Grant, annotated ( C. Kremer )
• STEM, Mathematics, Major Grant, annotated (w/ remote plan) ( M. Stevens )
• STEM, Physics, Major Grant ( J. Chaves )
• Senior Synthesis Project, Small Grant, annotated ( J. O'Leary )
• Social Science, Anthropology, Chappell Lougee Scholarship ( N. Follmann )
• Social Science, CDDRL, Small Grant ( A. Schickele )
• Social Science, Psychology, Major Grant, annotated ( C. Eggleston )
• Social Science, Sociology, Chappell Lougee Scholarship, annotated (w/ remote plan) ( A. Gomez )
• Social Science, Urban Studies, Major Grant, annotated ( K. Parish )

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Undergraduate Science Education at Harvard

A world of exploration. a world of expertise..

Research Opportunities and Funding

• Look below to find summer and term-time Harvard research opportunities on campus and abroad. • For summer programs at other sites, see Summer Programs Away in the tab on the right. • For selected undergraduate science research opportunities at Harvard, see the Undergraduates: Open Research Positions & Projects  tab on the right.

• Funding For Research at Harvard
• Research Away Harvard Programs

Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP) Summer Scholars Program Brigham Research Institute Undergraduate Internships Broad Institute at Harvard Summer Program CARAT Cell Biology Research Scholars Program (CRSP) Center for Astrophysics Solar Research Experience for Undergraduates Program CURE, Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center DaRin Butz Research Internship Program on Biology of Plants and Climate Ernst Mayer Travel Grants in Animal Systematics E3 Evolution, Ecology and Environment REU Harvard-Amgen Scholars Program Harvard College Funding Sources Database Harvard College Research Program (HCRP) Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology Harvard Global Health Institute Funding for Independent Projects and Internships Harvard Global Health Institute Cordeiro Summer Research Fellowship Harvard Global Health Institute Domestic and Global Health Fellowships  Harvard Medical School Undergraduate Summer Internship in Systems Biology Harvard Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT) Program Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology HST Summer Institute Harvard Origins of Life Initiative Harvard School of Public Health Summer Program in Biological Sciences Harvard School of Public Health Summer Program in Biostatistics & Computational Biology Harvard Stem Cell Institute Harvard Student Employment Office Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine Harvard University Center for the Environment Undergraduate Fund Herchel Smith-Harvard Undergraduate Science Research Program (any science area) International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) McLean Hospital Mental Health Summer Research Program MCZ Grants-in-Aid for Undergraduate Research MGH Orthopedic Trauma Undergraduate Summer Program MGH Summer Research Trainee Program MGHfC Digestive Disease Summer Research Program Microbial Sciences Initiative Mind, Brain, Behavior Summer Thesis Award PRISE (any science or engineering area) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Summer Institute in Biomedical Informatics, HMS Summer Program in Epidemiology, HSPH STARS - Summer Training in Academic Research Training and Scholarship Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard Summer Research Program, Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health (SURGH) Radcliffe Institute Research Partnership Program Ragon Institute Summer Program The Arnold Arboretum The Joey Hanzich Memorial Undergraduate Travel and Research Fellowship Undergraduate Research in Mathematics Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Oceanography Undergraduate Summer Immunology Program at Harvard Medical School Undergraduate Summer Research in Physics

Harvard College Funding Sources Database  - Database of both Harvard and outside funding sources for a variety of educational purposes, including research. Additional database: https://uraf.harvard.edu/find-opportunities/resources-your-search/campus-partners  

The  Harvard Student Employment Office  manages a Jobs Database , the Faculty Aide Program  and the Federal Work Study Program . All of these programs may offer student research assistant opportunities. The site also provides information about Job Search Resources  and Research Opportunities .

  CARAT  – CARAT (Common Application for Research and Travel) is used by all the major funding sources at Harvard.

Harvard College Research Program (HCRP)  – Summer (or term time) stipend. Applications from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships at 77 Dunster Street.

Deadlines:   Fall term funding: 12 noon (EST), Tuesday, September 14, 2021 Spring term funding: 12 noon (EST), Tuesday, February 1, 2022 Summer funding: 12 noon (EST), Tuesday, March 22, 2022  [TENTATIVE]

Late applications  will not  be accepted for term-time or summer cycles.

Conference funding: rolling application deadline

Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard

The Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard (SROH) program connects undergraduates interested in a PhD with first-class researchers working in the life and physical sciences, humanities, and social sciences. This program is offered through GSAS and the  Leadership Alliance .

During this 10-week program, SROH interns conduct research and participate in discussions with Cambridge-based Harvard faculty, build their presentation and research discussion skills, and take part in field trips with other Harvard summer programs. Students in the program live in Harvard housing and enjoy access to the outstanding resources of the university.

Note that we also have funding for students interested in  atmospheric sciences  as part of the NSF-supported International Partnership in Cirrus Studies project.  Please see pire.geosci.uchicago.edu for information on participating faculty. Research focuses on modeling and measurement of high-altitude clouds.

PRISE  – The Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE) is a summer residential community of Harvard undergraduates conducting research in science or engineering. By the application deadline students must be progressing toward finding a lab or research group but do not need to have finalized their research group or project. Participants must be in residence and be active participants for the entire duration of this ten week program.

Deadline:  Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 12:00 noon (EST)

Herchel Smith-Harvard Undergraduate Science Research Program  – Primarily directed toward students intending to pursue research-intensive concentrations and post-graduate study in the sciences. Undergraduate research either at Harvard or elsewhere, including internationally. Applications from the  Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships .

Deadline:  Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 12:00 noon (EST) via CARAT

Harvard-Amgen Scholars Program  -- The Amgen Scholars Program at Harvard is a 10-week faculty-mentored residential summer research program  in biotechnology for sophomores (with four quarters or three semesters of college experience), juniors, or non-graduating seniors (who are returning in the fall to continue undergraduate studies)

Deadline : Tuesday, February 1, 2022, 12 noon

Harvard Origins of Life Initiative

Research Grants:   Harvard undergraduates can apply for grants to support their research during the academic year.

Summer Undergraduate Program:  Summer Undergraduate Research Grants are available for undergraduates working in Origins member faculty  on Origins-related projects. Possible research areas include astronomy, astrophysics, chemical biology, geophysics, chemistry, genetics, and earth and planetary sciences. 

iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team  - The iGEM team is a research experience targeted toward undergraduates interested in synthetic biology and biomolecular engineering. 

Mind, Brain, Behavior  – Summer Thesis Awards for rising seniors in the MBB track. Applications through MBB.

If interested, contact Shawn Harriman in March of your junior year.

Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Internship Program (HIP) – for students interested in stem cell biology research. Students conduct research in labs affiliated with the HSCI. Accepted students are matched with a research laboratory group. or any college or university across the United States and internationally.  Harvard University will sponsor the visas for international students who are selected for this program.

Deadline:  Feb 7, 2022

Harvard Summer Research Program in Kidney Medicine (HSRPKM) - an introduction to nephrology (kidney medicine) for the undergraduates considering career paths spanning science and medicine. The Program includes nephrology divisions of four Harvard-affiliated hospitals – Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Boston’s Children’s Hospital (BCH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Deadline : check the program website: https://hskp.bwh.harvard.edu/

BCMP Summer Scholars Program at Harvard University is organized by the The Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP) at Harvard Medical School. This 10-week program is open to both Harvard undergraduates and to students from other colleges and universities. Students must be authorized to work in the United States.

Deadline: contact program for details

Undergraduate Summer Immunology Program at Harvard Medical School  - a ten week summer research internship with a stipend. The program consists of laboratory research, lectures, and workshops and is open to Harvard undergraduates and students from other colleges and universities. Applicants must be eligible for employment in the US.

Deadline: contact program 

Microbial Sciences Initiative  - Summer research with Harvard Faculty. Email applications to  Dr. Karen Lachmayr .

Deadline:  contact program

Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health (SURGH)  offers Harvard undergraduates the opportunity to research critical issues in global health under the direction of a Harvard faculty or affiliate mentor. Students in SURGH receive housing in the Harvard Undergraduate Research Village and a stipend for living expenses. The summer savings requirement is also provided for students who are on financial aid. Throughout the summer, participants in SURGH have the opportunity to interact with students in the other on-campus research programs. 

Domestic and Global Health Fellowships (DGHI)  offers Harvard undergraduates the opportunity to work in field-based and office-based internships in both US health policy and global health. Sites can be domestic or international. Students receive a stipend to cover travel expenses to and from their site, living expenses, and local transportation. Unfortunately DGHI cannot cover the summer savings requirement for students who are on financial aid. 

Harvard Global Health Institute Funding for Independent Projects and Internships

Funding for projects in the United States and abroad.

Deadline: contact program

The Joey Hanzich Memorial Undergraduate Travel and Research Fellowship  provides up to $5000 to a rising junior or rising senior enrolled in the Secondary Field in Global Health and Health Policy (or another field) who pursues a summer internship, project or research in health policy or global health, either in the United States or abroad.

Cordeiro Summer Research Fellowship Registered GHHP students may apply for a Cordeiro Summer Research Fellowship for the summer before their senior year. Each year 12 to 15 fellowships allow students to get a head start on their senior theses or research projects related to global health or health policy without incurring major costs to themselves.

Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology HST Summer Institute  - The HST Summer Institute offers hands-on research experience for undergraduates in two areas of study: Biomedical Informatics and Biomedical Optics . Participating institutions include the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School.

Deadline : contact program

MCZ Grants-in-Aid for Undergraduate Research  -The Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), the Harvard University Herbaria (HUH), and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (AA) award small grants in support of faculty-supervised research by Harvard College undergraduates.

Deadlines:  contact program

Ernst Mayer Travel Grants in Animal Systematics

Proposals are reviewed two times a year. 

The Arnold Arboretum : Fellowships are available to support undergraduate research

• Ashton Award for Student Research
• Cunin / Sigal Research Award
• Deland Award for Student Research
• Shiu-Ying Hu Student/Postdoctoral Exchange Award
• Summer Short Course in Organismic Plant Biology
• Arnold Arboretum Genomics Initiative and Sequencing Award
• Jewett Prize
• Sargent Award for Visiting Scholars
• Sinnott Award

Living Collections Fellowship  – Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Hunnewell Internships  – Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Summer Short Course in Organismic Plant Biology Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology  - The Harvard Forest Summer Research (REU) program is an intensive 11-week residential research and education experience at the Harvard Forest, a 3,700-acre outdoor laboratory and classroom in central Massachusetts. Students conduct research on the effects of natural and human disturbances on forest ecosystems, including global climate change, hurricanes, forest harvest, changing wildlife dynamics, and invasive species. The program includes a stipend, free housing, all meals, and the travel cost of one round trip to Harvard Forest. This program is open to not only Harvard undergraduates, but also students from all colleges and universities in the United States.

Harvard University Center for the Environment Undergraduate Fund  provides financial support for student research projects related to the environment. In the context of this program, 'environment' refers to understanding the relationships and balances of the natural and constructed world around us, with a particular emphasis on understanding how anthropogenic activities and policies affect the environment, including the intimate relationships between energy use and demand, environmental integrity and quality, human health, and climate change.  Two types of funding are available: 1) Funds for independent research (preference given to rising seniors seeking funds for senior honors thesis research) and 2) Research Assistantships (directed summer research experiences under Harvard faculty guidance). Award are intended to be applied towards living expenses (room, board), travel expenses related to research activities, and minor research expenses (for students doing independent research projects) for up to 10 weeks.  Awards are not intended to serve as a salary stipend for students. 


Undergraduate Research Opportunities in Oceanography : The Harvard Oceanography Committee has funding and fellowships for both term time and summer research. 

Harvard School of Public Health Summer Program in Biological Sciences -   This intensive 8 week laboratory-based biological research program is for undergraduates during the summer following their sophomore or junior years.

Additional programs at the HSPH:

• Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP)  – for undergraduate students outside of Harvard
• Additional summer programs  – for undergraduate students outside of Harvard
• Additional summer programs  – for undergraduate students at Harvard
• Boston-based undergraduate students looking for coop or other research internship positions are encouraged to contact faculty members directly.

STARS - Summer Training in Academic Research Training and Scholarship  - provides underrepresented minority (URM) medical and undergraduate students an opportunity to engage in exciting basic, clinical and translational research projects during the summer at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). Housing and stipend provided.

Radcliffe Institute Research Partnership Program  -- The Radcliffe Institute Research Partnership Program matches students with leading artists, scholars, scientists, and professionals. Radcliffe Fellows act as mentors and students provide research assistance, acquire valuable research skills, and participate in the Institute’s rich intellectual life.

Harvard School of Public Health Summer Program in Biostatistics & Computational Biology

The Summer Program is a relatively intensive 6-week program, during which qualified participants receive an interesting and enjoyable introduction to biostatistics, epidemiology, and public health research. This program is designed to expose undergraduates to the use of quantitative methods for biological, environmental, and medical research. 

MGH Summer Research Trainee Program

The goal of the MGH Summer Research Trainee Program (SRTP) is to inspire students who are underrepresented in medicine (URM) to consider careers in academic medicine by immersing them in cutting-edge research opportunities. Each summer, fifteen students are selected from a nationwide competition to join SRTP. Each student is assigned to a specific MGH laboratory, clinical site, health policy, or health services research area where they undertake an original research project under the mentorship and guidance of a Mass General Hospital (MGH) investigator. Assignments are carefully considered and are made with the student's research and career interests in mind. In addition to this unique research experience, students will gain knowledge through weekly didactic seminars, both at the MGH and at Harvard Medical School, attend career development workshops and networking event, and have opportunities for clinical shadowing.

Application deadline:  contact program

MGHfC Digestive Disease Summer Research Program

Massachusetts General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) Digestive Disease Summer Research Program provides support for 10 students at the undergraduate or medical school level. Each student will be matched with a research mentor to perform an independent research project focused on digestive diseases over a 10-week period during the summer months within a laboratory or collaborating laboratory of the MGHfC. MGHfC collaborating laboratories at MGH possess unique expertise in engineering and computational sciences in support of various projects centered on digestive disease research. 

Contact: Bryan P. Hurley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor & Program Director, Mucosal Immunology & Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School,  [email protected] ,   http://www.massgeneral.org/mucosal-immunology/Education/summer-research-program.aspx

Broad Institute at Harvard Summer Program

Broad Summer Research Program BSRP is a nine-week undergraduate research program designed for students with an interest in genomics and a commitment to research. Students spend the summer in a laboratory at the Broad Institute, engaged in rigorous scientific research under the guidance of experienced scientists and engineers. Underrepresented minority students enrolled in a four-year college are eligible to apply.

Broad Summer Scholars Program BSSP invites a small number of exceptional and mature high school students with a keen interest in science to spend six weeks at the Broad Institute, working side-by-side with scientists in the lab on cutting-edge research. Rising seniors who live within commuting distance to the Broad Institute are eligible to apply.

DaRin Butz Research Internship Program   The program gives undergraduates in the life sciences a unique opportunity to experience research from start to finish while gaining training and connections among scientific colleagues. DaRin Butz Interns will not only conduct research, but will also develop their project with their advisors and be guided through the process of sharing their research through written reports and oral presentations, an important component of scientific research.

MGH Orthopedic Trauma Undergraduate Summer Program

The Harvard Orthopedic Trauma Service provides number of undergraduate opportunities:

Orthopedic Internship

This internship is for undergraduate and graduate/medical students who are looking for exposure to Orthopaedic clinical and basic research.

Orthopedic Trauma Undergraduate Summer Internship

Our program is intended for undergraduates interested in healthcare careers. Our interns are introduced to the hospital experience through orthopedic research and observation.

Women's Sports Medicine Summer Internship Program

Learn more about this month long internship open to medical and premedical students.

Summer Research Program, Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital

Summer Student Research Program sponsored by the Harvard Program in Neonatology, an academic program which includes Boston Children's Hospital (BCH) and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). The objective of the Summer Student Research Program is to provide motivated students with an intensive laboratory and clinical research experience under the guidance of Faculty and Fellow mentors from the Academic Program. The Summer Program experience includes:

Brigham Research Institute Undergraduate Internships

The internship programs hosted by the Brigham Research Institute provides undergraduate students with a focused and challenging summer research experience in a cutting-edge science laboratory. Interns will have the opportunity to obtain a research training experience in a laboratory or research setting at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Deadlines: check program website

Undergraduate Summer Research in Physics

Undergraduate Research in Mathematics

CURE, Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center

The CURE program introduces scientifically curious high school and college students from groups currently underrepresented in the sciences to the world of cancer research. Students are placed in laboratories and research environments at the seven DF/HCC member institutions: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital, as well as research environments at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Ragon Institute Summer Program

The Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard brings together scientists and engineers from diverse fields to better understand the immune system and support human health. 

Deadline: check program website

Harvard Medical School Undergraduate Summer Internship in Systems Biology

The Undergraduate Summer Internship is our headline program enabling undergraduate students to collaborate with our researchers, as well as their own peers, through Harvard's Quantitative Biology Initiative and the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School. ​Participants work in our labs, gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art tools, learn cutting-edge scientific techniques in our dynamic research environment. Students interested in pursuing a PhD or MD/PhD, and students from under-represented minorities or disadvantaged backgrounds, are especially encouraged to apply.  

Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

The Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS)  Research Experience for Undergraduates  (REU) is a 10-week program that introduces undergraduates to bioengineering, materials research, nanoscience, and engineering while providing a coordinated, educational, and dynamic research community that inspires them to seek a graduate degree. 

Center for Astrophysics Solar Research Experience for Undergraduates Program

Scientists from the Solar and Stellar X-Ray Group (SSXG) and the Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Group (SSP) at the  Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics  (CfA) host undergraduate students from around the US. Please visit the  website for more information .

