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
Design a Research Study on Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health
Do you have a research question related to sexual and/or gender minority mental health? Perhaps you want to identify the impact of school or religious group cultural factors on mental health for Sexual and Gender Minority individuals. In our work together, we will discuss your specific interest in Sexual and Gender Minority mental health and I will guide you in developing your own research question. We will develop hypotheses and choose a research method for you to implement (qualitative interviews and analysis, correlational study, etc.). I will guide you through reporting your findings in a paper, and through the process of submitting the paper for publication if that is part of your goal.
Social, Arts, Statistics
Design a Computer Task for a Neuroimaging Study
In this project, we can start with a question that you have about the brain - e.g. how does the brain respond to statements that are funny versus sad? We will brainstorm ideas, explore important considerations, and program the task in a user-friendly (free) program called PsychoPy.
Social, Cognitive
Social Connection and Physical Health
Are friendship breakups stressful? Are loneliness and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic linked to depression? Can a loving-kindness meditation increase feelings of belonging? In what ways does social support buffer the stress of school? If you're interested in social relationships, belonging, or any other aspects of social connection and how these impact our psychological and physical health, then let's chat!
Social, Psychology
User Interface (UI) Design Projects
During my undergraduate education, I took several courses in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The goal of HCI is to develop a User Interface (UI) that is intuitive and easy to use. To achieve this goal, developers must interview and get feedback from users of their technology. This is a collaborative and iterative process. An example of this type of project is designing a website. In HCI development, you listen to people actually using the website you designed and identify where they have issues. Next, you re-design the website and repeat the process again. This is only one type of HCI project -- there are many routes to explore!
Social
How to Best Create Content for Young People?
A tip sheet for content-creators on how to create content for children or adolescents.
Neuroscience, Social
Leveraging Psychology to Help Bridge Political Divides
Over the past few decades, Americans have become increasingly polarized. How can we take insights from psychology to help people better understand those who are "on the other side" of the political spectrum? This project could involve reading articles/books, interviewing exercises, and more to identify potential interventions. It could take the form of a research paper, research transformed into a blog post, video or podcast format, or an online survey where we collect our own data.
Social, Cognitive
The Persuasive Potential of Message Framing, Temporal Orientation, and Self-Affirmation in Anti-Vaping Campaigns
This is a project I am currently working on that aims to better understand what aspects of anti-vaping messages are most persuasive. Additionally, the project looks to establish how successful certain messages might be in changing attitudes and behaviors among individuals who use e-cigarettes.
Social, Psychology, Quantitative, Social Science, Public Health
Applied Psychology Practice
Contrary to popular opinion, psychologists don't spend most of their days psychoanalyzing peoples' dreams and telling them they have Oedipus complexes (most of us don't trust Freud). However, we do a fair amount of interviewing, counseling, standardized assessments to gather data, progress monitoring, data analysis, designing personalized intervention plans, psychoeducation, consultation, report writing, and educating ourselves on the latest research. If you're curious about trying any of these things, let's talk!
Social
Stigma Towards People with Mental Health Conditions
In this project, we could easily adapt existing stigma scales and ask community members to participate. This project would help us gauge what kinds of stigma towards mental health conditions exist in a particular community.
Social, Public Health
How to Write an Argument.
Throughout our lives, we encounter arguments. They are designed to provide reasons for us to come to conclusions about the world, and are necessary to convince anyone of anything. For that reason, they are integral to professional and academic success. However, arguments are often difficult to articulate, can be complex and therefore difficult to understand. The goal of this project is to make you better at making arguments in your papers. We'll discuss the logical structure of arguments, common fallacies, examples of strong arguments, and examples of bad arguments. We will finish the project by writing a paper on a topic of your choice that implements the qualities of good argumentation that we have learned.
Philosophy, Social
Create your own research proposal!
Is there a topic you've always wanted to investigate? A question you've always had about the way the mind or the brain works? Develop your own research proposal, and maybe even collect some preliminary data! Together we can take your question and use it to develop a hypothesis that will guide your data collection. You could create a survey, perform a literature review, or design your own experiment. I can then help you translate that work into a manuscript.
