2,893 Inspirational Passion Project Ideas
Turn inspirations into your passion project.
This collection of project ideas, shared by Polygence mentors, is meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.
- AI/ML
- Animation
- Arts
- Biology
- Biotech
- Business
- Cancer
- Chemistry
- Cognitive
- Computer Science
- Creative Writing
- Dance
- Dentistry
- Economics
- Engineering
- Entomology
- Environmental Science
- Ethics
- Fashion
- Finance
- Game Design
- Healthcare
- History
- Illustration
- Languages
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Math
- Medicine
- Music
- Neuroscience
- Nutrition
- Organizational Leadership
- Philanthropy
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Physics
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Quantitative
- Social
- Social Science
- Sports Analytics
- Statistics
- Surgery
Art as a form of expression
In a world full of chaos, expressing oneself is necessary. I believe there is an artist in everyone. In this project, I help you turn an issue, whether political, social, economic... and turn it into a body of work. The body of work can be physical if you wish it to be or it can remain conceptual through its description. The main purpose of this project is using our creativity to approach a concept or topic in a way that is outside of the box.
Arts, Creative Writing
The impact of psychotherapy interventions on mental health
Exploring the outcomes of various psychotherapy interventions on mental health is essential to how clinicians provide patient care. Qualifying and quantifying the unique contributions of short term vs. long term therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Parent-Child Psychotherapy to the treatment of various mental health disorders identified in by the DSM-5 is a key area of study that can ensure that patient's are provided with the best evidence based treatment available. Within this topic of study there is room to explore the policies that inform care and cultural factors that contribute to treatment/outcomes.
Neuroscience, Psychology, Arts
The Mobile Misconduct Project
My thesis was an exploration into how emerging technologies could help combat police brutality, which culminated in a prototype for an application that allowed users to scan an NYPD officer's badge to render their misconduct information. Project link: https://itp.nyu.edu/thesis2021/?student=julian-mathews
Arts, Creative Writing
Student venture marketplace
Create an online marketplace for student entrepreneurs. This project involves designing and developing a website that provides a platform for high school students to showcase and sell their products or services.
Music, Arts, Business
Synthesis Paper
In this project, you would choose 2-3 articles on a topic of your choice to study and compare. This paper would explain, compare, contrast, and offer your conclusion on the different approaches. You will develop your professional and scientific writing skills, research skills, as well as understanding and finding reliable sources. Topics could be anything from "Organic vs. Artificial heart valves" to "How the Grimm's Fairytales Changed Over Time".
Biology, Arts, Photography, Chemistry, Math
Family Recipe Zine
For a student who finds comfort and connection to their culture through both cooking and writing, we would create a short, printable book. This book could include family recipes written by hand, scanned photos, and fiction (or nonfiction) stories or poems related to the meals and memories.
Arts, Literature, Creative Writing
Curate an Exhibition
This project will enable you to research a specific art historical topic while also learning the skills involved in curating a museum-based exhibition. We will attempt to simulate (within reason) the real process followed by curators when they research and develop exhibition ideas. You will begin by selecting a general topic in art history. This could be an artistic movement (e.g. Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, or The Harlem Renaissance), a specific artist (e.g. Claude Monet, Helen Frankenthaler, or James Van Der Zee), or another theme of your choosing. You will then research your topic by generating a brief annotated bibliography on the subject –– a list of sources followed by short summaries of their content. Drawing on this research, you will decide on a title and thesis for your exhibition, then generate three “deliverables”: First, you will create a “checklist” of objects to include (10 to 15 artworks, drawn from any of the many digitized museum collections available to the public; I will point you to these). Second, you will research and write a “wall label” for each of these objects (a very short paragraph that explains the artwork to a viewer). Third and finally, you will write the text for a short brochure which introduces a museum-goer to your exhibition, addressing these questions: What is the thesis of this exhibition –– in other words, what story does your exhibition tell about its topic? How does this story differ from what has already been said about this topic? How do these particular artworks tell that story?