E3 Evolution, Ecology and Environment REU

We are seeking rising sophomores, juniors and seniors majoring in the life sciences who would like to join a new Research Experience for Undergraduates program based in the  Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB)  at Harvard University. Members of the program will enjoy cutting edge research experiences within the context of a strong mentorship community made up of faculty, graduate students, and peers. In addition, members will participate in a professional development program that is aimed at preparing students for the graduate school application process, building confidence to succeed in graduate school, and exploring long-term career opportunities. These professional development activities will include attendance of the annual  Leadership Alliance National Symposium  (LANS) research and mentoring conference. The E3 REU is part of a larger umbrella program, hosted by the Harvard GSAS  Summer Research Opportunities at Harvard (SROH) .

Program website:  https://reu.oeb.harvard.edu/sroh 

Harvard Multidisciplinary International Research Training (MIRT) Program

The 10-week  Systems Biology Summer Internship Program  enables interns to work on research projects spanning many scientific fields, including systems biology, biophysics, bioinformatics, genomics, applied mathematics, and computation. 

McLean Hospital Mental Health Summer Research Program

This competitive program seeks to  engage scientific curiosity ,  create research opportunities , and  promote academic success in mental health fields  for promising young  Black, Indigenous and underrepresented People of Color (BIPOC) interested in science .  We had our first, very successful MMHRSP last summer, and applications are now open for next summer. MMHRSP is an intensive, 10-week, full-time mental health/neuroscience research experience at McLean Hospital. McLean is the primary psychiatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School and is located in Belmont, MA ( https://www.mcleanhospital.org/ ).  Chosen Fellows will receive a $7,000 stipend for the 10-week program.  

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/training/student-opportunities#research

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/news/new-summer-research-program-welcomes-undergraduates-color

Cell Biology Research Scholars Program (CRSP)

The Cell Biology Research Scholars Program  provides a 10-week full-time research opportunity to undergraduate students with a passion for scientific discovery and fundamental biology. Students will be hosted by faculty investigators to work on cutting-edge research projects and participate in training workshops and mentoring activities in preparation for a productive scientific research career.

Summer Institute in Biomedical Informatics , now entering its 15th year, is a 9-week full-time extensive research opportunity with a curriculum including didactic lectures, clinical case studies, a mentored research project, and presentation of findings. 

The  Summer Program in Epidemiology  at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is an intensive 5-week program that integrates mathematics and quantitative methods to provide students with an understanding of the skills and processes necessary to pursue a career in public health. 

Biodiversity of Hispaniola Booth Fund Fellowship Cognitive Neurosciences at the University of Trento, Italy Darwin and the Origins of Evolutionary Biology, Oxford, England David Rockefeller International Experience Grant Harvard-Bangalore Science Initiative Harvard Summer School Study Abroad in the Sciences HCRP Herchel Smith-Harvard Undergraduate Science Research Program International Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health (I-SURGH) RIKEN Center for Allergy and Immunology, Japan RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan Rosenkrantz Travel Grants Study Abroad in Paris, France The Office of Career Services (OCS) awards Undergraduate Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences Undergraduate Research in Mathematics Undergraduate Summer Research in Physics Weissman International Internship

Harvard Summer School Study Abroad in the Sciences

In 2015 Harvard Summer School Science Study Abroad programs will be offered in the Dominican Republic, England, Italy, France, and Japan. See below for links to information on each of these programs.

Darwin and the Origins of Evolutionary Biology  - Oxford, England.

Prerequisites:  None. Apply through Harvard Summer School.

Information:   Andrew Berry

RIKEN Center for Allergy and Immunology  - Yokohama, Japan.

Laboratory research in immunology. Students will also receive some Japanese language training. Apply through Harvard Summer School.

Accepted students may apply to the  Reischauser Institute  for scholarships to help defray the costs of the program.

RIKEN Brain Science Institute  – Laboratory Research in Neurobiology, Tokyo, Japan.

Prerequisites:  Neurobiology of Behavior (MCB 80) or Animal Behavior (OEB 50); laboratory experience preferred but not required. Apply through Harvard Summer School.

Biodiversity of Hispaniola  - Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  This six-week course covers basic prinicples of ecology, evolution, and island biogeography in the context of the diversity of habitats and organisms on the island of Hispaniola.

Prerequisites:  course work in biology

Information:   Brian Farrell  

Cognitive Neurosciences at the University of Trento  - Trento, Italy

This eight-week program at the University of Trento, Italy, organized by the Mind/Brain/Behavior Initiative, provides students a unique opportunity to study the mind/brain. Taught by leaders in the fields of neuroscience and cognitive science, the program includes daily, hands-on, laboratory sessions (e.g., neuroimaging demos) and Italian language classes, all while surrounded by the breathtaking Italian Alps.

Information:   Alfonso Caramazza

Study Abroad in Paris, France

Biology and the evolution of Paris as a Smart City.

Information:  Robert Lue

• Bangalore, India;  The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research  (JNCASR)
• National Centre of Biological Sciences  (NCBS)
• The Indian Institute of Science  (IISc) 

Note:  This is not a Harvard Summer School Program. 

Prerequisites:  Introductory coursework in basic biology, chemistry, physics, and math.

Information:   Venkatesh N. Murthy  or   Ryan Draft

International Summer Undergraduate Research in Global Health (I-SURGH)  I-SURGH offers Harvard undergraduates the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge global health research in an international setting. Students in I-SURGH receive a stipend to cover travel costs to and from their site, living expenses, and local transportation. Unfortunately Harvard Global Health Institute cannot cover the summer savings requirement for I-SURGH students who are on financial aid.  Once accepted to their site, participants in I-SURGH meet with a Harvard faculty member to develop a project that falls within the research agenda of the site. Throughout the summer, students work with a local mentor who supervises their daily work. While all returning Harvard College undergraduates are eligible to apply for an I-SURGH placement, preference is given to sophomores and juniors. 

The Office of Career Services (OCS) awards funding for research abroad, including both Harvard Summer School Study Abroad and non-Harvard International programs.  The  David Rockefeller International Experience Grant , which is a need-based grant aimed at students who have not previously received Harvard international funding, supports many of these awards. Award amounts vary. The purpose of the grant is to afford all students the opportunity to take part in a significant international experience, regardless of financial background. See the  Office of Career Services Summer Funding webpage  for more information.

Herchel Smith-Harvard Undergraduate Science Research Program  – Primarily directed toward students intending to pursue research-intensive concentrations and post-graduate study in the sciences. Undergraduate research either at Harvard or elsewhere, including internationally. Applications from the  Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships .

Harvard College Research Program (HCRP) – Summer stipend that can be applied towards travel expenses. Applications from the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships at 77 Dunster Street.

Weissman International Internship  – Research abroad for returning Harvard undergraduates. Average award ~$4000. More information and applications available through OCS.

Deadline:   See the  Office of Careers Summer Funding webpage

Booth Fund Fellowship  - For seniors to engage in a program of travel, study, research or observation that will further expand and challenge an existing interest in a particular field. 

Rosenkrantz Travel Grants

This grant program is exclusively for concentrators in History and Science.  It allows motivated rising juniors  (who have completed sophomore tutorial) and who are concentrating in history and science to devise a short but meaningful plan of travel and academic discovery in the United States or abroad. This grant program may serve as the first stage of research towards a senior thesis or junior research paper, but there is no requirement that it do so. The only requirement is a sincere passion for adventure and exploration, and a willingness to prepare well for the experience.

Please visit the Department of Physics webpage for more information:  https://www.physics.harvard.edu/academics/undergrad/summer

Please visit the Harvard Mathematics Department webpage for more information:  http://abel.harvard.edu/research/index.html

Undergraduate Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences

Please visit SEAS website for more information: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/faculty-research/research-opportunities

David Rockefeller International Experience Grant The David Rockefeller International Experience Grants were established in 2009 by David Rockefeller SB ’36, LLD ’69 to give students the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of the world beyond the U.S. or their home country, and to learn about other countries and peoples by spending time immersed in another culture. The purpose of the grant is to afford all students the opportunity to take part in a significant international experience, regardless of financial constraints.

A significant international experience may consist of:

• summer study abroad programs
• internships and service projects
• research assistantships (under the direction of a principle investigator)
• experiential learning projects.
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The Ohio State University

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Research Projects

Check out examples of undergraduate research projects in action:

FABE capstone team places first in national competition

A team of The Ohio State University seniors majoring in food, agricultural and biological engineering (FABE) took home the gold in a national competition focused on the design of engineering projects advancing agriculture. The team’s capstone project focused on transpiration control as an important component in growing fresh food for future deep space travel. The team developed a prototype system to demonstrate the materials and design of their final proposal, which they displayed as a part of their oral presentation in the competition. 

Student team one of eight finalists in NASA aviation competition

A team of Ohio State aerospace engineering rising third year students was selected as one of eight finalists from across the country for NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate’s (ARMD) 2022 Gateways to Blue Skies: Airports of Tomorrow Competition. The Blue Skies competition is a new event that seeks to inspire the incoming generation of engineers, planners, architects and other related disciplines to conceptualize changes to new airport designs or airport overhauls to ensure technology changes in the air go hand-in-hand with infrastructure changes on the ground.

Engineering undergrad earns Patti Grace Smith Fellowship

Max Starr, a second-year student at Ohio State with the intent to major in mechanical engineering, has been selected for the prestigious Patti Grace Smith Fellowship. His research interests focus on unique applications of magnetic locking via eddy currents and mechanically alternating magnetic fields, which he may be able to work on with self-assembling space architecture in his internship.

Olivia Langenderfer earns aerospace-focused Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship

Olivia Langenderfer, a third-year in mechanical engineering, was one of 30 students selected for the summer internship and executive mentorship program inspiring the next generation of commercial spaceflight leaders. Now in its fifth year, the highly-selective Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship Program awards exceptional college juniors, seniors and graduate students pursuing aerospace careers with paid internships at cutting-edge commercial space companies.

Sustainable energy program gives students first research opportunities

Tali Look, a materials science and engineering student, found the support to learn the new skill in the Research In Sustainable Energy (RISE) summer program, part of Ohio State’s EmPOWERment National Science Foundation Research Traineeship Program. The 10-week, intensive RISE experience provides talented Ohio State undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to work on an independent research project related to sustainable energy in a supportive environment designed to develop and enhance their research skills. 

More Information

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Undergraduate Research Scholarship

Undergraduate Student Research Placement Tool

Denman Forum

Undergraduate Research Forum

Summer Research Scholarship

Research Outreach and Service

How Undergraduates Benefit From Doing Research

Undergraduate research isn't just for STEM subjects.

Benefits of Undergraduate Research

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Studies show students who participate in research earn better grades, are more likely to graduate and are better equipped for graduate school or careers.

Jessica Stewart understands from personal experience the value of doing research as a college undergraduate. In her junior year at the University of California, Berkeley , Stewart worked with art historian Darcy Grimaldo Grigsby on her book, "Colossal," researching the Suez Canal, Eiffel Tower and other massive art and engineering monuments.

She loved the research so much that she went on to get her Ph.D. in art history. Almost 20 years after working on "Colossal," Stewart now directs the program that gave her the opportunity: UC Berkeley’s Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program.

But the initial benefit of doing undergraduate research was even more practical. When she was deciding which projects to apply for as an undergraduate, she got to explore many academic disciplines. This process opened her eyes.

“From the moment I set foot on campus, URAP allowed me to see what kinds of ideas I could study,” Stewart says. “The research and credit are great, but there’s this wayfinding side, too, where students can learn who researchers are, what research looks like and fields they may not have had any exposure to.”

A long tradition at some universities, mentored research projects are now offered at undergraduate institutions around the U.S. While many programs started out focused on science, today most universities offer opportunities across disciplines, including all aspects of STEM as well as architecture, business and theater arts.

No matter the subject area, research participation is an asset for undergrads. Studies show students who participate earn better grades , are more likely to graduate and are better equipped for graduate school or careers.

“It’s often most transformative for nontraditional learners and underrepresented students,” Stewart says. “They learn to triangulate life experience and studies in ways that may not have been intuitive for them. It greatly improves academic performance, retention and persistence.”

Research Roots in STEM

Every year, 6,000 undergraduates participate in research experiences through the National Science Foundation, mostly during the summer. Projects span nearly 20 subject areas , such as astronomy and ocean sciences. Most take place in the U.S., but some research is done abroad, including a marine sciences project at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

Experiences like these increase students’ confidence in their research skills and boost awareness of what graduate school will be like, according to a 2018 study . They also help students identify whether they want to pursue a science career.

“It’s one of the best ways to recruit students into STEM careers and retain them,” says Corby Hovis, a program director at the NSF's Division of Undergraduate Education. “That’s why we do it. It’s an effective way to get students from classrooms into doing STEM.”

The NSF is especially interested in applications from students who might not have had past opportunities to do research, including those who are the first in their families to attend college, and Black and Latino students.

Research institutions apply for NSF grants to mentor undergraduate students and guide them through participation in an ongoing project. For students, the experience includes orientation and training, as well as a stipend and allowances for housing and travel. In most cases, students write a paper about their contribution to research and may even present at a conference or seminar.

Some opportunities require that students have specific math courses under their belts, but all focus on helping students build other skills, aside from lab or research techniques, that they’ll need for future academic work or careers.

“Communicating clearly the results of research is a skill that could carry over into any field,” Hovis says. “The teamwork and cohort experience not only encourages them to continue in science, but (is) translatable to any number of other activities they will do later on.”

Connecting With Faculty

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , research has been part of the undergraduate experience for more than 50 years. Some students choose the school specifically for this reason, and more than 90% of students participate. As at other schools, research is part of a bigger initiative around experiential learning, which also includes service learning and study abroad .

The biggest challenge for students is usually figuring out what kind of research they’re interested in.

“We depend on students to do some of that footwork,” says Michael Bergren, director of MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. “There are a lot of supports, but at the end of the day a student needs to understand what they’re interested in, who's doing the work they’re interested in and what the steps are to participating in that research.”

But there is hand-holding, if needed. Before applying to work on a project, students have to approach the lead faculty member and introduce themselves.

“This is really intimidating. We don’t take that for granted,” Bergren says. “Part of life skills development is approaching a lab or faculty member and advocating for themselves.”

Peers offer tips about how to navigate that face-to-face encounter, such as find out a faculty member's office hours, send an email with a resume attached and attend a departmental event.

The networking doesn’t stop there. Get to know which graduate students work on the project, talk to other students who might be exploring the same opportunities and make sure you know what the work involves.

“As the research progresses, deliverables amp up,” Bergren says. “You may find you need to put more time into this right when finals are happening.”

The Future of Undergraduate Research

Some undergraduate researchers might share their work at academic conferences or seminars, or even be published in journals. Some might participate in the Council on Undergraduate Research annual conference , the largest symposium of its kind. Every year, more than 4,000 students attend a graduate school and career fair and present work that spans the disciplines.

Students have come to expect that they’ll get a chance to do research as undergrads, says Lindsay Currie, the council's director.

“More recent generations grew up in a different climate. They learned by doing in classrooms,” Currie says. “That, combined with a workforce that expects people to have lived experience, means students want to be able to say that they’ve already done research as part of their coursework.”

What’s next, Currie says, is universities that integrate research into coursework so that students start a project their first year and continue through their time in college. Working with a network of universities, the Council on Undergraduate Research has completed a study of how schools can modify their curricula to incorporate research from the very beginning.

“Starting as freshmen, students would work on research that would build,” Currie says. “This would be significantly more advanced projects that would be consistent across the particular department. This is how they’re going to teach, because they know students benefit from doing.”

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The Power of Research Projects in College Admissions

Janos Perczel , former Harvard research fellow and co-founder of Polygence , discusses how research projects and working with mentors can help students stand out to universities, and the role IECs can play in this effort.

How research shaped my academic path

I was fortunate to have a physics teacher in high school, who took an early interest in mentoring and nurturing me as a researcher. We dove deep into the strange world of relativity and quantum mechanics and read original texts from Einstein and Heisenberg about space-time manifolds and Schrödinger’s cat. Under my mentor’s guidance, I wrote early research papers that allowed me to explore these topics in depth and hone my abilities as a researcher. These early experiences set me up for success as a researcher in college and led me to pursue research in quantum physics during my doctorate at MIT and while a research fellow at Harvard. 

Research is a critical product of higher education

The DNA, the radar, game theory and the Google search algorithm were all discovered at top research institutions, such asCambridge, MIT, Princeton and Stanford. Research at these top universities (so-called R1s) is a collaborative effort between professors, graduate students and undergraduates. This is why these schools look for students who are capable of doing high-quality independent academic work when evaluating prospective applicants. It is important to note that even at predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs) students engage in serious research, because such an open-ended activity cultivates creativity, persistence, and team spirit in students.

Research helps students stand out

According to the U.S. News and World Report , “High school students who have an impressive personal project they are working on independently often impress colleges, because their commitment to a successful solo endeavor conveys initiative, self-discipline and originality”. 

The reason for this is simple. High school grades are often terrible predictors of future success (Sir John Gurdon, Nobel Prize winner in Medicine ranked last out of 250 in his year group at biology). Similarly, test scores, AP exams and summer camps with a set curriculum give students little opportunity to showcase their academic creativity and intellectual rigor. This makes it difficult for colleges to identify the most promising students, especially if they have a non-traditional background. 

