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.

Check out some projects

Intro to Decision Making Under Uncertainty

Decision making is the process of selecting the most appropriate action to take in a given state. Humans do this naturally, but for computers or robots, humans must write the programs that lead to their decisions. In this project, we will first learn to model a toy decision problem (such as a robot in a 2D grid-world, or which move to play in a game of chance), how to represent it in code, and then how to solve it. If time allows, you can then come up with your own decision making problem to solve!

Physics, Arts, Math, AI/ML

Tomer

Welcome to my Ted Talk

Identify a social issue, a cultural phenomenon, an education policy, or come up with your own topic and learn to present like an expert Ted Talker. You'll not only research something you are passionate about but you'll learn important public speaking skills for life.

Arts, History, Languages, Social Science

Rose

Music evolution through the decades: Analyzing the history of your favorite music genre

Students could pick their favorite genre of music, for example Hip-Hop, Jazz, Rap, RnB, etc., and learn about the history of this genre, including key artists who influenced the genre, cities where the genre was developed, and different styles and phases the genre went through. Students could analyze different societal factors, like political climate, racial tension and community structures, that impacted music production during each time period. The student would have the opportunity to pick the genre, decide what elements of the genre to focus on analyzing, and put their research together in a unique artistic representation (website, blog, social media account, collage).

Psychology, Arts, History, Literature, Social Science, Organizational Leadership

Mimi

Quantitative Legal Analysis

Let's use data analysis and visualization to explore a legal issue of your choice!

Biology, Arts, Chemistry

Gina

Music Theory Analysis Project

If you're interested in learning about the in's and out's of music, a project on music theory is the way to go! In an introductory project to music theory, we would spend the first few sessions introducing key concepts and work toward a goal of analyzing a favorite song or creating your own short compositions.

Music, Psychology, Arts, Social Science, Cognitive

Natalie

Architectural (Un)Modeling

This project looks at the wide availability of 3D modeling and scanning software, questioning how we can use digital images and objects as modes of storytelling.

Arts

Ruth Blair

Design a Treatment Intervention

Given my background in delivering and designing interventions for clinical research projects, I could help students to develop psychoeducational materials, a workshop, a brochure, or a program of some sort that would hypothetically be given to a sample of participants as a treatment for a psychological and/or behavioral problem.

Psychology, Arts, Languages

Caitlin

Studying Yoga as A Pathway for Black Queer Women's Sexual Wellness

This project will interview Black queer women with varying amounts of yoga experience and determining how practicing yoga benefits their sexual wellness and ability to have pleasurable sex. Secondary questions will ask how yoga benefits this population's mental health.

Psychology, Arts, Business

Natalie

Investigating the theatrical economy of Early Modern London

Background: Theater blossomed in Early Modern London, leading to many of the plays and production techniques that are most famous today. Networks of actors, writers, producers, patrons, and craftspeople collaborated to build a new industry around an established medium. What made this period and city so unique? How were these economic forces reflected in the plays themselves? Questions like these guide academics, who tend to use literature as a tool to understand broader cultural and historical themes. Process: After solidifying your background knowledge, it will be important to narrow your focus to a particular aspect of this period's drama, whether that is a specific play, a theater, or even a production company. Looking for sources in academic journals, literary texts, and primary sources like historical documents will lead you to unexpected connections and a growing clarity about your specific argument. Finally, understanding the broader critical context of how this period has been discussed will allow you to position your argument to make it more unique and effective. Knowledge and skills: Over the course of this project, you will become familiar with the most common skills for humanities research: finding and synthesizing sources, situating your argument in its critical context, digital archival work, close reading, outlining, and explaining the relevance of your results. Outcomes: Literary analysis tends to fit best in essay form, but there are lots of supplemental ways that you can display your findings. Trendy fields like the Digital Humanities and New Theater Studies have placed a great emphasis on websites and even creative writing as a way to enhance an academic argument. We'll review some examples of what's being done currently and look a tools you can use to share your work online in an interactive form.

Arts, History, Languages, Social Science

Henry

Race and Gender in Young Adult Literature

This study compares issues of gender and/or race in contemporary young adult literature. The researcher chooses three popular YA books and examines the ways in which the author addresses topics such as gender, racial identity, and/or social interactions revolving around race. The researcher can pose the following questions as they interrogate the texts: 1. How does the author present a unique perspective or viewpoint regarding race or gender? 2. To what extent does the author challenge or reinforce conventional thinking around race and gender? 3. To what extent is the author’s work a response to an existing text? 4. To what extent does the author deliver a message about these topics? 5. To what extent is that message implicit or explicit? 6. Considering that the author is most likely an adult, how accurate is their depiction of issues around gender and/or race? (The researcher would probably insert their own experiences and observations about these topics in their own lives.) This study can also target children’s books or young adult books from different decades. For example, one could compare “The Indian in the Cupboard” (1980) by Lynne Reid Banks to “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (2007) by Sherman Alexie.

Arts, Literature

Jeanne

Becoming a data detective

Choose a factual from a news article, website, or report and investigate it. The fact should not be based on original information (i.e. it should be reused or cited). Trace the fact back to its original source. Demonstrate how it was estimated/measured/created and evaluate the appropriateness of the fact for its present use. Show the steps taken to reconfigure the fact for its current use and comment on the appropriateness of these changes. Conclude with an evaluation of any discrepancies between the final factual claim and the original fact. In this process you will develop the skills to investigate statements that are often assumed as fact. This project will arm you with valuable critical thinking and researching skills.

