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
Analysis of the Effect of Interest Rate on Stock Prices A Case Study of Ghana Stock Exchange
This research used quantitative methodology and was performed using regression analyses to assess the relationship between interest rates and stock prices on the Ghana stock exchange. The ordinary least square regression was estimated with stock price as the dependent variable and interest rate as the independent variable. The variables were transformed into their natural logarithm forms
Economics, Social Science, Finance
Gender Economic Inequality
Women tend to be the workforce majority in many service industries including healthcare, social work, hospitality and retail. For these reasons, women’s livelihoods have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Potential research ideas include: How has female employment status been impacted by the pandemic? What are implications of female unemployment on the college degree, attendance and completion of women? How has the gig economy influenced women’s work opportunities?
Economics, Finance
Investment Strategies for Financial Freedom or FIRE
A hands on project that will allow the student to understand and deep dive into the fundamentals of capital markets in the United States. The student will not only write a paper, but also create a strategic action plan that dictates the actions to take in order to maximize returns on capital. The following skills and concepts will be learned and applied: -Brokerage Accounts -Stock Picking -Mutual Funds and ETFs -Hedge Funds and PE Funds -Capital Gains and Taxes -Retirement Accounts and Tax Advantaged Accounts -Advanced Research (Fama French model vs. Cap M) -Income budgeting
Finance, Organizational Leadership
Company/Stock Pitch
In this project, you will choose a publicly traded or privately valued company (depending on your audience) to pitch as an investment. We will look at the underlying financials of the business, the company's current product portfolio and strategy, as well as the broader market to understand what makes it an attractive investment opportunity. The final product will be an investment memo outlining the investment thesis, key merits and risks, and underlying analyses.
Business, Finance
Final Notes
With previous projects, students would learn to gather and analyze data from different sectors/countries using Excel or any statistical software.
Economics, Math, Finance, Statistics
Finance
To ensure the operations of a hotel are, and will be, running effectively, the costs and revenues of a hotel must be analyzed. We will cover, and can vary on knowledge: -Balance sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow on how to interpret them -How a hotel can reduce its costs and increase its revenues without jeopardizing its brand standards or guest satisfaction Project: The student will come up with 3-5 ways the hotel of the choosing can maximize the revenues and improve their cash flows and present the finding.
Business, Finance
Understanding the Future of Real Estate
The real estate industry is constantly changing. Real estate will always have a positive impact in the world with evolving high-tech software and increasing demand in jobs. Since this industry is wide-spread, there is much to offer while learning about a unique field of work. The knowledge and skills you will learn from this project is invaluable while crating an essay, research paper, presentation, and more.
Biology, Nutrition, Business, Finance
Launch Your First Digital Marketing Campaign
Attention is our most valuable asset. More so than money or time because people with money want more time, and people with time want to spend it wisely. As a marketer, your job is to get the right people's attention and get them to take a specific action that you want, but you'll only be successful if you can make them want it too. The tools at your disposal matter less than the substance, but in this project, I will teach you one or more of the fundamentals of digital marketing depending on your goals. The options include: - Crafting your ideal user profiles (through demographics, psychographics, and user stories) - conducting competitor analysis - crafting your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) - copywriting - sales copywriting - creative (graphic design and/or videography) - email marketing - social media marketing - content marketing - website design - Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) By the end of it, you will know how to identify the right target market full of your ideal users, create a compelling pitch or hook to grab their attention and move them through your sales and marketing funnel to convert them into customers.
Business, Finance
Analyze a Company or Compare Two Companies
Have a company in mind that you're interested in learning more about? I have a strong background analyzing companies as an investor, and I would love to help a student help analyze several parts of a company including financials/growth, leadership team, market size, competitive threats, company culture, and more. Have two companies in mind, maybe two competitors, that you'd like to learn more about? We can also analyze them side by side.
Finance
2. Economics Experiment.
People make irrational choices all the time. You see it in "bubbles" in the market, intense recessions (i.e. the 2020 COVID-19 Crisis), and everywhere in between. Some of this irrationality can be explained, but the science behind it is very young & rapidly evolving. This science is called Behavioral Finance, which is essentially the mix between Finance & Psychology. In this project, students will get a background to Behavioral Finance and have the opportunity to design and conduct their own mini-experiments. The course will include the following topics: - Background to Behavioural Finance (what is it, why does it exist, why is it important) - Why do people act irrationally and how to resist it (emotional vs practical decision-making) - How we can predict irrational decision-making (phenomena including herd behavior, loss aversion, framing, etc.) At the end of the project, the student will design their own experiment to test an irrational phenomenon. The student will write up a questionnaire, then an analysis of the results in either a paper or a presentation.