In contrast, a research project is by definition a unique and highly personal achievement that allows students to showcase their intellectual abilities at their best. This is why colleges encourage students to distinguish themselves through independent projects. For instance, MIT even has a creative portfolio section for all students to upload a significant research project as part of their application. Independent projects are gaining even more importance as college admissions are shifting away from standardized test scores (e.g. the University of California recently decided to phase out SAT/ACT scores completely).

How to find a research mentor

Few high school students ever get the chance to connect with a mentor at a deep level and get the attention and guidance needed to pursue an impactful research project. One potential remedy is to encourage students to reach out to researchers through their personal networks or via cold emails. However, often even the most experienced educational consultants are unsure how to help their students do this. While best practices vary depending on the field, general advice can be summarized as follows:

• Identify someone with the right expertise Surprisingly often students reach out to a researcher whose research area is only tangentially related to what the student wants to pursue. The more relevant the student’s proposed project to the researcher’s field, the less effort it will be to provide mentorship, making a positive response more likely.
• Show demonstrated interest Many students claim interest in advanced fields like AI, astrophysics or WWII history, but few students make the effort to explore these fields in depth despite the wealth of available resources online, such as edX, Khan Academy and even Wikipedia. Researchers do not have the bandwidth or interest to teach students the absolute basics and will likely only engage with students, who would genuinely benefit from guidance with advanced topics.
• Articulate what help is needed Researchers often have very busy schedules and fear taking on additional responsibilities that involve a lot of handholding. If a student clearly states what kind of help she wants to receive (e.g. identifying relevant papers to read, understanding a particularly challenging concept or getting feedback on a journal submission draft) the researcher can better estimate how much time commitment the mentorship will involve.

It is important to note that students can do a research project even without a mentor. It just takes resilience and focus to push through the inevitable tough patches without getting discouraged. Educational consultants can play a key role in ensuring that students stay motivated throughout the process. By definition a research question has not been answered before and a student cannot be sure whether they will succeed in finding the result they are looking for. Research is also a relatively slow process (the relevant time scale is months), which is often daunting to students who are used to quick feedback loops, such as getting an A in a test they sat last week. 

How to showcase a project

Students working on a project by themselves also need additional support and encouragement to find the right avenue to showcase their work. Educational consultants can assist students by making them aware of high school journals (e.g. the Journal of Youths in Science or the Concord Review ), science competitions (like the Regeneron ISEF Competition ) and other creative outlets (like Spotify ) for showcasing their work. Each journal, competition and publishing platform has its own formatting requirements for submissions and it is important that educational consultants instruct students to follow the submission guidelines closely to ensure successful publication.

A research academy for high schoolers: Polygence

Some students may find it helpful to find a research mentor through the online research academy, Polygence , which I co-founded with Jin Chow , a comparative literature scholar from Stanford University. Students at Polygence work with an academic mentor one-on-one for 3-6 months to develop an in-depth research project. Mentors guide them from idea to execution and presentation. Polygence students have done projects ranging from using AI to detect gender bias in the media and modelling the spread of infectious diseases , to studying privacy law violations by tech companies and exploring 20th century fashion history. Upon project completion, students publish papers in high school journals, create podcasts and present at leading scholarly conferences.

In Conclusion

Regardless of whether a student finds a research mentor through a cold email, personal connections, Polygence , or with the support of their education consultant, the key to success is for students to find joy in what they are doing and to keep going despite inevitable challenges. Thus educational consultants can set up their students for success by encouraging them to pursue a topic that they find genuinely interesting and by keeping them going through constant encouragement and feedback.

Janos recently joined the CollegePlannerPro team for a live webinar to discuss this topic at length. 

Watch the full recorded webinar below:  

How to write a rockstar blog post, the recipe for success for the independent educational consultant.

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The College of Education’s projects support our mission to be a voice of innovation for learning across the lifespan. While research topics are wide-ranging, most focus on educational innovation and 21st century teaching and learning. Faculty collaborate across campus, the nation and globally to advance education through interdisciplinary projects.

Our sponsors include the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Aerospace/NASA, US Department of Education, NC Department of Public Instruction, GoldenLEAF Foundation, Burroughs Wellcome and Qualcomm.

The professional development project provides participants in Jackson County Schools capacity-building experiences that engage educators in opportunities to experience educational use of technology to support their own learning, as well as understanding of the core elements that are necessary for launching successful digital learning programs.  Through targeted technology-rich face-to-face events, online modules, online conversations and virtual meetings, participants will learn how to use digital content, tools and applications for both administrative and classroom use and is intended to help decision-makers  (administrators, technology facilitators, media coordinators, or technology committee members) plan and improve uses of technology in teaching and learning activities.  Using a blended community-based approach, this work provides immediate support for educational administrators who are currently planning or implementing digital teaching and learning initiatives.

The Wallace Foundation< http://www.wallacefoundation.org/ > selected NC State to participate in a national $47-million initiative to develop models over four years for improving university principal preparation programs and to examine state policy to see if it could be strengthened to encourage higher-quality training statewide. An independent study, to be conducted by Rand, will capture lessons from the participating universities and their partners to be shared with policymakers and practitioners across the country.

Project partners include NC DPI, the NC Governor’s Office, Johnston County Public Schools, Wake County Schools, and the Northeast Leadership Academy Consortium. The University of Denver will provide guidance and facilitate NC State’s program redesign.

The University Principal Preparation Initiative builds on 15 years of Wallace-supported research and experience about what makes for effective principals and their “pre-service” training at universities. The initiative seeks to explore how university programs can improve their training so it reflects the evidence on how best to prepare effective principals, and then to share these insights to benefit the broader field.

The Foundation hopes the initiative can contribute over the long term to the development of a new national approach to preparing effective principals, one focusing on evidence-based policies and practices in three areas:

• Developing and implementing high-quality courses of study with practical, on-the-job experiences. • Putting in place strong university-district partnerships. • Developing state policies about program accreditation, principal licensure or certification, and other matters (funded internships, for example) to promote more effective training statewide.

NC State’s corporate partner, SAS, is working with our partner districts to develop a leadership tracking system which will provide data about the on the job performance of our graduates in order to assist in continuous programmatic improvement efforts.

NCSU’s Master of School Administration (MSA) is a non-traditional, award-winning, nationally recognized principal preparation program focusing on solving the problem of recruiting and retaining effective leaders for historically low-performing schools.  The research-based program is a model of preparation, early career support, and continuous professional development for leaders committed to leading high-need schools.  Addressing Durham Public Schools’ (DPS) high number of low-performing schools, NCSU’s MSA program is partnering with DPS to create the Durham Leadership Academy (DLA).  The DLA will deliver a customized two-year MSA program with the graduates making a three-year, post-degree commitment to work in local high-need schools, thus providing a robust leadership pipeline and succession plan for DPS and positioning the school system to make rapid improvements in historically low-performing schools.

NCSU is partnering with three school districts, Greene, Lenoir, and Wilson Counties, to create the TIP Leadership Academy (TLA) and deliver a customized two-year Master of School Administration (MSA).  The NCSU MSA is a non-traditional principal preparation program designed to be a solution to the stubborn, recurring problem of recruiting and retaining effective leaders for historically low-performing schools.  TLA graduates will make a three-year, post-degree commitment to work in local high-need schools, thus, providing a robust leadership pipeline and succession plan for the three TIP districts. The program will select Fellows through a rigorous selection process and then prepare principals through a context-specific, experiential program, which requires participants to demonstrate their leadership skills through solving authentic school problems with the support of executive coaches. Program experiences are customized to focus on turnaround principles for low- performing, high-poverty schools and communities.

HIRiSE is a new initiative at the Friday Institute to serve as a Hub for Innovation and Research in Statistics Education. Dr. Hollylynne Lee serves as the director for HIRiSE. Our goal is foster a variety of development and research efforts that improves education in K-16 towards developing future data scientists, statisticians, and citizens who are ready to make data informed decisions. The first major effort in HIRiSE has been the development of a Massive Open Online Course for Educators [MOOCEd] focused on Teaching Statistics Through Data Investigations [TSDI,funded from Hewlett Foundation]. The TSDI MOOCED allows teachers to learn, along with colleagues from other schools, to use a statistical investigation cycle to teach statistics and to help students explore data to make evidence based claims. Having served over 2000 educators from around the globe in the past year, we want to focus on how these online course materials can better prepare teachers and thus impact their students. The purpose of the Networked MOOCED for Teaching Statistics Through Data Investigations is to help facilitate these past participants to become local leaders of a professional learning team focused on teaching statistics and to develop a sustainable way that the TSDI MOOCED can continue to be used by local professional teams for many years to come.

The GAPS (Geospatial Applications for Problem Solving) for Hi-Tech Teens program is a collaborative effort between NC State University, Wade Edwards Learning Lab (WELL), and RTI International. The program is designed to introduce high school students to Geospatial science, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and advanced geovisualization technologies through an intensive after-school STEM learning experience. The GAPS for Hi-Tech Teens program consists of 2 unique 8-week cohorts (20 students) during the academic year, including 2 mandatory contact hours per week, plus a 2-hour open lab where students can work with mentors on project activities, for a potential of 64 contact hours. The program will also include a 1-week summer program focused on college and career preparedness. The four primary goals of the program are to 1) engage students in community-focused decision making using Geospatial science, 2) increase student capacity for creating and using interactive geovisualization technologies, 3) expose students to GIS-STEM related college programs and careers, and 4) support students with tutoring in mathematics and science. Another mission of the program is to reach historically underserved populations in STEM fields, including African Americans, Hispanics, American Indian, and female students.

Student success in the core content areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is essential for the development of an American workforce that can compete in the global economy. In response to this critical need school districts across the country, including in North Carolina, have developed K–12 initiatives designed to inspire and prepare the next generation of scientists, technicians, mathematicians, and engineers. In North Carolina The Golden LEAF Foundation (Golden LEAF) is a leader in the effort to promote and sustain high quality STEM education in public schools.  A key component of the Golden LEAF grants program provides strategic funding for innovative community education projects. The Foundation awarded grants to six district STEM projects that best met a variety of criteria laid out in Golden LEAF’s STEM Due Diligence Guide. The Golden LEAF STEM East Initiative evaluation team is conducting a two-year evaluation in six eastern NC school districts with three primary objectives: evaluation capacity-building work with grantees; ongoing development of STEM education instruments; and the collective evaluation of the grantees focusing on common outcomes.

The project supports the NC Digital Learning Plan [1] related to statewide content , state policies , and continuous improvement activities authorized under Session Law 2016-94, Section 8.23.  The FI is assisting DPI with:

    Statewide Content

• Migrating existing digital resources to Home Base including online course content from NCVPS and NCSSM, and content developed by NC LEAs and charter schools
• Establishing a process for teacher developed and curated content coordinated through the NC Digital Content Consortium
• Implementing NC’s #GoOpen strategy

    State Policies

• Modernizing the textbook and digital resources adoption process
• Forming and facilitating work groups for critical DL Plan policy issues (e.g., ITF certifications, tech director qualifications, Data Privacy, Copyright and Fair Usage)
• Prioritizing long-term funding recommendations
• Identifying priority policy changes to incorporate digital learning competencies into licensure and re-licensure

    Continuous Improvement

• Implementing processes for the continuous improvement of the Home Base system
• Developing and implementing a comprehensive Home Base communications plan that includes a product website
• The transition of the AMTR survey to a robust Digital Learning and Media Inventory (DLMI) management and reporting system.
• Modifying and enabling the Digital Learning Progress Rubric as a district and school level planning instrument and support program.
• Updating and maintaining the NC Digital Learning Data Dashboard

The project team is designing and delivering professional learning to the staffs at both South Stokes High School and West Stokes High School.  The team is tailoring the technology-rich, customized, face-to-face onsite sessions based on school needs. These sessions will be interactive and build on participants’ prior knowledge.  Project goals include:

• Providing participants with opportunities to move from simple knowledge accumulation to the transfer of knowledge into practice in their schools and across the district.
• Developing an understanding of how digital learning is integral to K-12 teaching and learning and continue to develop a growth mindset.
• Interacting and collaborating with peers who are implementing student-centered digital learning.
• Engaging educators in professional learning communities by establishing and growing their professional learning network.

As part of the NC’s Digital Learning Program, this 2-year project focuses on providing ongoing, job embedded professional learning to district leadership teams, superintendents, school leaders, and instructional coaches across the state.  Using the cohort model, the emphasis is on team-building and developing the skills and readiness to plan, lead, and implement district digital learning initiatives.

The grant builds on a series of projects designed to support the digital transformation of the classroom.  The purpose of this project is to continue providing coaches who have deep knowledge in the implementation of digital initiatives to deliver ongoing leadership support and coaching to GLF-funded sites in 15 historically tobacco‐dependent and economically distressed counties (i.e. Alamance‐Burlington School System, Bertie, Cherokee, Elizabeth City‐Pasquotank Public Schools, Henderson, Hyde, Jackson, Madison, Montgomery,

Northampton, Perquimans, Stokes, Swain, Washington and Weldon City Schools). Project work will focus on leadership development and strategic planning assistance for district and school leadership teams.  The teams will receive guidance, support and follow-up as they implement these complex digital initiatives. The goal is to combine the experiences of oversight learned from the original pilot schools, the Friday Institute’s knowledge of innovation within digital learning initiatives across NC and the expertise of the coaches, to enhance the success of these GLF project. Successful implementation will improve the possibilities of economic transformation in these counties.

The project team is doing an analysis that includes:

• Completing a scan of funding models from other states, with emphasis on states with demographics and funding structures similar to those of North Carolina.
• Developing outlines (in partnership with Exceptional Children Division [ECD]) for several alternative funding models, with models potentially ranging from those with specific adjustments to the current formula to those with entirely different structures and aims.
• Calculating scenarios (in partnership with ECD) for each model (with comparisons to the status quo), with an emphasis on (where possible) differential impacts at district and state levels.
• Recommending strategies for improving the likelihood of securing legislative support for identified funding model alternatives.

The project team will also produce data visualizations to increase the understanding and appeal of the importance of the proposed changes to the current funding formula; vignettes to capture in narrative form the realities of current on-the-ground problems related to the current funding formula; and case studies to connect multiple pieces of the funding puzzle together for stakeholders and policy-makers who may be unfamiliar with details of the exceptional children domain.

The goal of the project is to increase retention and effectiveness of new teachers in North Carolina by providing access to coaches, mentors and ongoing professional development support.

The 3-year project is led by NCSU in partnership with the University of Florida, the Wake County Public Schools, and the Alachua County Schools of Florida. Building on science standards and emerging computer science curricula, and leveraging significant advances in game-based learning, the ENGAGE project will deeply infuse computational thinking into middle school science education with the aim of producing theoretical and practical advances in developing computationally rich science practices. Over the three years of the project, it will directly engage 30 teachers and 5,000 middle school students at its diverse school partners.

To investigate how computationally rich middle grade science education can seamlessly integrate science problem solving and computation, the ENGAGE project will pursue the following three thrusts: 1. Design an innovative curricular strategy and novel game-based learning environment to develop computationally rich science practices in middle school students. 2. Investigate how middle school students develop computationally rich science practices in middle school science classrooms with the ENGAGE game-based learning environment. 3. Develop an evidence-based teacher professional development program that supports teachers in the deep integration of computational thinking into middle grade science.

Colleges and universities around the country are faced with a pressing question: How can we introduce computing in undergraduate STEM education in a way that successfully supports both skill development and motivation for a broad population of students? The PRIME project will address this question by developing and evaluating an intelligent tutoring system that provides automated individualized feedback. With a special focus on students from underrepresented groups, the project has the overarching objective of transforming introductory computing for STEM majors. Effectively introducing computing to STEM students holds enormous potential for shaping the way students develop the computational problem solving abilities that will be critical throughout their careers.

The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation (FI) has contracted with consultants to conduct an organizational assessment of the FI and deliver findings and recommendations that the Institute can use to improve its effectiveness and impact on public education outcomes. The process will entail an interactive and collaborative approach that enables key stakeholders to collectively share challenges and shape solutions.

The 3-year project contributes a critical, missing element to the range of existing formative, interim, and summative assessments by creating and refining a next generation diagnostic assessment, built around learning trajectories and the underlying research in the learning sciences. The level II project in grades 6-8 mathematics   leverages a learning map organized around nine big ideas, and 24 related learning clusters. Associated to the map and the CCSS-M standards, the diagnostic assessments map student progress in terms of levels of proficiency in the learning trajectories. The district and school partners, Freehold County Schools (NJ) and Harnet County Schools (NC), assist in refining and testing the diagnostics within programs of competency-based education and personalized learning.

The project involves a collaboration among the research team and two middle schools at a high-performing district in NJ with district leadership mentored in competency-based learning and personalization, and with a brand new middle school in North Carolina serving a large percentage of students on free and reduced lunch, where the process of implementing digital 1-1 learning is in its infancy. The project builds on a current NSF and Bill and Melinda Gates funded project where first version assessment items were written and field-tested to calibrate individual items. The partnership seeks to address four major goals: 1) revising and strengthening the diagnostic assessments by adding new item types and dynamic tools for data gathering and analyzing student solution strategies, 2) studying alternative ways to use measurement models to assess student progress over time using the concept of learning trajectories, 3) investigating how to assist students and teachers to effectively interpret reports on progress, both at the individual and the class level, and 4) engineering and studying instructional strategies based on student results and interpretations, as they are implemented within competency-based and personalized learning classrooms.

The 2-year research project, in collaboration with NC DPI, is an evaluation of North Carolina’s Read to Achieve (RtA) program.  The RtA is a legislatively-mandated program that provides instructional interventions for students who do not demonstrate reading proficiency by the end of grade three. Initial identification is based on students scoring below a cut point on grade three End-of-Grade (EOG) examination; students who are not proficient in reading before the start of the next school year are retained. The purpose of the project is to study the causal impacts of RtA on student outcomes in grades four and five. Elementary grade retention is a growing policy option nationwide for ensuring that students are prepared for upper elementary school and beyond.

