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Browse project ideas by Polygence mentors
How Likes on Instagram Affects the Self-Esteem of Teenagers: Research Paper
For my AP Research class in high school, I developed an academic research paper and presentation examining the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. I found the project particularly meaningful because it allowed me to explore the sociological and psychological effects of social media on my own age group. Through conducting research and analyzing existing findings, I gained a deeper understanding of how the internet can influence individuals and shape broader social behaviors. A similar project could examine how social media and internet use affect the mental health of a specific age group, allowing you as a student to explore a relevant issue while developing your research, analytical, and presentation skills!
Social Science
Making Sense of Real Consumer Data
If you're the type of student who likes working with numbers as much as ideas, this project is for you. You'll identify a publicly available secondary dataset, something like retail purchase data, app usage data, or survey data, and use it to test a real research question about consumer behavior. Past work in this space has looked at how familiarity with a platform shapes buying behavior, and how perceived risk factors into people's purchase decisions. I'll guide you through the statistics and research design side of things, so you'll come away with hands on experience in data analysis alongside a stronger grip on marketing research methods. This project is ideal for students who want to build quantitative research skills.
Statistics, Social, Business
Emotions in Greco-Roman Philosophy
Lots of ancient philosophical groups—especially the Stoics—have a reputation for being down on emotions. But even the Stoics saw happiness as an ultimate goal of philosophy. For this project, we'd examine the positive role of emotions in one of Greco-Roman philosophical schools (Epicureanism, Stoicism, Platonism), and make a Youtube video challenging modern (mis)perceptions of ancient philosophy.
Philosophy, Literature
Why do people happily recommend a fitness product to a friend, but hesitate to recommend their meditation app?
Someone will rave about a new running shoe or protein powder without a second thought, but bringing up a meditation app can feel oddly personal — like you're admitting something vulnerable rather than sharing a tip. This project digs into that asymmetry: is it about privacy, stigma around mental health, a sense that fitness is "achievement" while meditation is "admission," or something else entirely? You'll start with a literature review on health behavior disclosure and stigma, then gather some preliminary data — maybe informal interviews or surveys asking people what they would and wouldn't readily recommend and why. From there, you'll choose a research method (qualitative interviews, a comparative survey, or a small experiment manipulating framing) and run a basic analysis to see what's really driving the difference.
Social, Psychology
Foodborne Outbreaks
Conduct a literature review on foodborne outbreaks of the past and present. Analyze trends in disease outbreaks and the ways people become sick from the foods we eat. Evaluate news and social media coverage of foodborne outbreaks and how the public responds. Optional student showcasing options could cover food safety guidelines in education campaigns, opinion editorials, a website, podcast, and more.
Public Health, Biology
Who Gets Watched? Policing and Surveillance in Public Spaces
Objective: Investigate how surveillance and policing are distributed across a community, and what that distribution suggests about who is treated as a "threat." Task: Pick a defined area to study (a neighborhood, a school, a shopping district, or even a city compared to a suburb). Document visible forms of surveillance and control: security cameras, police presence, private security, signage ("no loitering," curfews), metal detectors, etc. A simple walk-through with notes or photos works well. Research who lives in or uses that space (income levels, racial demographics, age) using public data sources like the U.S. Census or local city data portals. Compare your observations across two or more areas with different demographics, or compare your findings to existing research on surveillance, "broken windows" policing, or racial disparities in policing. Reflect on what you found: Does surveillance intensity track with crime rates, or with something else (income, race, property values)? Deliverable: A written report, annotated photo essay, or short presentation summarizing your observations, your data comparison, and what it suggests about how safety and suspicion get distributed unevenly.
Social Science
How Do TV Crime Shows Shape Public Perceptions of the Criminal Justice System?
Objective: Investigate how popular crime dramas and true-crime media portray the criminal justice system, and compare those portrayals to how the system actually operates. Task: Select a sample of 5–10 episodes or films from one or more crime shows/documentaries. As you watch, take notes on recurring patterns: How often are cases "solved"? How is forensic evidence used? How are defendants, police, and lawyers portrayed? Whose perspective does the story center? Choose 2–3 of these themes and research what the real data shows. For example: How often are real cases actually solved with forensic evidence? What are actual clearance rates for the crimes depicted? How common are wrongful convictions? Compare your findings from the show(s) to the real-world data. Where do they line up? Where do they diverge, and why might that be? Present your findings as a research paper, video essay, or policy-style brief aimed at raising media literacy around crime coverage. Deliverable: A written or multimedia piece (your choice of format) that lays out your comparison and what it suggests about how media shapes public understanding of crime and justice.
Social Science
Financing Public Policy
Working as a financial adviser for the fifth largest economy in the world (i.e., California), I am actively involved in decision-making for a portion of the state's budget. Is there a policy you are interested in and want to try to make happen? We can investigate your policy of choice together and investigate ways to fund it with the plan to pitch it to your representative. We also can investigate the impact of previous legislation to discover ways to improve it. Your project can be a local community survey, mapping project, or an analytical paper or presentation.
Engineering, Chemistry
Increasing Sustainability Across Industries
As the world continues to reduce its carbon emmissions, there are ways industries can become more sustainable to protect the environment without reducing profits. What industry are you most interested in? Let's discover solutions to make that industry more sustainable together.
Engineering, Chemistry
Challenges within IBD Management
This project could explore current treatment guidelines within IBD patient populaitons as well as challenges in management including psychosocial systems including insurance denials and prior authorizations.
Medicine, Healthcare
