School Resources that Can Boost Your Independent Research Project

Independent research projects for high school students are a great opportunity to dive deep into a topic they’re interested in outside of the traditional school setting, learn valuable skills, and boost their resume for college applications. However, there is definitely a challenge to doing an independent research project during the school year, as students are often busy with their schoolwork and extracurricular activities. That’s why we wanted to highlight the importance of leveraging resources in your high school to help you create the best possible version of your research project. These resources can not only aid with the actual research process, but they also have longer-term benefits that will boost your overall high school experience as well! We’ll cover our list of great school resources that can be helpful for your research project.

1. Leveraging Teacher Expertise

Teachers are one of the most valuable resources a school can offer for any high school student. Some teachers have prior research scientific research experience of their own, and even if they don’t, they can still offer advice on your project’s topic. Make sure to identify the right teachers who will likely know the most about your project’s topic so that you get the most useful advice and feedback. Beyond just helping out with your independent project, getting to know your teachers can help you build a great relationship with them throughout high school, and they could even potentially write a letter of recommendation for your college applications.

2. Joining Clubs Dedicated to Research

There are likely clubs at your school that have a strong research component to them, such as Science Olympiad, robotics, and other STEM research clubs. Joining these clubs can be a great way to meet other students who are just as interested in research as you are, and you can bounce ideas off of each other. Also, through group projects and experiments, you can gain exposure to potential research questions that you can explore further on your own. 

3. Navigating High School IRB Committees

IRB stands for Institutional Review Boards, which are committees that ensure ethical research practices and make sure that experiments with human participants are ethical. Some high schools, but not all, will have their own IRB. If you find that your school does have an IRB, you should definitely submit a proposal so that your research paper follows ethical practices. Doing this early on will help ensure that you’ll be qualified to submit your research paper to top journals and get your work published. Check out our complete guide on the IRB approval process.

4. Accessing School Science Labs

If your independent research project involves a physical science experiment, then school science labs can provide great resources for you to use. The challenging part is getting permission to use school labs outside of regular class hours. You will likely need to contact someone in the science department and also a qualified staff member present as you conduct your experiment. When asking for permission, it’s important to emphasize what you need the lab for, why you’re pursuing your science research project, and how the project will help you achieve your academic and career goals. For more on science lab work, read our article on Gaining Lab Experience as a High Schooler.

5. Maximizing Library Resources

Libraries are a great place to get some studying and homework done, but your school library also has great resources that you can leverage to help you with your research. Visit your school library and ask the librarian if the school provides access to academic databases such as JSTOR and EBSCOhost. These are academic subscriptions that schools will typically give you access to and are expensive to purchase on your own. In these databases, you can find valuable primary and secondary sources to help you better understand your topic and compile evidence for your research argument.

6. Tapping into the Alumni Network

Alumni is a term more commonly associated with universities, but who says you can’t use high school alumni as resources as well? Even if your school doesn’t have a dedicated platform for reaching out to alumni, you can typically find high school alumni on LinkedIn and can also reach out to current college students who are a few years older than you. These high school alumni may have some research experience of their own and can offer valuable advice. Be sure to do your research on the alumnus before connecting with them, and send a well-crafted, personalized message that will resonate with them. 

7. Building Relationships with Local Colleges and Universities

Local colleges in your area are great opportunities to learn and gain mentorship. It’s also entirely possible that teachers at your high school are familiar with professors or students who attend those local colleges. Even if you don’t have a direct connection with anyone at the local colleges, you can take a look at faculty directories on college websites to see if a professor’s research background aligns with what you’re interested in. To learn more about building relationships with local colleges and universities, be sure to read our article on How to Cold Email Professors for Research.

8. Engaging in Community Involvement and School Events

As you’ve probably already experienced, high schools host a lot of events and also aim to collaborate with local organizations or businesses. Getting involved in these events is a great way to understand what the community needs, what it currently lacks, and how local issues are addressed. This resource can give you project ideas for a variety of research topics, such as environmental science, politics, business, and education. It can also serve as inspiration for you to dig deeper into local issues and see how they’re potentially an even bigger problem nationwide. On top of all that, through community projects, you’ll be able to make an impact on those around you and gain valuable work experience.

9. Collaborating with Coaches and Counselors

Similar to teachers, athletic coaches and academic counselors can be great advocates for college recommendations once you’ve built a strong relationship with them. But how can they help you with your independent study project if they don’t know anything about the topic? It can be very difficult to balance the work of an independent research project with schoolwork and sports, but if you communicate your workload with coaches and counselors and tell them that you’re working on a research project, they can then help you manage that workload. They can provide time management advice, be more flexible with your schedule, or even recommend the right electives for you so that you’re not overwhelmed with school. 

10. School-Based Competitions and Fairs

If your school hosts any science fairs or competitions, those can be great resources and a source of motivation for your independent research project. Even if you’re not participating in the current year’s science fair, you can still attend to see what projects your peers are putting together and ask them questions about their process and what was helpful to them. Those conversations can help you become better prepared to tackle your own project. If you’re stuck on finding a science fair project to do, check out our list of science fair projects, ordered from easy to hard.

Your school can offer many different resources that you can use to build your argument, find inspiration, and boost the quality of your research project overall. Learning how to use these resources is a skill in and of itself, and the great thing is that college resources are fairly similar, so you can apply that experience to your post-secondary education.

If you’re interested in starting your own independent research project, check out Polygence’s core research program, where you learn from an expert mentor who can provide dedicated, personalized support in your research process. Your mentor can also even point you towards the best resources to take advantage of in your own high school, helping you explore your intellectual curiosity and find the perfect research opportunity!