Kuwait is a majority Muslim country, with women making up the majority of higher education graduates in Kuwait colleges and universities, but a minority of the workforce. This doctoral dissertation research, conducted by CED graduate student Aisha Al-Qimlass, will begin to identify the factors contributing to women’s decisions regarding whether or not to enter the workforce.  The main objectives of the study are to:  a) determine how Islamic feminism is associated with Kuwaiti women’s career development; b) determine the influence of factors such as age and socioeconomic status; and c) determine the role that factors such as gender-stereotype of occupation, prestige level of occupation, and personal have on selecting an occupation or career. The results of this study will add to the sustainable development of Kuwait by contributing to workforce development and building a knowledge-based economy, as well as supporting a culture of scientific understanding and innovation related to the career development process of future generations.

This project is a collaborative partnership between NCSU’s College of Education, the North Carolina Museum of History, and the NCSU History Dept., to provide teachers with disciplinary-based approaches to teaching history.  The goal is to support the integration of the primary sources made available by the Library of Congress (LOC) across the grade levels in history classrooms in North Carolina. The Connecting Carolina program will leverage current curriculum standards as well as student prior knowledge; and will provide professional development for teachers focused on the integration of LOC digital history resources in the classroom by making connections to state history.  Specifically the project team will use the “Story of North Carolina” exhibit presented by the North Carolina Museum of History to connect American history resources in the LOC collection to our state’s history.  This will enable teachers to build on student prior knowledge while also motivating students to understand American history in a way that is relevant to their home communities and experiences.

In partnership with Eastern Michigan, Southern Indiana, and Concord Consortium, the ESTEEM project focuses on a multifaceted problem in STEM learning: a) preservice secondary mathematics teachers [PSMTs] are underprepared to teach statistical content in 6-12 curricula; b) technologies to engage in rich data analysis and statistics investigations are difficult to use and not freely available; and c) undergraduate mathematics teacher preparation programs do not place enough emphasis on teaching statistics, and their faculty do not have easy access to high quality statistics education materials.

Building on 3 previous projects that focused on statistics curriculum content and online access to curriculum, the3-year ESTEEM project has three primary goals: 1) create online resources for statistics preservice teacher education, 2) design modules and approaches for using these resources, and 3) implement resources and modules in undergraduate mathematics education teacher education programs. The activities related to each goal will lead to both short and long term outcomes to be measured in the project, as well as impact grades 6-12 students’ learning of statistics.

The overarching goal of the 3-year project is to develop a coherent set of instructional practices for teachers and community stakeholders that target motivational needs specific to economically disadvantaged adolescents in predominantly African American middle schools in Durham, NC. This project is distinctive in that this work will help teachers, and engineers, and caregivers to unpack the concept of achievement motivation, thereby equipping them with strategies that are essential for discussing and intervening on specific aspects of motivation particularly relevant to early adolescents. Students will be empowered to substantively contribute to the improvement of the social and physical conditions in which they live by collaborating on meaningful projects that speak to issues they have identified within their own communities. Students will develop a sense of belonging within afterschool environments that support the development of mastery goals, a sense of autonomy and competence, and a view of STEM learning as meaningful and worthwhile.

Outcomes and products from this project will include: (1) a conceptual model for guiding teachers in using motivation data to improve their instructional effectiveness; and (2) an array of theoretically driven pedagogical techniques that will benefit teachers, engineers, and caregivers seeking to support the motivation of students of color during computer and electrical engineering activities. As part of a broader dissemination plan, The SMART Collaborative will contextualize the findings of this project during a convening designed to help community stakeholders overcome barriers to implementing motivationally supportive practices that tailored to meet early adolescents’ motivation needs—needs that differ profoundly based on cognitive, social, and physical maturation levels particular to this age group.

The ASKTM project will investigate the structure of elementary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) as it is held by novice or experienced teachers, as it is learned in the context of teacher preparation and practice, and as it is used for instruction and to support student learning. The project team will develop a teacher knowledge assessment focused on fractions and decimals and subsequently examine the relationships between teacher knowledge, observed mathematics instruction, and student learning, through applications of recent advances in psychometric methods. The study aims to advance fundamental knowledge of the structure of MKT and thereby offer theoretical and pragmatic implications for the field of mathematics teacher education.

Education and workforce development have been identified as next generation global grand challenges.  Youth populations represent the future capacity of the world, and globally inter-dependent economies rely on healthy citizens to support labor markets. Concurrently, youth world-wide face increasing challenges resulting in spiraling gaps in educational achievement, earning potential, and other heightened psychosocial risks, thus perpetuating their marginalization within society.

Interdisciplinary scholar-leaders across research, practice, and policy domains recognize the criticality of effective career interventions, yet there remains much to be learned in terms of what elements facilitate effectiveness and thus, should be central to funding and policy initiatives. Moreover, there is a notable need for empirically supported interventions as well as clearer connections between practice and policy. To address these issues, the primary goal of this collaborative research project is to identify relevant indicators of success in global career development through (1) developing culturally-appropriate career and psychosocial support interventions; (2) creating capacity building infrastructure for knowledge sharing; and (3) disseminating knowledge to relevant stakeholder groups.

These projects build on the work of the NC Learning Technology Initiative (NCLTI) and further develop and extend the impact for statewide replication.  An essential component of the  NCLTI  is a consistent professional development approach designed to a) provide educational leaders with the knowledge and resources necessary for planning and implementing successful technology-enabled learning programs; and b) provide teachers with a pedagogical framework, teaching strategies, web 2.0 tools and resources to enhance teaching and learning in the content areas. The  NCLTI -PD approach is one that combines face-to-face and online activities, giving participants opportunities to experience educational use of technology to support their own learning, as well as an understanding of the core elements that are necessary for launching successful technology-enabled learning programs.

The 2-year project will continue and expand on previous Oak-funded work with educators and increase the reach to administrators, faculty, and students through the following goals.

• Blended and Online Learning for Students, Teachers, Coaches,  Administrators and Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) Faculty: To curate the rich, existing content and develop and provide online and blended learning opportunities, including Massive Online Open Course for Educators (MOOC-Eds), online modules, and professional learning communities, on Learning Differences for targeted audiences, including district and school leaders, coaches, teachers, college faculty, and students (secondary and postsecondary).
• Micro-Credentials:  To continue to develop Learning Differences micro-credentials and work with other partners to explore the possibility of an add-on certification for educators and micro-credentials for students and/or schools.
• Resource Hub:  To develop a hub of resources, artifacts, and tools around Learning Differences, including modules and resources from the online learning opportunities, for just-in-time access for educators.
• Partnerships:  To collaborate with Oak Foundation partners, including New Teacher Center, UDL-IRN, Teach for All, Understood.org, Digital Promise, Youth Build, and Teach for America to support their work on Learning Differences and provide access to the MOOC-Ed to district and school leaders, coaches, teachers, and students.
• Evaluation & Dissemination:  To evaluate and research how and why certain opportunities and approaches lead to a deeper understanding of learning differences and changes in practice.

The grant funds the initial year of a multi-year project that will examine the impacts of North Carolina’s legislatively-mandated school voucher program–the Opportunity Scholarship–which is available to lower-income families beginning in SY 2014-15. Most voucher programs in other states have been relatively small in scale, and typically city-based, limiting the degree to which they are able to inform the emerging movement toward state-level voucher programs like this one. This study will provide a deeper understanding of large-scale implementation of a statewide voucher program, its cost to the state, and its differential impact on multiple student populations, including rural students–a group typically unable to access voucher programs. The need for this study is critical, given that there is currently no plan for a state-supported evaluation of the effectiveness or consequences of the program.

Code.org selected the Friday Institute to serve as a network partner to help teach computer science in a local, sustainable fashion. The network of organizations supports a nationwide computer science movement.   Code.org is providing initial funding to help each organization establish itself as a local Code.org professional learning partner.

In collaboration with NC Department of Public Instruction, the goal of the project is to complete planning and preparation activities concerning the School Connectivity 2.0 initiative and to support related cooperative purchasing agreement activities. Project activities include:  1)assisting DPI with translating survey results from the field into a workable cooperative purchasing agreement for digital devices for local education agencies (LEAs) and charter schools;  2) providing recommendations for other opportunities for cooperative purchasing agreements that DPI may consider during the course of this agreement; 3) advising DPI and consulting on RFP(s) development, bid evaluations, award recommendations, and resulting contract management which will, at minimum, include the implementation of cooperative purchasing agreements for ChromeBooks; and 4) developing an RFP to procure a SaaS platform that LEAs and charter schools can use to locate, organize, and share standards-aligned and professionally curated instructional resources.

The implementation of the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) has not included plans to examine the impact of the school choice program on participants’ academic achievement outcomes.  The project will address this knowledge gap by evaluating the student achievement impact of the program, shedding light on issues that matter for public policy, as well as for students and their families.    The evaluation will address the following research questions:

• What is the impact of a voucher offer on students’ math and reading achievement?
• Are the effects evenly distributed for students from different subgroups and at different points along ability and income distributions?

This project prepares teachers to adopt technology-enabled strategies for: 1) connecting with other cultures through global collaborative projects, 2) crowd curating cultural media collections, and 3) reflecting on cultural understanding through written and multimodal works. Finnish culture will serve as the focus for this work, with fifteen teachers selected in each of three years for a two-week immersion in Finland with advance and on-site coursework used to frame the experience.

This project addresses the critical need to prepare the nation’s educators for the changes in what, where, when and how students will learn as K-12 education transitions to a digital-age system. To do so, the team is developing Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) based upon research-based principles of effective professional development for educators. They are also conducting research on the potential for these courses to provide cost-effective and flexible professional learning opportunities for large numbers of educators.  This work is part of a larger Friday Institute MOOC-Ed initiative which began in 2012.

Economically distressed counties will get coaching resources for the implementation of digital initiatives thanks to a grant led by Emmy Coleman. The one-year $200,000 project, funded by GoldenLEAF, builds on a series of projects designed to support the digital transformation of the classroom. The purpose of this project is to continue providing coaches who have deep knowledge in the implementation of digital initiatives to deliver ongoing leadership support and coaching to GLF-funded sites in 16 historically tobacco-dependent and economically distressed counties. Project work will focus on leadership development and strategic planning assistance for district and school leadership teams.

This project addresses the lack of participation of underrepresented minorities in STEM fields through the formation of a strategic partnership between the North Carolina Mathematics and Science Education Network Pre-College Program (MSEN), the Minority Engineering Program (MEP) and the College of Engineering (COE) at North Carolina State University. The project team is creating a STEM-focused research methods course and summer research experience for minority high school students in the MSEN Program to increase their interest and self-efficacy in STEM research and careers. MEP students will serve as mentors to the MSEN students throughout the research course and NCSU faculty members from the different STEM disciplines will guide students through the completion of a summer research project. The goal of the project is to increase the number of minority students interested in pursuing STEM degrees at NC State.

Dr. Audrey Jaeger is tackling issues of faculty workload and reward system reform through a 5-year NSF ADVANCE IHE-PLAN grant in partnership with the University of Maryland. The Faculty Workload and Rewards Project team will test whether departments that undergo a three year plan to address workload inequality show improvements in the sense of fairness felt by women and underrepresented minority faculty, retention, satisfaction, organizational commitment and balance of time for research versus teaching and service.

Drs. John Nietfeld and Cathy Crossland are creating a technology platform to enhance learning through STEM-based writing. Their one-year $137,000 project, funded by SAS Institute, Inc., explores the use of crowdsourcing to provide students more effective writing assignment prompts which have a structured purpose and audience .

Focusing on the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, the project addresses ways to enhance learning intended to be gained from the typically assigned writing tasks. While assignments tend to be done by students without much thought or intention, research indicates that simply changing the audience and providing students with a more structured purpose will significantly improve writing quality in several key areas including focus, accuracy, the use of details, language, audience appropriateness, and navigational features. The purpose of WRITE LOCAL is to build upon these proven best-practices by leveraging technology for scalability. WRITE LOCAL employs crowdsourcing to ensure teachers and students have immediate access to a large repository of writing prompts that cover the entire spectrum of text types and audiences—persuasive, informative/explanatory and narrative.

As part of this effort, Drs. Nietfeld and Crossland and members of the SAS Curriculum Pathways team are developing a prototype of a searchable K-12 entry document repository application. This work will lay the groundwork for foundational research towards the design and implementation of more sophisticated methods for supporting the developing writer.

Dr. Lee Stiff is working to transform the culture of teaching and learning in the math classroom. The 3-year $500,000 (Project Total), NC Department of Public Instruction Math/Science Partnership grant supports this transformation in Person County Schools by improving mathematical practices and pedagogy. The collaborative project led by Person County Schools is designed to improve teacher content knowledge, increase the use of mathematical practices, improve mathematics pedagogy, and develop a culture of conceptual teaching and learning through delivery of an innovative professional development program to all third to eighth grade teachers. Dr. Stiff is developing and delivering the professional development sessions.

Although strides have been made to promote more equity in college access, many populations, particularly low-income, first generation, and ethnic/racial minorities, are still highly underrepresented in higher education. One contributing factor is that many high schools, especially those with low college-going rates, lack sufficient college-related counseling. In recent years there has been an increased investment in college counseling initiatives; however little is known about the effects of specialized college counselors. This project examines the effect having a college counselor in a public high school has on three primary college access outcomes: 1) the number of college applications a student completes; 2) the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rate; and 3) postsecondary enrollment. The project uses a nationally-representative sample of public high school students from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). Using inverse probability weighting, this study will compare the postsecondary application and enrollment outcomes of students who attended public high schools with a college counselor to a comparison group of students who did not have this additional resource. The study will provide insights into the effectiveness of college counselors, assist schools in making decisions about distribution of limited resources, and highlight practices that can be replicated on a larger scale.

This project explores how the Obama Administration is using its power to grant waivers from education policies and assesses whether they are using this power differently than previous administrations and/or other sectors (e.g., health or welfare).  Specifically, the case study project focuses on the 2011 US Dept. of Education’s move to allow states the opportunity to apply for more flexibility from No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  States could request release from NCLB accountability in exchange for enacting various education policy reforms.  The goal of the project is to understand how these waivers fit into the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) design.  The approach focuses on analyzing the shifts in more recent governance as a way of exploring the political values placed on educational policy at the federal level and how this has shaped state education policy.   The analyses in this project will not only shed light on the ESEA waivers in relation to waivers in other areas of the government, but also on the future of educational governance and social decision-making.

NC DHHS’ Community Transitions Institute (CTI) is designed to ensure quality transition practices and effective integration of physical, behavioral, and long-term services for transitioning individuals.  The NCSU project team will assist in the first phase of the institute by providing project management of professional development opportunities for transition professionals, creation of a knowledge base (a secure online learning community), project evaluation, and the development of a tentative curriculum framework for future use.

The Central Carolina Regional Education Service Alliance (CCRESA), representing 18 districts, is exploring how to support districts most effectively in their work around digital and blended learning. The Friday Institute is providing assistance with this effort, building on its extensive professional learning experiences in understanding and implementing digital and blended learning for district and school leaders, instructional technology facilitators and coaches, and teachers. The initial phase of this work includes project planning, convening a meeting with representatives from the Technology and Curriculum & Instruction Councils, and supporting the CCRESA as they develop a plan for this long-term work.

The project team is providing professional development for high school mathematics teachers to deepen their understanding of mathematics which is foundational to and addressed in the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M). The professional development also engages teachers in learning more about: a) student learning of particular mathematical concepts; b) eight research-based teaching strategies to support student learning and use of the Mathematical Practices; and c) uses of technology to support student reasoning and sense making of mathematics.  The professional development program will serve as many as 18 high school mathematics teachers from five high-needs Wake County high schools. These teachers will participate in five graduate courses in mathematics and mathematics education that will engage them in deepening their knowledge of mathematics content that is typically difficult to teach or is emphasized in new ways with Common Core. These courses will be developed collaboratively and implemented by faculty in the Colleges of Education and Sciences.

Project ATOMS addresses the critical need for longitudinal research on the impact of teacher education.  The team is evaluating NC State’s STEM-focused elementary teacher preparation program.  The findings have the potential to redefine how we prepare prospective educators to teach mathematics and science to young children.

Through a mixed methods study using multi-level modeling and qualitative techniques, the project illustrates teachers’ development through their preparation program and into teaching, and the relative effects of teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, self-efficacy, instructional performance and teacher education program features on the class- and student-level STEM learning of K-5 students.  This knowledge has the potential to transform the ways in which teachers are prepared to teach STEM content, to produce a model of teacher development that is based on longitudinal study and allows for the possible adoption of the ATOMS model by other teacher education programs across the nation, and to affect instructional practices in K-5 settings.

The purpose of the project is to creatively integrate longitudinal evaluation with innovation within NC State’s K-12 STEM outreach programs, particularly those funded by NSF, to help ensure the breadth and depth of the future U.S. STEM workforce. The vision for MISO is an integrated institutional structure that will allow pre-college programs to think and act strategically to meet the goals below. ● Provide an innovative network of support and communications among University-based outreach project directors and educational evaluation experts. ● Develop and demonstrate a system of data-driven planning and analysis. ● Use the longitudinal assessment of outreach participant outcomes within the university-wide outreach learning community to support more seamless transitions across critical educational junctures. ● Broaden participation among underrepresented groups in pre-college STEM outreach activities through integrated recruitment and support strategies.