Arts
Critical Thinking in Language Arts and Social Studies
This study examines the way teachers help students develop critical thinking skills in Language Arts or Social Studies classes. The researcher collects data over two weeks by observing their high school English or Social Studies class and through teacher interviews. Documenting teacher speech and student response, the researcher will capture the following: - The teacher’s stated and implied goals in their presentation of the lesson or unit; - The teacher’s method of delivering the content and engaging student interest and input; - Formative and Summative assessments that help the teacher gauge student understanding; - Interactions between the teacher and students around the content; - The ways in which the teacher engaged with different groups of students (male, female, racial groups, motivated & not motivated, those who sit in the front vs. those in the back, etc.); and - The ways in which the teacher uses physical proximity to engage students. In addition to observational data, the researcher will interview the teacher. Questions will capture the teacher’s implicit and explicit goals and give the teacher an opportunity to reflect on the outcome of their lesson/unit. The interview will also reveal the teacher’s academic expectations of the students and their ability to tweak and adjust their teaching in order to serve the students’ needs and responses. After establishing a definition of critical thinking and discussing the ways in which it can be demonstrated in a classroom, the researcher might explore these questions after collecting their data: 1. What kind of critical thinking is the teacher expecting from the students? 2. How does the teacher structure the lesson(s) in order to elicit student response? 3. To what extent is discussion included in the lesson(s)? 4. What kinds of questions stimulate students’ thinking about the content? 5. To what extent does the teacher follow up with questions that further probe students’ thinking? 6. To what extent does the teacher’s display in-the-moment flexibility to adjust to students’ responses to the content? 7. In what ways does the teacher respond to or incorporate students’ prior knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions about the content into their teaching? 8. To what extent does the teacher allow for a variety of perspectives and beliefs (either within the content or amongst the students)? This qualitative study requires inductive methods, so the researcher may end up focusing on more specific topics after analysis of the data.
Arts, Literature
Images of the Past and Visions of the Future
The work of artists like Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder often engages with time periods other than the present. A student could do a research or curating project that considers how a specific group of images of the past (showing classical topics, for example) and/or visions of the future (showing the Apocalypse, the afterlife, or a utopic future world) relate to the present.
Arts
Spirituality and Mental Health
In this project, you will review scientific literature on the relationship between personal spirituality/religion and mental health. You will learn how to conduct a scientific literature review in the field of psychology (how to use search engines to find recent and relevant peer-reviewed research articles, how to read, summarize, and synthesize peer-reviewed articles). You will produce a scientific review paper and propose a research question that you did not find to be answered in the existing scientific literature.
Social, Arts, Statistics
Costume Design Research & Sketching For Period Accuracy
With shows like The Queen's Gambit, Downton Abbey, Mad Men, The Crown, Outlander, and Stranger Things, we are given the gift of time travel. We almost feel like we are in those times with the details and idiosyncrasies some shows and movies bring to us. But how do costume designers, production designers and fashion historians do their research? How does a script or photograph translate to what goes onscreen? I want to take you on a journey into the wonderful world of historical fashion research. It's almost like being a fashion history detective. There are years of work that go into making accurate depictions of times past onscreen or on stage. It's exhaustive work, but boy, is it fun. There is a plethora of indicators and nuances within fashion history that denote status, class, change in materials, geographic location, and more. How have the lapels and trouser shape of a men's suit changed from 1850 to 1880 or the jewelry of the 1990s? Developing an eye for the vast differences in how fashion has morphed and changed with time is essential for being an altruistic designer. Whether it's nailing a time period's details you seek to learn, or sketching out an entire show, we will explore the subtle details, the hair, the ruffles, the jewelry, the shoes, the skirt lengths, and the sleeve flounce of whatever period or subculture you aim to learn about. I will discuss better ways to research, including tips and tricks and ways to decipher nuances in photographs and garments. This includes quality and style of clothing, fabric, fit, socio-economic influences, as well as political and war-time changes; not to mention the changing fashion of hairstyles and makeup too. I want to teach you how to really see and what real people, not just celebrities and musicians in magazines, dressed like. Lastly, I aim to help you accurately decipher and document status in dress. Whether it’s the difference between a Civil War Brigadier General and a member of the Company or an 1850’s woman of privilege versus her scullery maid you seek to find, there are many exciting nuances and vast distinctions to explore in status.