Psychiatry, Biology, Neuroscience, Social, Psychology
Health or Social Policy Fact Sheet
Public health research often has policy implications. However, it can be challenging for policy makers to keep up with research. A policy fact sheet synthesizes research related to a policy of interest and presents it in a way that is accessible to policy makers. Similar to a literature review, a fact sheet would require a student to 1.) identify a topic area (e.g., food marketing to children, free school meals, tobacco warning labels); 2.) conduct an in-depth review of empirical and grey literature; 3.) synthesize findings from the literature; and 4.) present policy recommendations based on the evidence presented in the fact sheet. This project would provide students with experience critically reading and synthesizing research articles, conducting systematic literature searches, and translating research findings into policy recommendations. My primary area of expertise is in unhealthy product marketing and warning labels, but have experience in a variety of healthy and social policy related topics. I have created fact sheets myself and have mentored undergraduate students through the process.
Social, Public Health
poster presentation on brain development during adolescence
The human brain rapidly matures during the teenage years. What are some key brain regions that change during adolescence? What the these brain regions known for? How do these brain changes affect social relationships and behavior? This project will help students learn about and visualize adolescent brain development.
Social
Why is America so polarized?
Why does political polarization matter? And can we do anything about it? This project could involve reviewing scholarly literature, gathering and analyzing data, and presenting results in the form of a scientific research paper, blog, social media account, or other platform of your choosing. You might identify potential interventions that could help decrease polarization in your school or community. If interested, you could use research methods such as data visualization, text analysis, questionnaire design, or interviews.
Social, Social Science
Understanding Diversity and Inclusion within STEM
The world needs scientists from all backgrounds - yet, disparities exist across race, gender, and class in who becomes a scientist. Recent literature in the social sciences and education suggests that there are multiple angles researchers and policy makers can take in combating these disparities. In this project you can review current interventions designed to promote diversity in STEM, and these interventions underlying psychological mechanisms. Projects could include a suggested intervention to promote STEM interest among currently underrepresented students.
Social, Psychology, Social Science, Statistics
Beginner Research Paper on Criminal Justice Attitudes
Are you interested in criminal justice? This project aims to explore the dynamic landscape of criminal justice attitudes in the United States today. You can study some of society's most pressing issues related to crime and criminal justice such as: how do public perceptions of law enforcement influence trust and cooperation? How do policing attitudes vary by factors such as socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, and geographic location? Have Americans become more polarized on issues of criminal justice? There are endless questions to explore in the realm of criminal justice and a wealth of data on the subject. In this project, I can guide you through analyzing attitudes about crime and criminal justice issues using statistical techniques. By doing so, we can unearth insightful patterns and perspectives that contribute to the ongoing discourse on criminal justice. If you are interested in producing a scientific research paper related to criminal justice, this would be a fun project.
Social, Social Science
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
How safe are your selfies?
Cybersecurity and privacy is an incredible concern in the modern world. Whatever device you are reading this on undoubtedly has enormous amounts of information about you. Although the consequences of being hacked or having your online identity stolen are great, the average person does little to protect their data. How might we solve this? This project can take many directions depending on the student's interests. - Students interested in design may create digital privacy interventions to promote online safety. - Students interested in psychology may run a controlled experiment testing various privacy interventions. - Students interested in computer science may code an informational web page on privacy risks and practices. - Students interested in law&policy may write a report on how tech companies should approach consumer privacy.
Social, AI/ML
cooperation and competition
The intertwined nature of cooperation and competition: How these processes can help survival, strengthen belonging, shape our interpersonal relationships, or lead to cross-cultural differences?
Social
Beginner Research Paper on Racial Attitudes
Have you ever wondered about American views on race and racism? In this project, we have a unique chance to explore the evolving landscape of racial attitudes in the United States or other nations. I'll guide you through crafting an intriguing research question focused on race and racial attitudes. For example, you could choose to investigate how racial attitudes influence voting behavior, impact immigration preferences, or vary across characteristics like age, race, ethnicity, geographical location, or political ideology. We can also examine how racial attitudes have changed during significant historical and political events, aiming to understand if there's been progress or stagnation in recent years. There are many directions we can go with this topic. You could collect your own data or use publicly available social survey data used by the nation's top scientists! Either way, I will guide you through the research process of deriving insights from data, and then conveying insights through a scientific research paper. If you're keen on producing a scientific research paper related to race and ethnicity, this project is an excellent opportunity.
Social, Social Science