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Faculty and staff members in the College of Education are involved with externally funded research and development projects valued, in total, at more than $120 million.

This page includes a sampling of current and previous projects.

College Ambition Program

The College Ambition Program (CAP) is developing a school-wide model for helping high school students navigate the process of applying to college, especially students interested in STEM fields. In addition to providing services, the research team, led by Hannah Distinguished Professor  Barbara Schneider , collects data to measure how effective CAP activities are at increasing students’ college readiness and college going. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Michigan Department of Education.

Cyber Partners: Harnessing Group Dynamics to Boost Motivation for More Efficient Exercise

Deborah L. Feltz  and her team in the  Exergames Research Lab  are researching the best ways to keep astronauts in shape on long-duration space flights. In close living quarters with prolonged weightlessness, astronauts can suffer decreased muscle, bone and cardiovascular functions. This research (funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute of NASA) is part of a broader effort to help space crews work together and maintain their health.

Multiple Literacies in Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Funded by a $5 million grant from the George Lucas Educational Foundation, this project will design, develop and test new upper-elementary curriculum materials that support learning in science, literacy and mathematics. The materials will engage students in project-based learning activities aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards in literacy and mathematics. The project is led by Professor  Joseph Krajcik , director of MSU’s C REATE for STEM Institute .

Project PLACE (Project-approach to Literacy And Civic Engagement)

Project PLACE (Project-approach to Literacy and Civic Engagement) is led by  Anne-Lise Halvorsen  of Michigan State University and Nell K. Duke of the University of Michigan, and funded by the Spencer Foundation and the George Lucas Educational Foundation. The study investigates the impact of project-based instruction that integrates social studies and literacy with second-grade students in schools in low-SES settings.

Environmental Literacy

Charles (Andy) Anderson  and his research team are developing learning progressions that lead toward environmental science literacy for students from upper elementary school through college, with the goal of integrating their work into contemporary K-12 curriculum. The project is organized into four strands: carbon, water, bio diversity and citizenship.

Mathematics Discourse in Secondary Classrooms  (M-DISC)

Beth Herbel-Eisenmann , along with colleagues Michael Steele and Michelle Cirillo, have led a project to design and test a set of professional development materials that will help secondary mathematics teachers engage in productive classroom discourse practices.

Constructing Value-Added Indicators of Teacher and School Effectiveness We Can Trust

MSU researchers Mark Reckase and Jeff Wooldridge, along with Cassie Guarino, led a project to evaluate and identify which commonly-used value-added models (VAMs) accurately estimate the effects of teachers, schools and instructional practices. They applied tools for checking and improving the validity of VAMs and contributed to the national discussion about guidelines for using VAMs.

Strengthening Tomorrow’s Education in Measurement (STEM)

The Strengthening Tomorrow’s Education in Measurement (STEM) project, led by  Professor John P. Smith, III , found that conceptual deficits in U.S. elementary math curricula have likely contributed to students’ poor understanding of measurement (length, area and volume).

Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning  (CIRTL)

The Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) is a national effort to improve college teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics through professional development for doctoral students who will become faculty. Michigan State University is one of the founding universities of the network, which now includes more than 40 universities across the country.  Ann Austin  is lead researcher.

Center for Advancing Research and Communication (ARC) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

ARC supports National Science Foundation-funded education research projects in the STEM disciplines by offering technical assistance to investigators and communicating their findings to a larger audience. Michigan State University Professor  Barbara Schneider  is principal investigator of the center, which is based at the University of Chicago.

SOLID (Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development) Start project

The SOLID Start project (Science, Oral Language, and Literacy Development from the Start of School) develops professional development opportunities for K-2 teachers that integrates science and literacy. The project also develops standards-based, integrated science and disciplinary language and literacy curriculum materials designed for K-2 children. Components of the SOLID Start curriculum include unit and daily driving questions (ASK), multi-modal investigations of and experiences with science phenomena (EXPLORE), science informational text read alouds (READ), science writing and drawing opportunities (WRITE), and science synthesis discussions (SYNTHESIZE) to build children’s oral language with a focus on explanations of phenomena. Teacher Tips are provided throughout the curriculum to support teachers in implementing these exciting units of study.

More Research Projects

• National Study of LGBTQ Student Success
• GET City  (Science learning for urban youth)
• Launch into Teaching  (Support for beginning teachers and instructional coaches)
• National Center for Research on Teacher Learning (NCRTL)
• Institute for Research on Teaching (IRT)
• Science in the Moment (SciMo)

Education During Coronavirus

A Smithsonian magazine special report

Science | June 15, 2020

Seventy-Five Scientific Research Projects You Can Contribute to Online

From astrophysicists to entomologists, many researchers need the help of citizen scientists to sift through immense data collections

Rachael Lallensack

Former Assistant Editor, Science and Innovation

If you find yourself tired of streaming services, reading the news or video-chatting with friends, maybe you should consider becoming a citizen scientist. Though it’s true that many field research projects are paused , hundreds of scientists need your help sifting through wildlife camera footage and images of galaxies far, far away, or reading through diaries and field notes from the past.

Plenty of these tools are free and easy enough for children to use. You can look around for projects yourself on Smithsonian Institution’s citizen science volunteer page , National Geographic ’s list of projects and CitizenScience.gov ’s catalog of options. Zooniverse is a platform for online-exclusive projects , and Scistarter allows you to restrict your search with parameters, including projects you can do “on a walk,” “at night” or “on a lunch break.”

To save you some time, Smithsonian magazine has compiled a collection of dozens of projects you can take part in from home.

American Wildlife

If being home has given you more time to look at wildlife in your own backyard, whether you live in the city or the country, consider expanding your view, by helping scientists identify creatures photographed by camera traps. Improved battery life, motion sensors, high-resolution and small lenses have made camera traps indispensable tools for conservation.These cameras capture thousands of images that provide researchers with more data about ecosystems than ever before.

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s eMammal platform , for example, asks users to identify animals for conservation projects around the country. Currently, eMammal is being used by the Woodland Park Zoo ’s Seattle Urban Carnivore Project, which studies how coyotes, foxes, raccoons, bobcats and other animals coexist with people, and the Washington Wolverine Project, an effort to monitor wolverines in the face of climate change. Identify urban wildlife for the Chicago Wildlife Watch , or contribute to wilderness projects documenting North American biodiversity with The Wilds' Wildlife Watch in Ohio , Cedar Creek: Eyes on the Wild in Minnesota , Michigan ZoomIN , Western Montana Wildlife and Snapshot Wisconsin .

"Spend your time at home virtually exploring the Minnesota backwoods,” writes the lead researcher of the Cedar Creek: Eyes on the Wild project. “Help us understand deer dynamics, possum populations, bear behavior, and keep your eyes peeled for elusive wolves!"

If being cooped up at home has you daydreaming about traveling, Snapshot Safari has six active animal identification projects. Try eyeing lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, elephants, giraffes, baobab trees and over 400 bird species from camera trap photos taken in South African nature reserves, including De Hoop Nature Reserve and Madikwe Game Reserve .

With South Sudan DiversityCam , researchers are using camera traps to study biodiversity in the dense tropical forests of southwestern South Sudan. Part of the Serenegeti Lion Project, Snapshot Serengeti needs the help of citizen scientists to classify millions of camera trap images of species traveling with the wildebeest migration.

Classify all kinds of monkeys with Chimp&See . Count, identify and track giraffes in northern Kenya . Watering holes host all kinds of wildlife, but that makes the locales hotspots for parasite transmission; Parasite Safari needs volunteers to help figure out which animals come in contact with each other and during what time of year.

Mount Taranaki in New Zealand is a volcanic peak rich in native vegetation, but native wildlife, like the North Island brown kiwi, whio/blue duck and seabirds, are now rare—driven out by introduced predators like wild goats, weasels, stoats, possums and rats. Estimate predator species compared to native wildlife with Taranaki Mounga by spotting species on camera trap images.

The Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) Instant Wild app has a dozen projects showcasing live images and videos of wildlife around the world. Look for bears, wolves and lynx in Croatia ; wildcats in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula ; otters in Hampshire, England ; and both black and white rhinos in the Lewa-Borana landscape in Kenya.

Under the Sea

Researchers use a variety of technologies to learn about marine life and inform conservation efforts. Take, for example, Beluga Bits , a research project focused on determining the sex, age and pod size of beluga whales visiting the Churchill River in northern Manitoba, Canada. With a bit of training, volunteers can learn how to differentiate between a calf, a subadult (grey) or an adult (white)—and even identify individuals using scars or unique pigmentation—in underwater videos and images. Beluga Bits uses a “ beluga boat ,” which travels around the Churchill River estuary with a camera underneath it, to capture the footage and collect GPS data about the whales’ locations.

Many of these online projects are visual, but Manatee Chat needs citizen scientists who can train their ear to decipher manatee vocalizations. Researchers are hoping to learn what calls the marine mammals make and when—with enough practice you might even be able to recognize the distinct calls of individual animals.

Several groups are using drone footage to monitor seal populations. Seals spend most of their time in the water, but come ashore to breed. One group, Seal Watch , is analyzing time-lapse photography and drone images of seals in the British territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. A team in Antarctica captured images of Weddell seals every ten minutes while the seals were on land in spring to have their pups. The Weddell Seal Count project aims to find out what threats—like fishing and climate change—the seals face by monitoring changes in their population size. Likewise, the Año Nuevo Island - Animal Count asks volunteers to count elephant seals, sea lions, cormorants and more species on a remote research island off the coast of California.

With Floating Forests , you’ll sift through 40 years of satellite images of the ocean surface identifying kelp forests, which are foundational for marine ecosystems, providing shelter for shrimp, fish and sea urchins. A project based in southwest England, Seagrass Explorer , is investigating the decline of seagrass beds. Researchers are using baited cameras to spot commercial fish in these habitats as well as looking out for algae to study the health of these threatened ecosystems. Search for large sponges, starfish and cold-water corals on the deep seafloor in Sweden’s first marine park with the Koster seafloor observatory project.

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center needs your help spotting invasive species with Invader ID . Train your eye to spot groups of organisms, known as fouling communities, that live under docks and ship hulls, in an effort to clean up marine ecosystems.

If art history is more your speed, two Dutch art museums need volunteers to start “ fishing in the past ” by analyzing a collection of paintings dating from 1500 to 1700. Each painting features at least one fish, and an interdisciplinary research team of biologists and art historians wants you to identify the species of fish to make a clearer picture of the “role of ichthyology in the past.”

Interesting Insects

Notes from Nature is a digitization effort to make the vast resources in museums’ archives of plants and insects more accessible. Similarly, page through the University of California Berkeley’s butterfly collection on CalBug to help researchers classify these beautiful critters. The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology has already digitized about 300,000 records, but their collection exceeds 4 million bugs. You can hop in now and transcribe their grasshopper archives from the last century . Parasitic arthropods, like mosquitos and ticks, are known disease vectors; to better locate these critters, the Terrestrial Parasite Tracker project is working with 22 collections and institutions to digitize over 1.2 million specimens—and they’re 95 percent done . If you can tolerate mosquito buzzing for a prolonged period of time, the HumBug project needs volunteers to train its algorithm and develop real-time mosquito detection using acoustic monitoring devices. It’s for the greater good!

For the Birders

Birdwatching is one of the most common forms of citizen science . Seeing birds in the wilderness is certainly awe-inspiring, but you can birdwatch from your backyard or while walking down the sidewalk in big cities, too. With Cornell University’s eBird app , you can contribute to bird science at any time, anywhere. (Just be sure to remain a safe distance from wildlife—and other humans, while we social distance ). If you have safe access to outdoor space—a backyard, perhaps—Cornell also has a NestWatch program for people to report observations of bird nests. Smithsonian’s Migratory Bird Center has a similar Neighborhood Nest Watch program as well.

Birdwatching is easy enough to do from any window, if you’re sheltering at home, but in case you lack a clear view, consider these online-only projects. Nest Quest currently has a robin database that needs volunteer transcribers to digitize their nest record cards.

You can also pitch in on a variety of efforts to categorize wildlife camera images of burrowing owls , pelicans , penguins (new data coming soon!), and sea birds . Watch nest cam footage of the northern bald ibis or greylag geese on NestCams to help researchers learn about breeding behavior.

Or record the coloration of gorgeous feathers across bird species for researchers at London’s Natural History Museum with Project Plumage .

Pretty Plants

If you’re out on a walk wondering what kind of plants are around you, consider downloading Leafsnap , an electronic field guide app developed by Columbia University, the University of Maryland and the Smithsonian Institution. The app has several functions. First, it can be used to identify plants with its visual recognition software. Secondly, scientists can learn about the “ the ebb and flow of flora ” from geotagged images taken by app users.

What is older than the dinosaurs, survived three mass extinctions and still has a living relative today? Ginko trees! Researchers at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History are studying ginko trees and fossils to understand millions of years of plant evolution and climate change with the Fossil Atmospheres project . Using Zooniverse, volunteers will be trained to identify and count stomata, which are holes on a leaf’s surface where carbon dioxide passes through. By counting these holes, or quantifying the stomatal index, scientists can learn how the plants adapted to changing levels of carbon dioxide. These results will inform a field experiment conducted on living trees in which a scientist is adjusting the level of carbon dioxide for different groups.

Help digitize and categorize millions of botanical specimens from natural history museums, research institutions and herbaria across the country with the Notes from Nature Project . Did you know North America is home to a variety of beautiful orchid species? Lend botanists a handby typing handwritten labels on pressed specimens or recording their geographic and historic origins for the New York Botanical Garden’s archives. Likewise, the Southeastern U.S. Biodiversity project needs assistance labeling pressed poppies, sedums, valerians, violets and more. Groups in California , Arkansas , Florida , Texas and Oklahoma all invite citizen scientists to partake in similar tasks.

Historic Women in Astronomy

Become a transcriber for Project PHaEDRA and help researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics preserve the work of Harvard’s women “computers” who revolutionized astronomy in the 20th century. These women contributed more than 130 years of work documenting the night sky, cataloging stars, interpreting stellar spectra, counting galaxies, and measuring distances in space, according to the project description .

More than 2,500 notebooks need transcription on Project PhaEDRA - Star Notes . You could start with Annie Jump Cannon , for example. In 1901, Cannon designed a stellar classification system that astronomers still use today. Cecilia Payne discovered that stars are made primarily of hydrogen and helium and can be categorized by temperature. Two notebooks from Henrietta Swan Leavitt are currently in need of transcription. Leavitt, who was deaf, discovered the link between period and luminosity in Cepheid variables, or pulsating stars, which “led directly to the discovery that the Universe is expanding,” according to her bio on Star Notes .

Volunteers are also needed to transcribe some of these women computers’ notebooks that contain references to photographic glass plates . These plates were used to study space from the 1880s to the 1990s. For example, in 1890, Williamina Flemming discovered the Horsehead Nebula on one of these plates . With Star Notes, you can help bridge the gap between “modern scientific literature and 100 years of astronomical observations,” according to the project description . Star Notes also features the work of Cannon, Leavitt and Dorrit Hoffleit , who authored the fifth edition of the Bright Star Catalog, which features 9,110 of the brightest stars in the sky.

Microscopic Musings

Electron microscopes have super-high resolution and magnification powers—and now, many can process images automatically, allowing teams to collect an immense amount of data. Francis Crick Institute’s Etch A Cell - Powerhouse Hunt project trains volunteers to spot and trace each cell’s mitochondria, a process called manual segmentation. Manual segmentation is a major bottleneck to completing biological research because using computer systems to complete the work is still fraught with errors and, without enough volunteers, doing this work takes a really long time.

For the Monkey Health Explorer project, researchers studying the social behavior of rhesus monkeys on the tiny island Cayo Santiago off the southeastern coast of Puerto Rico need volunteers to analyze the monkeys’ blood samples. Doing so will help the team understand which monkeys are sick and which are healthy, and how the animals’ health influences behavioral changes.

Using the Zooniverse’s app on a phone or tablet, you can become a “ Science Scribbler ” and assist researchers studying how Huntington disease may change a cell’s organelles. The team at the United Kingdom's national synchrotron , which is essentially a giant microscope that harnesses the power of electrons, has taken highly detailed X-ray images of the cells of Huntington’s patients and needs help identifying organelles, in an effort to see how the disease changes their structure.

Oxford University’s Comprehensive Resistance Prediction for Tuberculosis: an International Consortium—or CRyPTIC Project , for short, is seeking the aid of citizen scientists to study over 20,000 TB infection samples from around the world. CRyPTIC’s citizen science platform is called Bash the Bug . On the platform, volunteers will be trained to evaluate the effectiveness of antibiotics on a given sample. Each evaluation will be checked by a scientist for accuracy and then used to train a computer program, which may one day make this process much faster and less labor intensive.

Out of This World

If you’re interested in contributing to astronomy research from the comfort and safety of your sidewalk or backyard, check out Globe at Night . The project monitors light pollution by asking users to try spotting constellations in the night sky at designated times of the year . (For example, Northern Hemisphere dwellers should look for the Bootes and Hercules constellations from June 13 through June 22 and record the visibility in Globe at Night’s app or desktop report page .)

For the amateur astrophysicists out there, the opportunities to contribute to science are vast. NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission is asking for volunteers to search for new objects at the edges of our solar system with the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project .

Galaxy Zoo on Zooniverse and its mobile app has operated online citizen science projects for the past decade. According to the project description, there are roughly one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. Surprisingly, identifying different types of galaxies by their shape is rather easy. “If you're quick, you may even be the first person to see the galaxies you're asked to classify,” the team writes.

