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
A review on high-energy / high-power lasers across the globe
With so many petawatt class lasers popping up in Europe, Asia, and here in the United States, one might wonder what types of experiments might be performed at each of these laser facilities. This project will dive into the capabilities of each laser system as well as the types of experiments that can be performed using such a system.
Physics, Engineering
Heat Map Creation Using Public Data Sets
This project involves collecting public available data files, shape files and developing maps depicting socio-economic factors. This can be done at a high level and the use of different normalization methods (using population/ boundary area) to yield different strategic results.
Physics, Engineering, Math, Creative Writing
Exploring the applications of spintronics technology
In this project, students would explore real-life applications of spintronics technology, a cutting edge and rapidly evolving field of research. By looking into fundamental research that has happened throughout the past years as well as reading into recent papers that have been published, students can give an overview of the overall topic, as well as potentially propose their own ideas or applications.
Ethics, Physics, Arts, Engineering, Literature
Medical Device Development
I have experience working with engineers and industry and medical professionals in developing effective medical devices that address a clinical need. In this project, you will learn how to navigate the engineering design process from establishing user needs through research and user interviews to creating a minimal viable product through electronic design and prototyping. Together, we will work on personal and technical skills you need to effectively identify and addressing gaps in current medical solutions.
Biology, Physics, Engineering, Math
Simulation of Gravitational Lensing
Modern physics research is very computationally heavy, from running simulations to analysis of big data. A great place to start is with some basic coding of physical phenomena, either to do a calculation or a simple simulation. This project would start with learning the basics of python and then applying that to an interesting physics problem. For example we could investigate how we can observe black holes with gravitational lensing. We could then calculate what telescopes would observe in different cases.
Physics, Computer Science, Math
Interactive Shockwave Calculator
When an aircraft is moving at supersonic speeds (i.e., moving faster than the speed of sound), a shockwave forms in front of the aircraft, producing a sonic boom. This shockwave causes a lot of heating, a rise in pressure, and energy to be lost. Because of this, it is important to know how the temperature and pressure rise. This project would be to create a simple, interactive calculator to see how much the pressure and temperature change depending on the speed of your aircraft, and also depending on which atmosphere you are flying in, such as Earth, Mars, or more.
Physics, Engineering
Is "scientific research" relevant to what we use in our daily lives?
This would be a research paper looking at how science is used in our communities. How are new scientific findings disseminated to the public? What is the relationship between public use and public funding for science. Should scientific data be made fully transparent? (ie, should scientists be required to disclose all their data in an experiment?)
Physics, Arts, Engineering, Computer Science
Simulating a Quantum Computer
It has been said that we are in the midst of a "second quantum revolution" - one in which we harness the principles of quantum mechanics to create computing devices that are (literally) exponentially better than the computers we have at home today. Some of the simplest, and most elegant, examples of the power of quantum computing are algorithms like that of Grover for searching and that of Shor for factoring large numbers. In this project, you will learn the basic principles of quantum computing, including the quantum mechanics that it relies on. You will then implement computer programs to simulate the action of a quantum computer running some simple quantum algorithms (such as Shor's algorithm mentioned before). Time permitting, we may review more sophisticated algorithms and techniques from quantum computing (such as error correction), and/or some cutting edge algorithms from the literature.
Physics, AI/ML
All About Rubber: An in-depth study of the chemical and mechanical properties of elastomers
Polymers are some of the most relevant and impactful materials for everyday life, and the basis of all polymer science lies in understanding the structure-property relationships present in these macromolecules. In this project, you will gain a better understanding of the chemical and mechanical properties of rubber, an extremely familiar yet remarkably unique polymeric material. Through either hands-on experimentation or an in-depth literature review, you will research the chemical structure of rubber in order to understand the effect of temperature and vulcanization on its mechanical behavior. By the end of the project, you will be able to explain why rubber is classified as a liquid instead of a solid, why it contracts when it's heated, and how the addition of nanofillers makes it a material suitable for car tires. You will produce a scientific research paper based on your findings and learn how to refine your analytical abilities and technical writing skills.
Physics, Engineering, Chemistry
Stellar Spectrum Analyzer
Objective: The aim of this project is to create a simple tool using Python that can analyze the colors in the light emitted by stars to determine their temperature, composition, and potential life stage. Research & Data Collection: Start by collecting data on various stars. This can be done by using online databases such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Look for star spectra or data related to the colors/wavelengths of light emitted by stars. Coding the Analyzer: Using Python, write a program that can: * Accept input data related to a star's spectrum. * Analyze the data to determine key characteristics, like dominant color/wavelength and estimated temperature. Visualization: Incorporate a plotting library like matplotlib in Python to visualize the star's spectrum, highlighting key areas or colors that indicate specific elements or temperature ranges. Interpretation & Conclusion: After analyzing a variety of stars, use the tool to: * Classify stars based on their temperature. * Make educated guesses about a star's life stage based on its temperature and composition (e.g., main sequence, red giant, white dwarf).
