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Browse project ideas by Polygence mentors
How Does a Cancer Diagnosis Impact Mental Health?
This project explores the emotional and psychological impact of receiving a cancer diagnosis. Students can investigate questions such as: How does a cancer diagnosis affect anxiety, depression, or quality of life? What factors (e.g., social support, access to care) may influence mental health outcomes in patients? Students will learn how to develop a research question, read and interpret scientific literature, and understand key concepts in public health and psychology. They will gather information primarily through a literature review and may also explore publicly available datasets or case studies to better understand patient experiences. By the end of the project, students can produce a scientific research paper, a presentation, or a creative product such as an infographic or awareness campaign. This project helps students build skills in critical thinking, empathy in research, and science communication, while exploring an important topic at the intersection of mental health and chronic illness.
Public Health, Neuroscience
Analyzing Microplastic or Water Quality Data from Public Databases
The student would pull open-source environmental data from databases like the EPA's Water Quality Portal or NOAA's Marine Debris dataset and use Google Sheets or Python to find patterns, like whether contamination correlates with urban density or seasonal changes. Climate and pollution are consistently top concerns for Gen Z, making this a natural fit.
Biology
Does Screen Time Before Bed Actually Affect Sleep Quality?
The student would track their own (or family members') sleep patterns over several weeks, comparing nights with heavy screen time in the last hour before bed versus no screens at all. They'd log variables like time to fall asleep, number of times waking up, total hours slept, and a self-reported quality rating each morning. They could also layer in factors like blue light filter usage versus no filter to test whether those settings actually help. The data gets analyzed for statistical significance using Google Sheets or Excel. This connects to circadian biology, melatonin suppression, and neuroscience, all while investigating something every teenager personally deals with and argues with their parents about. No equipment needed beyond a phone and a spreadsheet.
Biology
How Energy Drinks and Caffeine Affect Reaction Time and Heart Rate
The student would test whether common energy drinks, coffee, or caffeine pills measurably affect reaction time (using free online reaction time tests) and resting heart rate compared to a control. They'd design a self-study or recruit family members, track variables over multiple trials, and analyze whether the "boost" people feel is reflected in actual performance data. This connects to exercise physiology, neuroscience, and nutrition, topics that resonate with student athletes and anyone who has grabbed a Red Bull before a test. All you need is a phone, a free reaction time website, and some beverages.
Biology
Exploring the Association Between Sleep and Mental Health in Teenagers
This project invites students to examine how social and behavioral factors influence well-being. In this project, students can explore questions such as how time spent on social media, type of content consumed, or online interactions relate to stress, anxiety, or self-esteem in teenagers. Students will learn how to develop a clear research question, read and interpret scientific literature, and understand basic research methods such as surveys and observational studies. They will gather information through a literature review and may also design a simple, anonymous survey to explore patterns in social media use and mental health indicators. By the end of the project, students can produce a scientific research paper, a presentation, or a creative output such as an infographic or awareness campaign. This project helps students build skills in critical thinking, data interpretation, and science communication, while exploring a topic that is highly relevant to their daily lives.
Public Health, Neuroscience
How Does Social Media Use Impact Teen Mental Health?
My expertise is in public health, epidemiology, and mental health, with a focus on how social and behavioral factors influence well-being. In this project, students can explore questions such as how time spent on social media, type of content consumed, or online interactions relate to stress, anxiety, or self-esteem in teenagers. Students will learn how to develop a clear research question, read and interpret scientific literature, and understand basic research methods such as surveys and observational studies. They will gather information through a literature review and may also design a simple, anonymous survey to explore patterns in social media use and mental health indicators. By the end of the project, students can produce a scientific research paper, a presentation, or a creative output such as an infographic or awareness campaign. This project helps students build skills in critical thinking, data interpretation, and science communication, while exploring a topic that is highly relevant to their daily lives.
Public Health, Neuroscience
Naming Monumental Histories
There are monuments to the past seemingly everywhere we go, and buildings we traverse daily bear names of historical figures, but we rarely take the moment (or have the time) to explore the meaning behind that monument or name's origins. I'd love for you to choose a monument/memorial/name in a place that means something to you (somewhere you grew up, a place you visited, a destination you hope to see one day, a building at your school or in your town, etc.), and we can look into the history of that object or that name. This can tell us a lot about the legacies of the past that persist in the places we call home, for example, and any change that we want to make in the world has to proceed with a historical understanding of how we got here (over time and in a physical space). We could work on a podcast explaining the meaning behind such names or monuments, or we could propose a plaque, sign, or marker explaining the historical significance of a name or object.
Social Science, History
Morality of movement
This paper explores whether equal access to economic opportunities diminishes or eliminates the moral case for freedom of movement. Drawing on political philosophy, it examines competing theories of justice and liberal nationalism, to assess the moral foundations of mobility rights. The project considers whether improving conditions within states can substitute for the right to move across borders, or whether freedom of movement retains intrinsic moral value regardless of global inequality.
Statistics, Social Science
Build an AI Reading Coach
In this project, a student builds an AI tool that helps people understand and learn from what they read. For example, the tool could take an article or passage and then ask questions, explain difficult parts, check understanding, and guide the user to write a short response or free-style essay. The student would learn how to design helpful prompts, create an interactive learning experience, and think about how AI can support reading, writing, and critical thinking. The goal is to build something that does not just give answers, but helps users become stronger readers over time.
AI/ML, Math
Build Your Own AI Study Assistant
In this project, a student builds an AI tool that can help with studying in a specific subject, such as math, science, history, or reading. For example, the tool could answer questions, explain ideas in simpler language, summarize notes, create practice questions, or help students review mistakes. Through this project, the student learns how large language models work, how to give clear instructions to AI, how to organize information, and how to test whether the tool is actually helpful. The goal is to move beyond just using ChatGPT and start learning how to build a useful AI application for real people.
AI/ML, Math