With Radio Galaxy Zoo: LOFAR , volunteers can help identify supermassive blackholes and star-forming galaxies. Galaxy Zoo: Clump Scout asks users to look for young, “clumpy” looking galaxies, which help astronomers understand galaxy evolution.

If current events on Earth have you looking to Mars, perhaps you’d be interested in checking out Planet Four and Planet Four: Terrains —both of which task users with searching and categorizing landscape formations on Mars’ southern hemisphere. You’ll scroll through images of the Martian surface looking for terrain types informally called “spiders,” “baby spiders,” “channel networks” and “swiss cheese.”

Gravitational waves are telltale ripples in spacetime, but they are notoriously difficult to measure. With Gravity Spy , citizen scientists sift through data from Laser Interferometer Gravitational­-Wave Observatory, or LIGO , detectors. When lasers beamed down 2.5-mile-long “arms” at these facilities in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington are interrupted, a gravitational wave is detected. But the detectors are sensitive to “glitches” that, in models, look similar to the astrophysical signals scientists are looking for. Gravity Spy teaches citizen scientists how to identify fakes so researchers can get a better view of the real deal. This work will, in turn, train computer algorithms to do the same.

Similarly, the project Supernova Hunters needs volunteers to clear out the “bogus detections of supernovae,” allowing researchers to track the progression of actual supernovae. In Hubble Space Telescope images, you can search for asteroid tails with Hubble Asteroid Hunter . And with Planet Hunters TESS , which teaches users to identify planetary formations, you just “might be the first person to discover a planet around a nearby star in the Milky Way,” according to the project description.

Help astronomers refine prediction models for solar storms, which kick up dust that impacts spacecraft orbiting the sun, with Solar Stormwatch II. Thanks to the first iteration of the project, astronomers were able to publish seven papers with their findings.

With Mapping Historic Skies , identify constellations on gorgeous celestial maps of the sky covering a span of 600 years from the Adler Planetarium collection in Chicago. Similarly, help fill in the gaps of historic astronomy with Astronomy Rewind , a project that aims to “make a holistic map of images of the sky.”

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Rachael Lallensack | READ MORE

Rachael Lallensack is the former assistant web editor for science and innovation at Smithsonian .

Ultimate List of 265 Research Topics for College Students

How often do you freeze up after receiving an assignment to write a research paper? We know how tough it can be, particularly in a flood of possible research topics for students. Choosing that one idea from plenty of research proposal topics for college students is the foremost step in any academic project.

Lack of inspiration? We made an ultimate list of research topics for college students. You will find art, biology, social science, education, and even more fun research topics for college students. Don’t scour the tons of outdated or dull topics anymore. A much better alternative would be to look at essay examples instead. 

What’s more, we prepared three main steps to start converting the chosen topic into a successful research paper. Besides, we will dispel any uncertainty in research importance. 

Is Research Important?

• Art Research Topics
• Biology Research Topics
• Educational Topics
• Environmental Topics

Gender Research Topics

• Law Research Topics

Literature Research Topics

• Music Research Topics
• Psychology Topics
• Religion Research Topics
• Science Research Topics
• Social Science Topics

Sports Research Paper Topics

How to start a research paper, top 10 research topics for college students:.

• Human impact on biodiversity loss
• Internet’s effect on freedom of speech
• Is isolation a cause of child abuse?
• Negative effect of pop culture trends on youth
• Pros and cons of free education
• Is AI a threat to humans?
• The impact of modern technology on ecology
• Can nuclear power be safe?
• Economic impact of GMO food
• Negative effect of climate change on economy

Before getting into the importance of research, let’s understand what kind of work it is.

Research is an analysis aimed at discovering of new facts or revising existing theories. It consists of several steps. The most common are:

• Research methodology setting
• Research problem statement
• Data extraction and gathering
• Assessment of the gathered data
• Conclusions summarizing

What Are the Purposes of Research?

The intentions are countless, but here are the general ones:

✨ to accept or reject a hypothesis; ✨ to gather information on a phenomenon or subject; ✨ to initiate further research or to “dig deeper.”

Why Is It important?

Research makes our life easier. The underlying cause of new discoveries is to understand how things work. If we acquire that data, we’ll know how to get practical value out of it.

Think of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As we meet our deficiency needs, its level grows. At the same time, the demand for new knowledge increases. That is why discovering new is a never-ending process.

That is all clear. But you may ask: why do I need research skills in my day-to-day life?

After graduation, you will most likely still need research skills at work. No matter what the industry is. Either you decided to excel in science or form a hi-tech startup. If you want to achieve success, you should have strong research skills.

All in all, having research skills is one of the core elements of personal and social growth. It helps to generate additional findings or set new questions around existing knowledge.

Now let’s move on to the list of research topics.

Art Research Paper Topics

We’ll start from the study area, which is difficult to measure. We talk about art. For some, it may seem easier to study than exact sciences. But still, the number of questions about various genres, forms, and art styles is beyond imagination.

Why should we not overestimate the importance of studying art ?

Art is not just something for connoisseurs. It has always been and still is vital for the whole of society. What affected humanity’s development? Of course, the way people express their everyday life or feelings through art.

Besides, thanks to art, we can see things from different perspectives. It makes us open-minded and helps to develop critical thinking. And, most apparently, art fills our lives with beauty and elegance.

Art is so diverse that students may struggle to choose from a myriad of research areas. Here are some of the hottest art research paper topics for you:

• The influence of the internet and social networks on art.
• Researching of Greek mythological painting.
• The comparison of modern art in the United States and Europe.
• The representation of art in Lars von Trier’s films.
• The influence of African-American cultural heritage on modern American art.
• What are the features of contemporary art ?
• Frida Khalo and her sources of inspiration.
• The role of Kazimir Malevich in abstract art development.
• Art in the early renaissance and today’s European society .
• Art therapy techniques: what are they and are they effective?
• The difference of women’s representation in ancient and modern art .
• Comparative analysis of modern and classic cubism .
• The history and main features of abstract expressionism .
• The relationship between art and globalization .
• The influence of art on the fashion industry in Japan.

Biology Research Topics for College Students

Let’s move on to biology. This science deals with vital processes of living organisms. We’ve gathered a list of topics from different biology fields. You’ll find essay ideas from the fields of botany and zoology to genetics.

Research in biology has one distinctive feature. It is the use of research lab equipment. If you don’t use it and base your research on other sources — make sure they are credible.

What are the attributes of a research paper in biology?

Molecular biology, cellular, and other categories of biology imply accurate measurements. There is no place for mistakes here. Otherwise, the relevance of research results would be insignificant. A researcher should be scrupulous in calculations and statements.

So, feel free to pick up any topics from the list below. Study them thoroughly!

• The impact of global warming on marine life.
• Extensive research of photosynthesis aspects and functions.
• Thyroid hormones and their impact on the female body.

• DNA structure, modifications, and genetic disorders .
• Is it ethical to test cosmetics on animals ?
• The ability of living organisms to adapt to changing environments.
• The need for the protection of rare and endangered species .
• The role of sustainability in biology.
• Advantages and disadvantages of organic farming .
• The role of neurobiology in artificial intelligence development.
• The discovery and impact of Darwin’s theory .
• The discovery, history, and importance of vaccination .
• The role of microbes and microbiology in health .
• Neurobiology and its association with emotional trauma .
• Biology: mechanical signals regulating development .
• Cultural variations in environment and biology: AIDS .
• A review of the ecology and biology of the whale shark.
• Performance and quality assessment of methods for detection of point mutations.
• Optical imaging techniques in cell biology .
• Computational methods in molecular biology .

Educational Research Topics for Students

What can be trickier than studying how to study? Education research papers evolve at a rapid pace as the world changes every day. That is why new techniques and approaches are in demand.

No other discipline will answer the milestone questions as well as education. And the most important is about human nature.

What can make a precious contribution to society? The definite answer is — driving innovations in studying .

Want to remain in history as an author of a revolutionary breakthrough? Explore educational research paper topics for college students:

• Language distribution issues in bilingual schooling .
• Critical thinking as the primary goal of the educational process.
• Role-playing games as a learning tool .
• Pay-for-performance scheme for teachers .
• Moving from compliance to performance-based schools .
• Bilingual learning: advantages and disadvantages.
• Educational approaches in retrospective.
• Aspects of multicultural educational practices .
• The importance of inclusivity in teaching .
• Popular modern educational techniques: a comparison.
• Arithmetical problem-solving difficulties .
• Learning methods for blind children.
• The role of technology in lesson planning .
• Role-playing as an educational practice.
• The need for parents’ involvement in the educational process.
• Tools to develop the best teaching strategy .
• The efficiency of gamification .
• Individual approach to students.
• Popular educational mobile apps.
• Peculiarities of teaching disabled children .
• Same-gender and mixed-gender schools: a comparative analysis.
• Understanding the causes of school violence and bullying.
• The importance of sex education at schools.
• The educational system in America : problems and prospects.
• Cloud computing in educational institutions: an impact on the educational environment.
• Ethical behavior in higher educational institutions.
• Cooperation of educational institutions and businesses: successful cases.
• Information technology as a means of educational process improvement.
• Homeschooling and its influence on communication skills.
• Comparative analysis of distance learning and face-to-face education efficiency.
• Individualized versus group learning.
• The necessity of higher education for all students.
• Best practices of top higher education establishments.
• Peculiarities of teacher’s education in America.
• Preschool education versus tertiary education .
• Teacher as a researcher. Cross-age peer tutoring .
• Multicultural and monocultural education programs: a comparison.
• Comparison of advantages and disadvantages of tablets and printed textbooks .
• Should education be free?
• Education unification: reasons to apply in high schools.

Environmental Research Topics

Our day-to-day comfort is an inherent cause of environmental problems. We may drive a car and have no idea how we harm nature.

Eco activism is a growing trend. Ecology issues acquired a more frequent and lucid coverage. Regardless, people tend to overlook the environment. They got the idea that we should protect our planet, but not all of them are ready to act.

That is why we need to be aware of more facts and measures. This can’t be obtained without decent environmental science research papers.

Do you want to be a part of it? Use our list of environmental research topics for college students:

• Risks of climate change and global warming .
• Aspects and perspectives of Kyoto protocol .
• Green hydrogen in automotive industry : is it a great alternative?
• The origin of the carbon tax .
• Amazonian deforestation , its causes, and trends.
• The greenhouse effect : process, components, and risks.
• Types of pollution : air, water, and soil.
• Alternative energy in Europe.
• Water scarcity in the Middle East .

• Wind energy as an alternative source .
• Benefits of sustainable technology and living .
• Vulnerability of hazardville to flooding disasters .
• Environment protection authority and chemical waste .
• Population control in China.
• Geoengineering principles.
• Acid rains : the cause and current measures.
• Radioactive waste disposal.
• The protection of wildlife .
• E-mobility as an environmental protection measure.
• Ecological conservation.

Gender roles and aspects are one of the central social questions nowadays. Studies in this field are as relevant and necessary as never before. It pushes our society forward, eliminating gender inequality and discrimination.

Do you want to contribute to gender knowledge but don’t know where to start? Here is the list of most relevant gender studies essay topics:

• Public policy analysis on gender inequality in education in South Sudan.
• The history of gender concept.
• Gender imbalance in the developing countries.
• Sex reassignment in treating gender dysphoria : a way to psychological well-being.
• Employee issues: gender discrimination, sexual harassment , discrimination.
• Gender roles in couples and sex stereotypes in society.
• The diversity of gender and sexual orientation identities of transgender individuals.
• MeToo movement as sexual harassment fight measure.
• Feminism : the contraception movement in Canada.
• Maternity and paternity leaves .
• The correlation between gender and cognitive abilities .
• Transgender people and healthcare barriers .
• Race and gender in public relations .
• Gender stereotyping in American media .
• The health and well-being of LGBTQA+ young people in Australia.
• Cancel culture in America.
• Transgender healthcare issues.
• Transgender person in professional sports.
• Female genital mutilation.
• Gender roles in media.

Law Research Paper Topics

We cannot imagine a civilized society without law. Even though the fundamental rights and obligations in different countries are mostly similar, there is still a great scope of differences to research.

We gathered the list of law research paper topics to explore:

• Human rights violations in CIS countries.
• A self-enforcing model of corporate law .
• Corporate strategies and environmental regulations : organizing framework.
• The benefits of decriminalization .
• International criminal law and measures .
• Discrimination in the workplace in legal practice.
• Welfare legislation for families .
• Intellectual property law: copyright law, trademark law, patent law.
• Enforcement of civil rights law in private workplaces.
• The establishment of foreign and international law in American courts. A procedural overview.
• Family law : spousal support after a divorce in Canada.
• Employment law and workplace relations in Saudi Arabia.
• Applicable real estate laws and policies for sustainable development in South Africa.
• Retrospective of the immigration crisis in Europe.
• The need for a domestic violence law in Russian Federation.
• Religious crimes and religious laws.
• Terrorism in different countries’ law systems.
• Grievance procedure in the European court of human rights.
• Cybercrimes in legal practice.
• Human trafficking and slavery in the modern world.

When it comes to literature, there is a vast ocean of ideas to research. The topics can be classified into a large number of categories. Those can be literature genres, awards, trends in literature, different social aspects of literature, etc.

To make finding the best fit easier, we conducted a list of the world literature research topics:

• Golden Age writers and their impact on literature.
• Feminist literature authors.
• Y. Zamyatin’s “We” as the origin of dystopian literature.
• Trends of modern literature .
• Ancient Greece literature.
• Is best seller always good literature?
• Tricksters in literature.
• Post-modernism in literature .
• Sexual violence in the “Handmaid’s Tale” by Atwood .
• Children literature.
• The works of J. D. Salinger .
• Social perception of modern literature .
• Philosophy, literature, and religion in society: a comparative analysis of the impact on human life.
• The portrayal of racism in the literature of the 21st century.
• Censorship in literature.
• Professional literature trends.
• Central themes in American literature .
• The impact of digitalization on literature.
• The role of the main character in literature.
• Literature: print versus digitalized?

Music Research Paper Topics

Research is something we can do not only in astronomy or molecular biology. We need it in the music too. Music shapes our life in a way we can’t even imagine. It’s a tremendous social and cultural phenomenon to explore.

These are 20 potential topics for your research in the music industry :

• The effect of music on a human brain .
• The evolution of rap music .
• TikTok as the most efficient promotional channel for new music.
• The origin of music theory.
• The music industry and information technology .
• The influence of Kanye West performances on the music industry.
• Music journalism : the most influential music media.
• Feminism and sex in hip-hop music .
• Opera and instrumental music .
• The origin of music festivals .
• Reggae music and its aspects .
• Latin American women and trap music .
• Streaming services prospects.
• Music as the way of promoting new trends.
• Features of punk music.

Psychology Research Paper Topics

Psychology is a multidisciplinary kind of field. That means there’s a wide range of potential research questions.

Do you need to write a psychology paper? Explore the list of possible topics:

• Cross-cultural psychology : research and application.
• The psychology of self-esteem .
• Aspects of industrial and organizational psychology .
• The psychology of learning and motivation : skill and strategy in memory use.
• Description of remarkable experiments and their results in psychology.
• The influence of meditation on people’s health .
• Analyzing psychological disorders: disorders treatment and research .
• Personality psychology and zen Buddhism .
• Perception of psychology in society .
• Organizational behavior. Emotion and personality .
• Children’s emotional development .
• Predictors of postpartum depression.

• Symptoms, causes, and treatment of schizophrenia .
• The social, political, and religious reasons of homophobia .
• Eating disorders in males: current progress and challenges.
• The side effects of antidepressants .
• Cognitive psychology : best cognitive scientists’ practices.
• Social anxiety as a constraint in learning.
• Alzheimer’s disease : working strategies for disease modification.
• The relation between the aging process and psychology.

Religion Research Paper Topics

Religious institutions, beliefs, and customs also get explored in papers quite often. That is rather a controversial sphere of education, so we gathered the most relevant religion paper topics below to help you.

• The religious significance of the Bible .
• The place of women in Islam .
• The history of Christianity in Indonesia .
• Assessing a crisis of faith and making a pastoral crisis intervention.
• Forced religion: cause and effect on children.
• The problem of creation mythology in the study of Indian religion.
• Existence of God : a philosophical introduction.
• Religion and mythology: concepts, differences.
• The role of religion in attitudes toward LGBT individuals.
• Issues and traditions in western religion .
• Theology in the concepts of nature, time, and the future.
• Religion and government interaction in the US.
• The history of the Christian church in East Europe.
• Religion freedom and its limitation .
• Hinduism and Buddhism: similarities and differences .
• Baptism in Christianity .
• The impact of religion on terrorism .
• The God of Israel and Christian theology .
• Culture and religion: how they interact.
• Religion and social morality.

Science Research Topics for College Students

What is a better way to uncover the mysteries of our universe than through science? As it comprises multiple types and directions, there is a vast number of questions to answer.

We suggest you the following science research paper topics:

• Paris climate agreement perspectives.
• Ethical aspects of cloning .
• Political science in the US: past and present issues.
• Genetic engineering and cloning controversy .
• The development of life on Earth .
• The current state of nuclear energetics in America.
• Nuclear weapon -free zones: a history and assessment.
• Solid earth dynamics and the evolution of the Antarctic ice sheet.
• Natural hazards : local, national, global.
• Geophysical fluid dynamics: atmospheric dynamics, dynamo theory, and climate dynamics.
• Data science as a key element of data-driven decision-making.
• Robotics & mobility systems in agriculture: successful cases.
• Legal models of space resources exploration and utilization.
• The social context of recycling : factors influencing household recycling behavior.
• Trends in consumer attitudes about agricultural biotechnology .
• Theory of turbulence: a mathematical model that illustrates it.
• Dual-mode infrared and radar hardware-in-the-loop test equipment.
• Essentials of computational chemistry: theories and models.
• Genetic algorithms in astronomy and astrophysics.
• A fundamental relation between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies.

