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
Literature Review of Recent Work in Tiling Theory
Tiling theory is a fascinating field of mathematics with applications to DNA computing. Problems essentially relate to which pictures can be created by jigsaw puzzle pieces which can connect in different ways. This field is moving fast, and a lot of interesting work is being done, but a lot of loose ends are left behind that need to be tied up, and a lot of existing work needs to be made more accessible. This project would start with a crash course on complexity theory and methods in theoretical computer science, and then move into reading primary literature in tiling theory and compiling that work into a literature review describing current methods of computing with DNA.
Computer Science, Economics, Math
Creating an mRNA vaccine
Have you ever wondered how they made the COVID-19 vaccine? Explore virology, viruses, and vaccines to develop your own vaccine to a virus of interest.
Chemistry, Math
Why does Bach sound like Bach?
We revere master composers like Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart but their monumental works were not just a product of genius inspiration. Rather a lost tradition of counterpoint pedagogy deserves a good deal of credit for giving classical music its characteristic sound and polish. We will put aside traditional (and unhelpful!) notions of harmony and approach counterpoint the way the great composers did. By the end of this project, you will be able to harmonize bass lines just by looking at them, write simple 3-voice fugues, and apply these skills directly to improvising on your instrument. The excitement of rediscovering the ingenuity of this old tradition comes from realizing just how useful it is for a practicing musician.
Music, Math, AI/ML
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
Robotic Arm/ Hand
Using a microcontroller and servos we can build a tension system that simulates a human arm. We can design several ways to actuate this tension system either with a physical controller(i.e some potentiometers or physical strength) or through software (via a website or GUI). Prerequisites or Learn quickly: Coding, Some Electronic Circuit, Intro Physics Nice to Knows: Intro Physics and Cad
Physics, Math
Visualizing Density Gradients with Schlieren Photography
Density gradients that are invisible to the naked eye exist all around us. They scale all the way from shock waves coming off supersonic jets to the breath coming out of out mouths. Construct an experimental Schlieren setup to visualize and image this otherwise hidden phenomenon.
Physics, Engineering, Math
Can you always verify whether a Geometric Mean of a finite collection of numbers equals to one of them?
Constructive Real Numbers CRNs were introduced by the founder of Computer Science Alan Turing. Essentially a CRN is a computer generated sequence of rational numbers about which you know how fast it converges. Constructive Mathematics was developed in two schools founded by Bishop in the USA and by Markov and Shanin in Russia. You are give a finite set of numbers. The easy part of the project is to show that when the numbers are rational it is easy to create an algorithm that verifies if the geometric mean of these numbers equals to one of them. The challenging part is to show that such an algorithm does not exist in general when the numbers are CRNs.
Economics, Quantitative, Math
Unconventional Monetary Policy and the Missing Inflation
Beginning in 2008, central banks have engaged in several large-scale asset purchasing programs (LSAP). Under these programs, central banks purchased trillions of dollars worth of assets from banks. The quantity theory of money states (simply) that if the quantity of money were to double then the price level should also double. Until 2021, there was no significant inflation in the United States. Even after 2021, many economists suggest that LSAPs put relatively little inflationary pressure on prices. Can we find the missing inflation or is the quantity theory of money flawed?
Economics, Math, Business, Statistics
Machine Learning for Problem Solving
In this project, the student and I will come up with an interesting and challenging problem in the world that can be solved using a predictive machine learning model. We will research different datasets that would be used to build our model. Examples: 1) use time-series weather data to help predict how global warming will affect a certain town, 2) use medical data to predict the likelihood of a disease developing in a certain demographic, 3) use news headlines of the past to predict the outcome of the next election, etc. I will welcome suggestions made by the student and will urge the student to think independently on what topic interests them.
Computer Science, Math
Brewing perfect espresso using machine learning tools
Brewing great espresso is not an easy task. Multiple components are involved from Physics of fluids to Kitchen Science that one experiences every day. In this project, we aim to tackle the problem of brewing the perfect espresso with a more holistic approach. In particular, we will develop machine learning models on the brewing data with features varying from coffee weight to extracted volume. A significant part of the part will involve some fun experiments in which students can explore the parameter space in her kitchen. This is a beginner-level project.