Arts, Languages, Business

Isabella

Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Future of Design

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the world we live in, and its impact on various industries is becoming increasingly apparent. One industry that is undergoing significant changes is design, both physical and digital. With AI tools and techniques, designers can automate tasks, generate new ideas, and make better-informed decisions. However, the role of designers in the age of AI is not clear, and many questions remain unanswered. This research project aims to explore the impact of AI on the future of design and the implications it has for designers.

Arts, Business

Jason

Synthesis Paper

In this project, you would choose 2-3 articles on a topic of your choice to study and compare. This paper would explain, compare, contrast, and offer your conclusion on the different approaches. You will develop your professional and scientific writing skills, research skills, as well as understanding and finding reliable sources. Topics could be anything from "Organic vs. Artificial heart valves" to "How the Grimm's Fairytales Changed Over Time".

Biology, Arts, Photography, Chemistry, Math

Gillian

Build a DIY AFM

I should start off by saying this porject would cost money, presumably around $1500. It is also fairly ambitious and would require a decent amount of time, which is why I am listing it as a second project idea. If a student is interested in this and has experience with electronics, I would be willing to apply for funding from external sources for this. This project has been done by other high school students before. Materials for the low cost AFM are: 1. OPU disassembled from a DVD ROM 2. Piezo speakers 3. Signal connector 4. Precision screws 5. Circuit boards 6. AFM probes The tools needed are: 1. A soldering iron 2. Solder 3. Quick-dry adhesive 4. Epoxy 5. Magnets 6. Screw driver. For more information I've included the following sources: 1. https://www.nanoandmore.com/what-is-atomic-force-microscopy 2. Grey, F. Creativity unleashed. Nature Nanotech 10, 480 (2015). https://doi-org.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/10.1038/nnano.2015.95 3. https://www.instructables.com/A-Low-Cost-Atomic-Force-Microscope-%E4%BD%8E%E6%88%90%E6%9C%AC%E5%8E%9F%E5%AD%90%E5%8A%9B%E9%A1%AF%E5%BE%AE%E9%8F%A1/

Physics, Arts, Engineering, Computer Science

Tatiana

Prevalence of anxiety in a high school population

My field of expertise involves mental health, mentorship, and internal medicine and I am proficient in SPSS. Students will gain knowledge of recruiting participants, utilizing accredited surveys, collecting survey data using qualtrics and excel, analyzing the data using excel and/or SPSS, and writing a manuscript. This will include reaching out to high schools to obtain consent to spread the survey, gathering answers from high school students anonymously, and exporting it from qualtrics to excel, replacing answers with numeric symbols to compute to SPSS. The potential student outcomes may include writing a scientific research paper, creating a survey, and/or creating an oral or poster presentation.

Biology, Psychology, Arts, Languages, Chemistry

Valerie

Cracking a Case Study

Graphic design involves a lot of creative leaps from start to finish, but it's not just the final draft that matters - clients and employers want to see your thinking throughout the process. This project starts with a finished design and asks you to retrace your steps, writing out your design reasoning, branding choices, visual research inspirations, accessibility audits, and alternate options. How can you craft a narrative that supports your work?

Arts, History

Patrick

Self-Expression Through Artistic Means

Painting, drawing, collage, sewing, writing, weaving, crochet, rug making, furniture painting, and cooking all all things I love to do. How do and how can we express ourselves through artistic means.

Arts, History, Fashion

Desira

Sustainability strategy: business plan

Choose a company sector of your choice (fashion, food, entertainment,...others) and identify direct actions the company can take to increase its environmental sustainability. Comment on actions the company is currently taking (if they are taking any actions) and evaluate the effectiveness of their sustainability strategy. Provide new ideas to improve the company's sustinability, drawing on academic journal articles and high quality sources. This process will include a literature review and developing a research outline. Results can be presented as a paper or in the form of a presentation.

Arts, Languages, Business

Isabella

"History is Written by Victors"

Choose one event in history that you are interested in. Research three different memorials, monuments, or museums dedicated to this event. This is a good opportunity to examine bias in historical records and public memory—what gets remembered and what is lost over time? What is important to people now versus what was important to people in the past? Who is history written for?

Arts, History, Literature, Creative Writing, Social Science

Rebecca

Documenting past society through a single object

For this project, the student would visit a local museum and choose one object that is on display (e.g. a tool, art piece). Beginning with the museum archives, the student will document basic facts on the object: date, location of origin, description of object (size, color, shape, basic function), and how the object came to the museum. Using the local library and online sources, the student would carry out a deeper history on the object to understand its cultural context and life history. The student will situate this object within the broader society and culture at the time of its use. As a final outcome of the project, the student will provide their new research to the museum to keep in the museum's archives or to add to the museum display. Furthermore, the student could publish their results in a school or local paper or journal. This project could also be expanded into a larger project on the site or environment of the object's origin or on other associated objects to further reconstruct the culture and society in question.

Arts, Languages, Environmental Science

Amanda