Social Science Research Topics

Sociology is an umbrella term that covers dozens of branches. It studies family, social movements, mass media, class theory, race, ethnicity, levels of income. We could go on and on.

As you can see, the options for research are endless. Don’t waste your time trying to understand the peculiarities of each social or cultural branch. Use our list of social science research paper topics for college students.

• Social movements of 21 st century.
• Strauss–howe generational theory in marketing.
• Social media as a “hotbed” of narcissism .
• The nutritional status of vegans and vegetarians .
• Gender identity and community among three transgender groups in the United States: MTFs, FTMs, and genderqueers.
• Social causes of anorexia in young women.
• The civil rights in South America.
• #BlackLivesMatter movement and its influence on society.
• Gay marriage in America : current debates.
• Dependency of the children mortality level on the anti-vaccination movement development.
• Judaism in the first centuries of the Christian era.
• School choice and segregation by race, class, and achievement.
• The correlation between race and wealth.
• Freedom and social status of blacks in America .
• The problem of abortion .
• Causes and effects of drug addiction .
• Horizontal and vertical gender segregation in employment .
• Effects of domestic violence on children.
• The poverty level in the US: a retrospective analysis.
• Women leadership and community development.

We are approaching the end of our ultimate research paper topics list. To wrap it up, let’s take a look at sports research ideas.

It has been present in our lives for a long time and is still developing. That’s why we need to answer new questions and build new knowledge. Explore the list below:

• How does globalization affect sports?
• History of doping scandals in the Olympics .
• Team sports as a socialization tool for children.
• The origin and history of ice hockey.
• Organizational aspects of Paralympic games.
• Aspects of independent Olympians at the Olympic games .
• The unique history of Pelé.
• Risk factors for injuries in football.
• Short interval versus long interval training.
• Sport as a communication medium .
• Nutritional support of young athletes .
• Mental training during competition preparation.
• Philosophical conflicts between the practices of sport and cybersport.
• Running as a treatment for heart diseases .
• Typical traumas of soccer players.

After getting familiar with the list of topics, let’s discuss the essential steps before beginning research.

Narrow Your Topic

Let’s say you selected that one topic from the list. What’s next? It’s time to outline the boundaries of the research. It should not be too broad or narrow . Its scope must strictly correspond to the problem’s scope under exploration.

What is the difference between a narrow and a broad topic?

Let’s look at three research topic examples:

• Eating Disorders. The topic is too general and comprehensive. If your research paper requires to be short, then there is no sense in choosing this topic. You better narrow it down.
• Eating Disorders in Young Females. In this topic, we try to segment the subjected populations to specify the research question. It is still rather broad but more focused.
• Anorexia in Young Females and Its Impact on Society. Here, we distinguish a particular type of eating disorder and leave a population segmentation. That is a perfect example of a narrowed topic. Now, it’s easier to ask specific questions, uncover insights and contribute to further research.

Focus on your narrowed topic and form a central research question. After that, research the existing data and find supporting facts. Don’t let your exploration be one-sided: explore different points of view. Compare and analyze counterpoints and draw conclusions.

After a profound studying, create a thesis statement to support your narrowed topic in a specific way.

To make things clear, use this step-by-step guide on finding and narrowing your topic.

Evaluate Sources

It takes a second to get access to billions of search results on any topic in Google. Most of the time, we jump through the first two or three links, and that’s it. If you seek quality, then it’s not the proper approach. You should acquire the skill of processing the sources.

What are the tips for source evaluation?

• Forget about Wikipedia as a scientific source. Wikipedia is a free platform where any user can make edits. Extracting information from wiki without fact-checking isn’t a good academic practice. Great alternatives to Wikipedia are College e-libraries, scholarly databases, Google Scholar, etc.
• Explore well-respected professional research journals. They contain up-to-date research data and conclusions which shape the most relevant views and understanding of what is going on in the modern world.
• Visit libraries. We tend to overlook them in our digital era. But you can find super valuable sources for research there.
• Avoid personal blogs, opinion articles, and self-published books . There can be heavy use of bias.

3 Main Tips on Writing a Thesis Statement

After you decide on a research topic and sources, it’s time to write a thesis statement.

• Ask a question. Here are two options. In the first one, your professor can assign you a concrete question. If it’s not your case, then ask what interests you. What would you like to explore?
• Give an initial answer. Try to answer the question before in-depth topic exploration. Work out some hypotheses.
• Enrich the initial answer. Prove the initial hypothesis by detailing the research. Use the calculations and quantitative data to make your thesis credible.

To back up these tips, let’s look at a couple of example thesis statements from the StudyCorgi essay database:

You’ve just explored an ultimate list of research paper topic ideas and important steps to turn those topics into excellent research papers.

Did you find our topics compilation helpful? Save it for a future reference or share with friends!

• What Is Research? — Hampshire College
• Definition of Research — Western Sydney University
• The Importance of Research to Students — Cleveland University Kansas City
• Guidelines for Writing Art History Research Papers — UA Little Rock University
• Areas of Research in Biology — Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Environmental Science: Current Research — Herald Scholarly Open Access
• Thesis Statements — University of North Carolina
• Thesis Statement Tips — Purdue University
• What Is Education Research — National Center for Education Research
• Research in the Faculty of Music — University of Cambridge
• Research: Religion and Society Specialism — University of Birmingham
• Sociology Research Areas — Cornell University
• Narrowing a Topic Idea — UCS Libraries
• Developing a Research Question — The University of Arizona
• Organizing Academic Research Paper — Sacred Heart University
• How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Paper: Indeed
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Extracurriculars.

A Guide to Pursuing Research Projects in High School

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Most common high school pursuits and interests can be fit fairly neatly into the academic or extracurricular categories. There are of course required courses that you take, and then there are the activities that you pursue outside of school hours, usually for your own enjoyment. You may play on a sports team, participate in a service project, or pursue visual arts. In most cases, even if your interests are somewhat untraditional, you can somehow package them in a way that neatly qualifies them as an extracurricular activity.

But what if your interests outside of school are more academic in nature? What if you’ve long been fascinated by the potential that carbon sequestration holds to limit the effects of climate change? What if you’re interested in the history of civil disobedience, or the ability of exams to measure actual comprehension? Whatever the case may be, there are some topics of interest that just don’t fit neatly into any extracurricular club or activity.

If you find yourself longing to pursue an interest such as this, you might consider conducting your own research project. While the concept may seem daunting at first, if you break it down into smaller, manageable tasks, you’ll quickly find that you probably already have the skills necessary to get started.

In this post, we will outline the process for conducting a long-term research project independently, including several avenues for pursuing recognition of your work and a step-by-step guide to completing your project. If you’re interested in pursuing an independent research project during high school, keep reading.

Why Pursue an Independent Research Project?

An independent research project is a great way to explore an area of interest that you otherwise would not get to learn about outside of school. By undertaking a research project on your own, not only will you explore a personal area of interest in more depth, but also you will demonstrate your dedication to pursuing knowledge for the sake of learning and your ability to work independently over a prolonged period.

Independent research projects, when conducted well and presented appropriately on a college application, can be a great advantage to you on your college admissions.

How to Choose a Topic for a Research Project

If you’re interested in pursuing a research project, you probably already have a topic in mind. In fact, the desire to conduct a research project usually stems from an existing interest, not just from the idea to conduct research on a vague or undetermined subject matter.

You should aim to narrow your research project to something that has some academic relevance. Perhaps it is related to your existing coursework. Maybe it reflects work you hope to pursue in the future, either academically or professionally. Try to fine-tune your project enough that you can easily explain the driving force behind it and its relevance to your future career path.

While you don’t need to decide on your exact topic or thesis quite yet, you should have a general idea of what your project will entail before moving forward.

Are There Existing Avenues for Undertaking a Research Project At Your School?

While you could certainly conduct your research project completely independently from your school, it is usually easier and more productive to conduct it in a way that is somehow connected to the rest of your schooling.

If the project is STEM-oriented, think about whether it would fit into a science fair or other STEM competition in which your school already competes. Also consider the AP Capstone Program if your school offers it. The second course in this sequence is AP Research , and it requires an in-depth research project as its culminating assessment.

If neither of these formal avenues are available, or neither provides a good fit, look into the possibility of pursuing your project as an independent study. If your school offers independent studies for credit, you can usually get information about them from your adviser. These types of projects usually require an extended application process that must be followed closely if you want to gain approval.

Finally, even if you can’t take advantage of one of the options above, if you have achieved advanced standing or enough credits, your school might still allow you to undertake an extended individual research project through some type of formal arrangement. Talk with a teacher, mentor, or adviser to learn what your options are. Clearly communicate your innate desire to learn more about this specific topic and be prepared to give some background on the issue that you want to research.

Steps for Undertaking the Research Project

1. find a mentor or adviser.

You will need someone to help guide and advise your work, so finding a willing and able mentor should be one of your first steps. This should ideally be a person with existing expertise in the subject area you wish to pursue. In the least, this person should share your interest and passion for the topic.

A teacher at your school who can also serve as an adviser is ideal, and may even be a requirement if you are formally pursuing the project as an independent study for credit. If that is not possible, you can certainly find a mentor somewhere else, even remotely if necessary.

Find out if your subject matter pertains to any local industries or companies, or if there are any scientists or professionals nearby who specialize in it. Consider checking the instructors of local summer programs or judges from past science fairs at your school.   Also consider a professional who has written an article that interested you in the field.

Before you approach a mentor to request their help, familiarize yourself with his or her work. Be able to speak articulately about what has drawn you to him or her specifically. Put some thought into informed questions you might ask him or her. Be upfront about your needs if you are going to require any specific guidance or extended time or energy from your mentor. It might be difficult to find someone at first, but keep trying. Finding a mentor for your project is an important step.

2. Set a Timeline and Stick to It

Once you’ve found a mentor, you can get started laying out the timeline for your project. When you do this, list each step of your project as specifically as possible. These will include at a minimum: background research, writing a thesis statement, in depth research phase, outlining your final paper, drafting your paper, editing your paper, and publishing your paper.

You will probably have a completion date in mind, whether it’s required by the school or simply the end of the semester or school year. Work backwards from your completion date to set a realistic timeframe for each of these steps.

It helps to have a calendar displayed prominently with your deadlines listed clearly on it to keep you on track. Also be sure to put your deadlines into your school assignment book or Google calendar so that you can see how they overlap and affect your other commitments.

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3. Conducting Research

After you’ve completed your deadline calendar, you’re ready to get started with the fun stuff:   the actual research. There are many sources for finding high quality research materials. You can use your school library, your local library, and sometimes even the library at local colleges or universities. Sometimes the libraries at colleges are open only to registered students and faculty, but if you contact a library official or a member of the department related to your research project, you might be able to gain access for research purposes.

You may also take advantage of online research tools. Google Scholar is a good place to find peer-reviewed, high quality publications. You may also find out if your school has a subscription to any online research databases like Ebsco , or JSTOR . These databases provide digital compilations of hundreds of research journals, both current and archived.    

Be careful what you choose to use as sources, though. You need to ensure that every source you rely on is high-quality and fact-based. Many internet resources now are not as accurate as they might appear. Some are outdated and some are just wrong. Remember that just about anyone can publish something online these days, so you can’t rely on information that you find on just any old website. Be particularly wary of pages like Wikipedia that look like fact-based resources but are actually drawn from unfiltered user submissions.

As you research your topic, take careful notes to track your work. Choose a system to organize your notes, such as writing on notecards that can be easily organized, or using different colored pens to color code different subtopics of your research. By carefully organizing your notes, you’ll be better set up to organize your paper.

4. Organize Your Paper

Once you’ve completed the research phase of your project, you’re ready to organize your paper. Go through your notes carefully to see how they support your thesis. If they don’t, be prepared and open to changing your thesis. Always allow the research to guide the direction of your paper, and not vice versa.

Organize your notes into the order that makes most sense in your paper. Use them to guide an outline of your paper. Once they are in order, write out a rough outline of your paper.

Prewriting is an important step to writing your paper. It allows you to go into the drafting phase with as much preparation as possible so that your writing will have a clear direction when you begin.

5. Write Your Paper 

After your organization and prewriting, you’re ready to draft your paper. Try to break this phase up into smaller pieces so that you don’t burn out. Your final product will probably be one of the longest papers you’ve ever written, usually ranging from 15-30 pages depending on your subject, so you’ll want to pace yourself.

Break up your writing deadlines into more specific sub-deadlines to help guide your work. Set goals for completing the introduction, various sections of the body, and your conclusion.

6. Edit Your Paper 

There will be multiple stages of editing that need to happen. First, you will self-edit your first draft. Then, you will likely turn a draft of your paper in to your mentor for another round of editing. Some students even choose to have a peer or family member edit a draft at some point. After several rounds of editing, you will be prepared to publish your work.

7. Publish Your Work

Publication sounds like a very official completion of your project, but in reality publishing can take many different forms. It’s really just the final draft of your project, however you decide to produce it.

For some students, publication means submitting a draft of your project to an actual journal or formal publication. For others, it means creating a polished draft and a display board that you will present at a school or public event. For still others it might just be a polished, final draft bound and turned into your mentor.

However you decide to publish your work, be mindful that this should be a reflection of an entire semester or year of work, and it should reflect the very height of your learning and abilities. You should be proud of your final product.

If you’re a high school student with in-depth interests in a subject area that doesn’t fit neatly into any of your existing extracurriculars or academic courses, you should consider pursuing a research project to reflect your interest and dedication. Not only will your pursuit allow you to further explore a subject that’s interesting to you, but also it will be a clear example of your independence and commitment on your college applications.

Looking for help navigating the road to college as a high school student? Download our  free guide for 9th graders  and our  free guide for 10th graders . Our guides go in-depth about subjects ranging from  academics ,  choosing courses ,  standardized tests ,  extracurricular activities ,  and much more !

For more information about research and independent projects in high school, check out these posts:

• Ultimate Guide to the AP Research Course and Assessment
• How to Choose a Project for Your AP Research Course
• How to Get a Research Assistant Position in High School
• An Introduction to the AP Capstone Diploma
• How to Choose a Winning Science Fair Project Idea
• How to Plan and Implement an Independent Study in High School

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 113 great research paper topics.

General Education

One of the hardest parts of writing a research paper can be just finding a good topic to write about. Fortunately we've done the hard work for you and have compiled a list of 113 interesting research paper topics. They've been organized into ten categories and cover a wide range of subjects so you can easily find the best topic for you.

In addition to the list of good research topics, we've included advice on what makes a good research paper topic and how you can use your topic to start writing a great paper.

What Makes a Good Research Paper Topic?

Not all research paper topics are created equal, and you want to make sure you choose a great topic before you start writing. Below are the three most important factors to consider to make sure you choose the best research paper topics.

#1: It's Something You're Interested In

A paper is always easier to write if you're interested in the topic, and you'll be more motivated to do in-depth research and write a paper that really covers the entire subject. Even if a certain research paper topic is getting a lot of buzz right now or other people seem interested in writing about it, don't feel tempted to make it your topic unless you genuinely have some sort of interest in it as well.

#2: There's Enough Information to Write a Paper

Even if you come up with the absolute best research paper topic and you're so excited to write about it, you won't be able to produce a good paper if there isn't enough research about the topic. This can happen for very specific or specialized topics, as well as topics that are too new to have enough research done on them at the moment. Easy research paper topics will always be topics with enough information to write a full-length paper.

Trying to write a research paper on a topic that doesn't have much research on it is incredibly hard, so before you decide on a topic, do a bit of preliminary searching and make sure you'll have all the information you need to write your paper.

#3: It Fits Your Teacher's Guidelines

Don't get so carried away looking at lists of research paper topics that you forget any requirements or restrictions your teacher may have put on research topic ideas. If you're writing a research paper on a health-related topic, deciding to write about the impact of rap on the music scene probably won't be allowed, but there may be some sort of leeway. For example, if you're really interested in current events but your teacher wants you to write a research paper on a history topic, you may be able to choose a topic that fits both categories, like exploring the relationship between the US and North Korea. No matter what, always get your research paper topic approved by your teacher first before you begin writing.

113 Good Research Paper Topics

Below are 113 good research topics to help you get you started on your paper. We've organized them into ten categories to make it easier to find the type of research paper topics you're looking for.

Arts/Culture

• Discuss the main differences in art from the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance .
• Analyze the impact a famous artist had on the world.
• How is sexism portrayed in different types of media (music, film, video games, etc.)? Has the amount/type of sexism changed over the years?
• How has the music of slaves brought over from Africa shaped modern American music?
• How has rap music evolved in the past decade?
• How has the portrayal of minorities in the media changed?