Arts, History, Fashion
Explore your family's global history: Family ancestry & migration project
Students would have the opportunity to research their own family's history, using public historical databases, and create an artistic representation of their lineage (collage, Prezi, graphic design, etc.). Students could focus on learning more about each country and city where their family lived, including art, culture and traditions. They also could focus on interviewing family members and recording stories and tales that have been passed through their family for generations. This project is very flexible and would be adapted to each student, depending on their family's history and their level of connection to family knowledge.
Psychology, Arts, History, Literature, Social Science, Organizational Leadership
How do mental illnesses alter brain waves?
Electrical activity is the main form of communication in the brain. How is this activity disrupted in mental illness? This project could focus on any mental illness such as: depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, OCD, or others. There is ample literature and open-source data available. The project could include a literature review and potentially an analysis of some EEG data.
Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology, Arts, Languages
Using Human Centered Design to Develop an Implicit Bias Intervention
Implicit Bias is a well documented source that reinforces and encourages systemic biases in positions of power. Using principles of human centered design, including empathy, strategy, and building for scalability and sustainability, we can develop targeted interventions for people with positions of power to address their potential biases and learn how to mitigate or overcome them.
Neuroscience, Psychology, Arts, History
Make a Short Film!
I've worked as a filmmaking teacher / mentor in several different capacities. During these endeavors, the course curriculum often consisted of a hands-on approach to the essential filmmaking process. If you're interested in storytelling and want to make your very own movie, I'd love to help you with the process! We'll start in pre-production, from conceptualizing ideas, to writing a short script (3-10 pages). Then we'll get into principal photography, where we'll go over best practices in casting, storyboarding, shot-listing, cinematography techniques, directing actors, and film scheduling. After you shoot your movie, we'll see our project through to the end, with mentorship on film-editing and utilizing music in film. By the end, you'll have your very own short film!
Arts
Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Future of Design
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the world we live in, and its impact on various industries is becoming increasingly apparent. One industry that is undergoing significant changes is design, both physical and digital. With AI tools and techniques, designers can automate tasks, generate new ideas, and make better-informed decisions. However, the role of designers in the age of AI is not clear, and many questions remain unanswered. This research project aims to explore the impact of AI on the future of design and the implications it has for designers.
Arts, Business
Psychology Interventions
As a Cognitive Studies, I became extremely proficient at reading and understanding psychology research studies, and even designing and implementing my own research studies. One research study I completed as an undergrad was called "Effects of Student Satisfaction with Exam Grades on Motivation and Study Strategies." If there is a psychology intervention you are curious to test, I could help you build a strong foundation for your study by helping you find existing literature and understanding it, and then designing and implementing your research study!
Music, Social, Arts, Creative Writing, Social Science, Cognitive
Quantitative Legal Analysis
Let's use data analysis and visualization to explore a legal issue of your choice!
Biology, Arts, Chemistry
Introduction to Historical Research
Do you have a historical question you've always been curious about? Are you curious about how to ask a historical question?This project will provide instruction and guidance about how to do historical research and develop a research paper, on a topic of your choosing.
Arts, History, Literature, Social Science
Music Psychology and Cognition Research Paper
How does the human brain process music? Why do so many cultures feature music so predominantly? How does music engage our perception and what does it do to us? If you're interested in the intersection of music and perception, a research project on the topic of music cognition or music psychology would speak to these fascinations. In such a project, we would work together to narrow down on a particular music topic or question (ex. What is perfect pitch? What kinds of methods do music psychologists use? How does the brain handle rhythm?) and work to create a research paper or creative project around this line of inquiry.
Music, Psychology, Arts, Social Science, Cognitive