Economics, Finance
Investment Opportunities in Education Technology in Emerging Markets
Researching EdTech options of an emerging market in a specific region and researching and finding the best investment avenues using a mix of quantitate and qualitative analysis.
Engineering, Finance
What happened to the largest company in the world? The Dutch East India Trading Company
Scholarly paper discussing the fall and demise of one of the largest companies in the world, the Dutch East India Trading Company. The goal of the history paper a student writes is for self fulfillment, for learning, and to submit and be published in the Concord Review. -Hypothesis led approach to writing -Originating primary and secondary sources -Translating primary and secondary sources -Academic citations -Analysis of sources
Finance, Organizational Leadership
Sports Injuries: Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation
In this project, you will select a sports injury and recommend injury prevention techniques to a coach and design a 6-month rehabilitation program for an injured athlete. You will learn: • Anatomy of the injured area • Common movements that cause the injury • Techniques on coping with injuries • Pros and Cons of surgery vs. no surgery • Five stages of recovery • Specific rehabilitation exercises
Finance
Examining Social Stressors Among Students
Social stressors among students, such as a lack of friends, being in different classes, interpersonal conflicts, and peer pressure, can adversely affect their mental health. Exploring the impact of these stressors and potential factors that amplify or mitigate their effects could form the basis of a research paper, slide deck, or podcast. Quantitative or qualitative data analysis could be utilized depending on the student's interest area. In addition to examining the impact of social stressors among students, there are other avenues of research that can be explored. For example, a student could delve into the coping mechanisms employed by students to deal with social stressors, and how these strategies affect their overall well-being. Another research direction could involve examining the role of social support networks in mitigating the negative effects of social stressors on students' mental health. Furthermore, exploring the long-term consequences of experiencing social stressors during the student years and its potential implications for adulthood could be another intriguing research area to explore.
Literature, Creative Writing, Business, Finance
Financial Plan
Prepare a comprehensive and detailed plan for a hypothetical person’s retirement and investment strategy. Reviews withdrawal rates, anticipated returns, dependence rates, etc.
Economics, Business, Finance
Training Program for a Professional Athlete
In this project you will create a yearlong training program starting from the off-season until the end of the competition season. Training will be looked at from a holistic perspective and include: • Strength & Conditioning – Prescribe aerobic and resistance exercises to improve the performance of an athlete • Nutrition – Create a nutrition plan that will enable athletes for elite performance with the intention to maximize energy production and recovery • Sports Psychology – Routine to help athletes perform under high pressure and overcome problems with focus and motivation • Therapy – Schedule sessions with physiotherapists, massage therapists, and prescribe self-directed recovery exercises • Exercise Testing – Evaluate the potential success or measure improvement of an athlete by conducting isolated physical tests related to the sport they play
Finance
Product/Industry Case Study
In this project, you will select a particular company (or even industry) to analyze from various angles. We will leverage different frameworks to understand what determines success in this instance, how to build a lasting competitive advantage, and what threats may appear on the horizon. The final product will be a document or presentation summarizing your key findings.
Business, Finance
Rising Ocean Levels due to Climate Change
Global warming is causing global mean sea level to rise in two ways. First, glaciers and ice sheets worldwide are melting and adding water to the ocean. Second, the volume of the ocean is expanding as the water warms. The negative effects are coastlines will retreat, destabilizing coastal ecosystems, contamination of groundwater, coastal flooding, and much more. This project will allow to learn more about the global ecosystem and create a project of the student's desire to understand how the world is battling climate change.
Biology, Nutrition, Business, Finance
How does ambiguity/ uncertainty aversion affect our decision making and life choices?
I'd love to explore with you business and economics phenomena that help us understand how humans think and behave, such as ambiguity (uncertainty) aversion, altruism, anchoring and framing, overconfidence effect, and more! We don't have to limit ourselves to behavioral economics though - we can certainly explore other topics from economics, business, technology, or other related fields. During our collaboration, you will learn: 1. how to research and educate yourself on chosen topic (I will help you understand it in depth during our sessions), 2. how to critically think about the concepts and opposing views, 3. how to apply business and economics concepts into practice through your project and beyond, and 4. how to convey your exploration and knowledge through an essay, research paper, and/ or a slick presentation. We will gather information and educate ourselves on chosen topics through researching academic papers and essays, reading books, exploring online courses and Ted Talks, and informational chats with industry experts. We will define your goal together at the beginning of our partnership. In my mind, the goal could include writing an essay or paper that can be later shared during your college or internship applications, or creating a “Ted Talk” presentation that you can present at your school, conference, or actual Ted Talk!
Economics, Business, Finance