Current Events

• What have been the impacts of China's one child policy?
• How have the goals of feminists changed over the decades?
• How has the Trump presidency changed international relations?
• Analyze the history of the relationship between the United States and North Korea.
• What factors contributed to the current decline in the rate of unemployment?
• What have been the impacts of states which have increased their minimum wage?
• How do US immigration laws compare to immigration laws of other countries?
• How have the US's immigration laws changed in the past few years/decades?
• How has the Black Lives Matter movement affected discussions and view about racism in the US?
• What impact has the Affordable Care Act had on healthcare in the US?
• What factors contributed to the UK deciding to leave the EU (Brexit)?
• What factors contributed to China becoming an economic power?
• Discuss the history of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies  (some of which tokenize the S&P 500 Index on the blockchain) .
• Do students in schools that eliminate grades do better in college and their careers?
• Do students from wealthier backgrounds score higher on standardized tests?
• Do students who receive free meals at school get higher grades compared to when they weren't receiving a free meal?
• Do students who attend charter schools score higher on standardized tests than students in public schools?
• Do students learn better in same-sex classrooms?
• How does giving each student access to an iPad or laptop affect their studies?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Montessori Method ?
• Do children who attend preschool do better in school later on?
• What was the impact of the No Child Left Behind act?
• How does the US education system compare to education systems in other countries?
• What impact does mandatory physical education classes have on students' health?
• Which methods are most effective at reducing bullying in schools?
• Do homeschoolers who attend college do as well as students who attended traditional schools?
• Does offering tenure increase or decrease quality of teaching?
• How does college debt affect future life choices of students?
• Should graduate students be able to form unions?

• What are different ways to lower gun-related deaths in the US?
• How and why have divorce rates changed over time?
• Is affirmative action still necessary in education and/or the workplace?
• Should physician-assisted suicide be legal?
• How has stem cell research impacted the medical field?
• How can human trafficking be reduced in the United States/world?
• Should people be able to donate organs in exchange for money?
• Which types of juvenile punishment have proven most effective at preventing future crimes?
• Has the increase in US airport security made passengers safer?
• Analyze the immigration policies of certain countries and how they are similar and different from one another.
• Several states have legalized recreational marijuana. What positive and negative impacts have they experienced as a result?
• Do tariffs increase the number of domestic jobs?
• Which prison reforms have proven most effective?
• Should governments be able to censor certain information on the internet?
• Which methods/programs have been most effective at reducing teen pregnancy?
• What are the benefits and drawbacks of the Keto diet?
• How effective are different exercise regimes for losing weight and maintaining weight loss?
• How do the healthcare plans of various countries differ from each other?
• What are the most effective ways to treat depression ?
• What are the pros and cons of genetically modified foods?
• Which methods are most effective for improving memory?
• What can be done to lower healthcare costs in the US?
• What factors contributed to the current opioid crisis?
• Analyze the history and impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic .
• Are low-carbohydrate or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
• How much exercise should the average adult be getting each week?
• Which methods are most effective to get parents to vaccinate their children?
• What are the pros and cons of clean needle programs?
• How does stress affect the body?
• Discuss the history of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
• What were the causes and effects of the Salem Witch Trials?
• Who was responsible for the Iran-Contra situation?
• How has New Orleans and the government's response to natural disasters changed since Hurricane Katrina?
• What events led to the fall of the Roman Empire?
• What were the impacts of British rule in India ?
• Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?
• What were the successes and failures of the women's suffrage movement in the United States?
• What were the causes of the Civil War?
• How did Abraham Lincoln's assassination impact the country and reconstruction after the Civil War?
• Which factors contributed to the colonies winning the American Revolution?
• What caused Hitler's rise to power?
• Discuss how a specific invention impacted history.
• What led to Cleopatra's fall as ruler of Egypt?
• How has Japan changed and evolved over the centuries?
• What were the causes of the Rwandan genocide ?

• Why did Martin Luther decide to split with the Catholic Church?
• Analyze the history and impact of a well-known cult (Jonestown, Manson family, etc.)
• How did the sexual abuse scandal impact how people view the Catholic Church?
• How has the Catholic church's power changed over the past decades/centuries?
• What are the causes behind the rise in atheism/ agnosticism in the United States?
• What were the influences in Siddhartha's life resulted in him becoming the Buddha?
• How has media portrayal of Islam/Muslims changed since September 11th?

Science/Environment

• How has the earth's climate changed in the past few decades?
• How has the use and elimination of DDT affected bird populations in the US?
• Analyze how the number and severity of natural disasters have increased in the past few decades.
• Analyze deforestation rates in a certain area or globally over a period of time.
• How have past oil spills changed regulations and cleanup methods?
• How has the Flint water crisis changed water regulation safety?
• What are the pros and cons of fracking?
• What impact has the Paris Climate Agreement had so far?
• What have NASA's biggest successes and failures been?
• How can we improve access to clean water around the world?
• Does ecotourism actually have a positive impact on the environment?
• Should the US rely on nuclear energy more?
• What can be done to save amphibian species currently at risk of extinction?
• What impact has climate change had on coral reefs?
• How are black holes created?
• Are teens who spend more time on social media more likely to suffer anxiety and/or depression?
• How will the loss of net neutrality affect internet users?
• Analyze the history and progress of self-driving vehicles.
• How has the use of drones changed surveillance and warfare methods?
• Has social media made people more or less connected?
• What progress has currently been made with artificial intelligence ?
• Do smartphones increase or decrease workplace productivity?
• What are the most effective ways to use technology in the classroom?
• How is Google search affecting our intelligence?
• When is the best age for a child to begin owning a smartphone?
• Has frequent texting reduced teen literacy rates?

How to Write a Great Research Paper

Even great research paper topics won't give you a great research paper if you don't hone your topic before and during the writing process. Follow these three tips to turn good research paper topics into great papers.

#1: Figure Out Your Thesis Early

Before you start writing a single word of your paper, you first need to know what your thesis will be. Your thesis is a statement that explains what you intend to prove/show in your paper. Every sentence in your research paper will relate back to your thesis, so you don't want to start writing without it!

As some examples, if you're writing a research paper on if students learn better in same-sex classrooms, your thesis might be "Research has shown that elementary-age students in same-sex classrooms score higher on standardized tests and report feeling more comfortable in the classroom."

If you're writing a paper on the causes of the Civil War, your thesis might be "While the dispute between the North and South over slavery is the most well-known cause of the Civil War, other key causes include differences in the economies of the North and South, states' rights, and territorial expansion."

#2: Back Every Statement Up With Research

Remember, this is a research paper you're writing, so you'll need to use lots of research to make your points. Every statement you give must be backed up with research, properly cited the way your teacher requested. You're allowed to include opinions of your own, but they must also be supported by the research you give.

#3: Do Your Research Before You Begin Writing

You don't want to start writing your research paper and then learn that there isn't enough research to back up the points you're making, or, even worse, that the research contradicts the points you're trying to make!

Get most of your research on your good research topics done before you begin writing. Then use the research you've collected to create a rough outline of what your paper will cover and the key points you're going to make. This will help keep your paper clear and organized, and it'll ensure you have enough research to produce a strong paper.

What's Next?

Are you also learning about dynamic equilibrium in your science class? We break this sometimes tricky concept down so it's easy to understand in our complete guide to dynamic equilibrium .

Thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner? Nurse practitioners have one of the fastest growing careers in the country, and we have all the information you need to know about what to expect from nurse practitioner school .

Want to know the fastest and easiest ways to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius? We've got you covered! Check out our guide to the best ways to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit (or vice versa).

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Undergraduates Showcase Research Projects, Prowess During Events

University of Texas at Dallas students showed their penchant for discovery during Undergraduate Research Week , which was held April 15-19 and sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Education .

“We are very fortunate to have some of the best opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research here at UT Dallas,” said Dr. Jessica C. Murphy , dean of undergraduate education and Mary McDermott Cook Chair for Undergraduate Education. “Our team in the Office of Undergraduate Education does an excellent job helping students learn more about research opportunities and empowering undergraduates to articulate their experiences as they pursue a career and graduate school.”

A poster competition capped the week with presentations from 15 finalists chosen from nearly 200 entrants. Students presented their work to a panel of industry judges from Brinker International Inc., Doosan Robotics Americas, Trace3, Veritex Community Bank and Walmart Health.

Biology senior Jacob Roy, who also is pursuing a master’s degree in public affairs , placed first in the poster competition for his research in developing a new approach to RNA modulation. Healthcare studies senior Nanditha Niranjan placed second for her work exploring the impact of educating refugees about the U.S. health care system in reducing the cost of health care. Neuroscience and history senior Arlin Khan finished third for her research on the use of vagus nerve stimulation to aid in the recovery of laryngeal nerve damage.

Students learned much more than basic experimental design throughout their experiences. In addition to technical abilities, they picked up a wide range of professional skills necessary to pursue careers beyond graduation.

“Science takes a lot of patience. All of this took multiple semesters of work,” Khan said. “In a world where things are really instantaneous, I think science is one of those things you have to learn to be patient for and let things work out. I also learned critical thinking and problem solving.”

Garth Edwards, executive vice president at Veritex Community Bank, said: “The subjects of the research are so diverse —  some of these subjects are so relevant today, and some are like, ‘We probably need to be thinking more about them.’ It’s so amazing what [the students] are doing. I’m very encouraged.”

In addition to poster presentations, research week included a match day with more than 20 labs and 200 students, resume workshops and a panel discussion.

Media Contact: The Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, [email protected] .

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Kingsland '25 Receives ASBMB Grant

Tamani Kingsland '25, a biochemistry and biology double-major from Upper Marlboro, Maryland has received a $1,200 Undergraduate Research Grant from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). Kingsland's grant will support her 2024 St. Mary's Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) project this summer under the guidance of faculty mentor Professor Pamela Mertz.

"The in-vitro research that I will be conducting is one that requires the proper maintenance and treatment of tissue culture. Agents that are integral to cellular respiration including but not limited to tissue-grade medium and CO2 are rather expensive in high quantities," said Kingsland. "The ASBMB Undergraduate Research Grant provides me the opportunity to account for such material for the St. Mary's Undergraduate Research Fellowship in addition to my SMP. I am grateful to have been recognized by ASBMB and plan to continue seeking out funding opportunities for this ambitious research project."

College of Science

Emeritus Chemistry Professor Dr. James Marshall Receives American Chemical Society's HIST Award

A project that took 12 years to complete by University of North Texas College of Science Emeritus Professor James Marshall and his late wife, Virginia "Jenny" Marshall, is now getting international recognition.

The Marshalls earned the HIST Award from the American Chemical Society's Division of the History of Chemistry for their "Rediscovery of the Chemical Elements" research project. The award is international in scope and recognizes an outstanding career of contributing to the history of chemistry.

"The goal was to actually visit all the places where the elements have been discovered," said James Marshall, who served on faculty at UNT from 1967 through his retirement in 2017. "It just hadn't been done before."

The two traveled all over the world to visit the locations where elements on the periodic table were originally discovered totaling 28 countries. They would document the journey in a series of articles and give more insight into the discovery of each element. The massive undertaking originally began as a vacation idea.

"I remember Jenny asked where I wanted to go on our honeymoon," Marshall said. "Well, there was a book called The Discovery of the Elements by Mary Elvira Weeks. It's from the 1930s, and she wrote about all the places where elements had been discovered. And I said 'let's do that.'"

Despite most elements being well known with widespread use, some of the original labs where they were discovered were hard to track down. The Marshalls would find themselves playing the part of detectives in some cases.

"Sometimes it wasn't obvious. For example, we had to go to the library at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany to find an article on radon," Marshall said. "But it had the wrong date on it, and we had to correct the library. Remember some of these articles were from the early 1900s."

One of Marshall's favorite locations the couple visited involved such detective work and a little luck.

"It was a great moment in Berlin. We had been searching for a lab all day with no luck, so we stopped to eat at a café," Marshall said. "We're sitting there and Jenny suddenly goes 'Jim, there's a plaque!' So, I told the waiter we'd be right and back there it was. A little plaque for the lab where uranium was discovered."

After their trips, the Marshalls wrote articles on the elements and their history. The papers were originally published in The Hexagon, the official journal of the chemical fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma. Eventually, they had written more than 50 articles. It was Jenny Marshall who came up with what to do next.

"She said 'we need to put this on a DVD'. I had no idea how to do that, but she went upstairs and came down two minutes later and had everything designed in Dreamweaver," Marshall said.

The entire project is available online hosted through the Department of Chemistry. The site includes the Hexagon articles, information on each element, more than 5,000 photos from their trips and maps highlighting cities they visited.

"It was just fun," Marshall said. "We never came back trying to impress people with what we did but to show them just how fun it is to discovery chemistry and to appreciate that science is a magnificent discipline."

During their trips, the Marshalls collected samples of each natural element that can be safely contained to create a living periodic table in their home. Pieces of that collection now make up the living periodic table which is on display in the UNT Chemistry building.

"We're very proud that Jim and Jenny's hard work is being recognized," College of Science Dean John Quintanilla said. "You could tell the project was a true labor of love, and we're honored to display a piece of it on campus for everyone to see."

Marshall will officially receive the award in the fall at a symposium held in the couple's honor where he also will give an award address. While the award is for both of them, Marshall said most of the credit should go to Jenny.

"If it weren't for her this project would not have gone anywhere," Marshall said. "She was the computer genius behind it, the motivation behind it, and the charm behind it. And there's no doubt in my mind she's one of the main reasons we got the award."

Via UNT News

From Classroom to Conservation: UMass Amherst Art Students Collaborate with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on Environmental Art Project

UMass Amherst art students recently partnered with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to create an extensive online library of graphics to be used by National Wildlife Refuge System employees for educational materials and outreach efforts throughout the Northeast United States and beyond, bridging the gap between art and environmental impact. 

Spearheaded by Jacquelyn Sadowski, who works for USFWS Visitor Services, the project helped the organization meet its needs for wildlife graphics to be used in its junior ranger booklets, social media posts, events/programs flyers, presentations and potential exhibit displays. 

Professor of Art Jeffery Kasper led his students to create the graphics through his course ART364: Design Thinking for Social Innovation.  The collaboration was a perfect fit, Kasper says, as his service learning class was ready in rotation for the partnership. Both Kasper and Sadowski saw an opportunity for UMass students to make a tangible, real-world impact.

The project—which began in the fall 2023 semester and continued through the spring—was meticulously structured, with 14 students organized into teams focused on different environmental settings: Coastal, Wetland, Urban, and Woodland. Each team delved into research on species within their assigned habitat, producing a diverse array of hand-rendered and digital artwork ranging from animals to flora and backgrounds. With guidance from the USFWS, students executed research, visiting refugee sites, and pitched different styles and visuals to align correctly with each of the species that were to be illustrated. 

Students focused on many different aspects of their artwork and got the opportunity to learn about the actual design process alongside the agency. 

With an expertise in accessibility through art, Kasper ensured students would be creating a variety of materials that would work for all audiences, such as line versions of the illustrations for touch tours, images with alternate colors to accommodate those who may be color blind, and rich image descriptions. Along with this, students created different visualizations to demonstrate the application of each illustration by the agency, such as how the graphics might specifically be used, or how it would be best laid out on a page. 

With wildlife refuges around the country, this was the most expensive partnership Kasper’s class had embarked on, and it provided the university students with real-world experience, as well as a glimpse at the intersectionality of art and design within the environment. 

Kasper says he was pleasantly surprised by the variety of artwork and approaches his students came up with, along with how supportive the agency was to work one on one with students to give them feedback. 

“I’m honored that the USFWS took the time and care to create a system where these designs are going to have a life, and I’m happy that the students took on the process,” he says. “It’s a good example that we can take what we can learn while also contributing to our community, beyond the walls of the university.” 

Sadowski underscored the positive impact the graphics will have. 

“This collaboration far exceeded any of my expectations: the gifted students, Professor Kasper’s enthusiastic energy and, of course, the marvelous designs,” Sadowski says. “This project perfectly demonstrates innovative thinking through the blending of creativity and conservation. Since people experience nature in diverse ways, the arts can be a powerful bridge to foster deeper connections with the environment.” 

For students like Lafayette Herard, the interactive nature of the project provided a pivotal learning experience with lasting impacts. They built an immense collection of material for their portfolio and gained experience working with a large-scale client. 

Moreover, the project opened doors to potential career paths, with one student even securing employment with the agency following graduation, Kasper says. 

Kasper refers to this collaboration as an amazing case study of work that can be used for different purposes, a confirmation that students can exceed. He highlights that the opportunity showcased a robust and rich route in art and design, considering different ways that it can affect change within the community. 

“We tend to limit ourselves when creating something meaningful on a tight timeline. This proves if we can do it for organizations like the government, we can do it for all types of clients,” Kasper says.

The art is currently available for use by employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service via an online library. Each student who participated was awarded a certificate of appreciation by the Department of the Interior U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their extraordinary efforts to the organization. 

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May 7, 2024

Capstone Day 2024 Highlights Senior Theses

• Campus News

For the past 17 years, Scripps’ Capstone Day event at the end of the spring semester has served to celebrate the research and hard work that graduating seniors have dedicated to their theses and final projects in pursuit of their degrees.

This year’s Capstone Day on May 2 was made available by Zoom in addition to its in-person sessions.

“As in years past, this Capstone Day was a wonderful event highlighting the remarkable accomplishments of our graduating seniors,” says Associate Dean of Faculty Warren Liu. “For the seniors, it’s a chance to share their research projects with the Scripps community and with each other. For students, faculty, staff, friends, and family in attendance, it not only provides an opportunity to learn about these impressive projects, but equally importantly, serves as a welcoming and inclusive venue where we can come together to recognize and celebrate the students who produced them.”

The 79 theses spanned 20 disciplines and covered a wide range of topics including the long-term harm that overincarceration does to the reproductive capacity of affected populations, the impact of light intensity on the hunting patterns of wolf spiders, the consequences of the criminalization of homelessness in Los Angeles, and the effects of hospital mergers.

The presentations were conducted inside the Edwards Humanities Building. Senior art theses are exhibited at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery’s Double  Take  senior art exhibition, which runs until May 11 and features digital illustration, drawing, painting, ceramic sculpture, mixed media, and more.

• Capstone Day
• Class of 2024
• The Scripps Experience Series