Physics, Math, AI/ML
Data science for fairness and equity
Choose any topic that you're interested in (healthcare, education, environment, etc.) and a dataset. We'll analyze the data together to explore whether disparities exist in the treatment of or impact on certain demographic groups. These types of findings will help give us insight into potential considerations that policymakers need to keep in mind when making decisions moving forwards.
Computer Science, Math
Game Time!
Through Greenfoot, create a game with a topic and theme of your choice that conveys a story that can be used to educate others. Some previous coding experience is preferred but it does not to have to be with Greenfoot specifically. We will be able to publish the game on Greenfoot upon project completion.
Computer Science, Math, Public Health, Statistics
Basic Game AI for Chess, Snake, Blackjack, etc.
This is an intermediate reinforcement learning project involving teaching an AI to win at simple games. There is a lot of fascinating work out there that's been done in this field, and the nice thing is you get to pick exactly how complex you want this project to be. Requires familiarity with: - Game programming - Any programming language - Basic AI structure
Computer Science, Math, AI/ML
Review of Quantum Advantage for LISQ Applications
Due to recent technological advances the paradigm of noisy intermediate scale quantum computing (NISQ) is being abandoned in favor of a regime which focuses on small numbers of logically protected qubits. There has been work on NISQ quantum advantage and reviews of its achievability, but it would be interesting to look at the classes of algorithms where there would be a quantum advantage (simulations of materials, shor's algorithm, etc.) and see which of these might realistically be attainable with a few hundred logical qubits using simulations or a theoretical analysis - or at least try to make a strong case, if hard evidence is difficult to come by. A review paper on this subject could be publishable.
Physics, Computer Science, Math
Choose your own adventure story!
"You are in a dark room and you hear a knock at the door" "what do you want to do?" 1) open door 2) explore the room In this project, you will have the full creative freedom to build a choose your own story adventure game with as many twists and turns your heart desires! This project would teach you the basic principles of programming, such as how loops and functions work!
Computer Science, Math, Statistics
Designing a Hydroponics System
In this project, you will research and choose the type of hydroponics system (aquaponics, aeroponics, traditional, etc) that is the best fit for the environment and circumstances of your choosing. You will determine the constraints and calculate flow rates, timing, nutrition, and discover the best types of plants to grow that will give you a certain yield. With your calculations you can design the system in a 3D modelling platform like AutoCAD, SolidWorks, or NX (and maybe even build it for your home!). Create a system that can provide food for communities year-round!
Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, Math, Organizational Leadership
What is dark matter?
Dark matter is one of the most interesting mysteries in physics right now. We don’t know what it is! In this project, we will investigate the current evidence for why we know dark matter exists and then do a literature review of current theories of dark matter. This project would teach research skills and cover the fundamentals of particle physics!
Physics, Computer Science, Math
Statistic part of religions.
Since I have been growing up in one small country where people with different religions sems to live together. Schools where able to accept different cultures and religions. Inside a small country we have different religions, inside those religions we have different genders and different ages. In those ages we can find what each stage believes more. We can find how many of them are openminded and how many are old mindset. We can ask them to learn how many of them approve to have a relationship with other religions. We can see that statistic and numbers are part of religions as well as part of math.
Economics, Math, Finance, Statistics
Knot theory
A knot is simply a closed loop of string. You'll learn about: How to represent knots on a page. How knots can be combined, and how to find knots that can't be created by combining other knots. Techniques for determining whether or not two knots are distinct, in the sense that neither can be deformed to match the other. Related objects such as links and braids. Applications of knots in physical sciences.
Quantitative, Math
Scaling Optimizations Based on Approximations
The goal of this project is to explore how to better optimize compilers while sacrificing some precision, but on a sliding scale. Specifically, students would learn about compiler optimizations and how to develop approximate optimizations before expanding on this idea for a user-defined precision metric.
Computer Science, Math, Game Design