Physics, Computer Science, Math
Mountains from Another Dimension
Mountain ranges tend to have "fractal" surfaces; you can sometimes see these "finger-like" ridge lines splitting away from a peak and descending down. Fractals can famously have dimensions in between the usual 2 or 3 dimensions we are used to. Could someone use publicly available elevation data to measure the "fractal dimension" of a mountain range? Does the fractal dimension tell us something about the topography or geology of the mountain range?
Biology, Physics
Haptic Feedback Design for a Robotic System
A major component of integrating robotic systems with human controllers is giving humans the proper feedback so that they can feel what is happening with the system. In this project, we would discuss the development of a robotic system with the proper sensing technology to be able to feed that back to a user. This project has numerous possibilities of exploration, including researching the frequency and speeds at which different parts of your body are able to process feedback and the resolution for different types feedback your body has.
Physics, Math, AI/ML
The Mysterious Lifetime of the Neutron
One of the curious mysteries in particle physics is that different experiments have conflicting results on how long it takes for neutrons, one of the building blocks of the atom, to decay. One way we can probe the so-called "neutron lifetime" is by studying the formation of atoms in the very early universe. At just one second after the Big Bang, the nuclei of elements like hydrogen, helium, and lithium began to form from protons and neutrons. Using our knowledge of both particle and astrophysics, we can calculate exactly how much hydrogen, helium, etc. we expect to be produced in this process. Neutrons, and their lifetime, are an important piece of this calculation. By comparing the results of this calculation with astrophysical data, we can understand what the neutron lifetime should be according to our theory. This project would be done using my recently published simulation code, PRyMordial. The code is written in python so this project would provide you with an opportunity to get some python coding practice. In addition, the project spans the gap between particle and astrophysics and would provide learning opportunities in both areas of the field. The outcome of this project would depend on your interests. It could be anything from producing relevant plots and figures to writing a full blown scientific research paper. Regardless, my top priority will be to teach you some cool physics and help you through any road bumps you encounter along the way! :)
Physics
Band Structure of Materials
A material's band structure tells us about its properties, for example whether it will be conducting or insulating. It is one of the most important pieces of information to a condensed matter physicist. In this project, you will develop a program to calculate the band structure of a material and derive information from it.
Physics
Knot Theory and Topology
Knot theory is a branch of mathematics that studies knots. Knots are pieces of string which can be wrapped into complicated shapes and whose ends are then fused together. There is a rich mathematical structure involving knots. It turns out that you cannot deform any particular knot into another knot (some knots are permanently tangled) - this is called a "topological obstruction." We would learn about topology in the context of knot theory and learn a lot about these very fundamental objects. No formal knowledge of math is required to study knot theory (not even algebra), but the subject is very rich and a good introduction to formal mathematics.
Physics, Math
Machine Learning Project
We can choose a publicly available dataset and use machine learning algorithms to better analyze and make predictions on the data; regression models, neural networks, random forest, etc. This dataset can be from science, stock, or if the student has a particular area of interest, then we can choose a dataset that the student is interested in.
Physics, Chemistry, Math
Airport Infrastructure Requirements for Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) are drop-in fuels produced from non-petroleum sources and are blended with petroleum-based fuels for use in airplanes. SAFs have the potential to significantly reduce emissions from air transportation which make up 12% of all transportation emissions but introduce new challenges and infrastructure requirements resulting from safety, storage, blending, and delivery to airports. There are many ideas to explore here but one could be a comparative study of existing and potential new delivery methods and their challenges from a safety perspective, land footprint, blending etc.
Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Math
Design and Testing of 3D-Printed Propeller
Additive manufacturing has come a long way, specifically in the hobbyist market. Is it possible to manufacture an aircraft propellor? in this project we will explore the aerodynamics behind propellor forces and use them to design a 3d-printed propellor. Next, experiments will be performed to determine how useful this prototype can be.
Physics, Computer Science, 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
Foundations
I can provide guidance to a student look to learn about the fundamentals of high energy physics. The student will read texts and papers related to important discoveries in particle physics, various kinds of experiments for particle detection, and the Standard Model. The student should convey their learning by giving talks (something we particle physicists in large experiments do quite a bit!) on various topics which they have learned.
Physics
