Research is the lifeblood of human knowledge. It propels us forward, enabling us to discover new insights, learnings, and evidence to understand the world and humanity. As an ambitious high school student, you stand on the threshold of academic exploration. Conducting a research project will not only enrich your knowledge, but it will also help you stand out on college applications. Whether or not you've already decided on a future major, having a research topic that aligns with your interests can be very beneficial.

What makes a good research topic?

The following elements are crucial when choosing a research topic:

Interest-driven: choose a topic that you are genuinely interested in so that you will be more motivated to explore it in depth and complete your research. Don't choose a topic just for the sake of it - you will find the project difficult to complete and your disinterest will be reflected in the quality of your work.

Relevance: what is your project trying to achieve? For your research to be relevant, it needs to identify knowledge gaps and be significant. Your findings should complement the existing literature and help future researchers.

Originality: Try to find a novel angle or an under-researched question that will add to the uniqueness and appeal of your research. Choose a research topic that will help you develop new skills, expand your knowledge, and promote personal growth.

Feasibility: Choose a research topic that is practical and feasible, taking into account your resources and constraints, including time, money, technical equipment, and available data.

Moderate scope: The theme should be unambiguous, avoiding being too broad or vague, which helps to focus the research and develop the research plan. At the same time, the research topic should not be so narrow that it is difficult to find sufficient information and data, nor should it be so broad that it is difficult to study it in depth.

What to do once you have a research idea?

If you have targeted a research topic that tickles your fancy, it is not only closely related to your interests but also fits perfectly with the scope of your research and available resources. However, if you don't know where to start your research due to your lack of research experience, it would be best to find a mentor who can guide and support you in your research journey. This mentor may be an established researcher in academia, an experienced university professor, or a graduate or doctoral student who is climbing the academic ladder.

If you are looking for such a mentor, try the Embark Exploration Program! This program is like a bridge that connects the curious you with top scholars from around the world. Here, you will receive one-on-one professional guidance from experts every step of the way, from research design to thesis writing. What's even more exciting is that they'll also help you get your research published so that your voice can be heard by more people!

25 research topics for high school students

Biology research topics for high school students

1. the effects of hot weather on longevity

This topic uses nematodes as model organisms to first determine whether high temperatures shorten lifespan; secondly, conduct genetic screening of high-temperature regulatory pathways to determine the targets and genetic mechanisms by which high temperatures regulate lifespan; then feed nematodes beverage extracts such as tea, and coffee, and traditional Chinese medicine, and observe whether nematode lifespan shortening and alterations of regulatory targets are reversed; finally, determine the conservatism of the target genes with their human counterparts to determine whether human and Finally, the conservativeness of the target genes with their human homologs will be determined to determine whether human and nematode have similar regulatory pathways, and to further explore the molecular mechanism of the target genes in regulating learning memory.

2. Research on the anti-cancer mechanism of broccoli

In 2024, scientific research found that broccoli can prevent the risk of many types of cancer, but the mechanism is unknown. Hidradenitis elegans nematode has become a leading model for cancer-related genetics research because of its simple genetics, gene conservation, short lifespan, and ease of reproduction and manipulation. In this study, we used nematodes as model organisms to determine whether broccoli extracts regulate cancer-related pathways and the correlation between the intensity of regulation and the dose, and then determined whether broccoli's cancer-regulating pathways in humans are similar to those of nematodes by determining the conservativeness of the target genes and their human homologs.

3. Effects of Air Pollution on Cancer Generation

In this project, we first collect information to investigate the correlation between the intensity of air pollution and specific tumors in various regions; then, we use nematodes as model organisms to determine the role of specific pollutants in the regulation of tumor-related pathways; and finally, by determining the conservativeness of the target genes and human homologous genes, we will determine whether the air pollution's cancer regulatory pathways in humans are similar to those of nematodes.

4. Structural-state MRI-based study of brain development in adolescents with depression

This research project explores adolescents' psychological perceptions of satiety to different foods and their connection to food attributes. Through online surveys and laboratory tests, participants will experience specific foods and reflect on their appetitive responses through questionnaires, aiming to establish psychological satiety labels for the foods.

5. Structural-state MRI-based study of brain development in adolescents with depression

This project aims to encourage researchers to study the brain MRI imaging data of depressed patients from the perspective of adolescents, especially the structural state data, to explore the characteristics of the brain development of adolescent depression and the relationship with the structural development of the brain, and to provide a new scientific basis for the prevention and treatment of depression in adolescents.

6. Research on the relationship between food reward mechanism and obesity and related diseases

This study aims to explore the causal relationship between food reward mechanism and obesity and its related diseases. It will analyze in depth the influence of food rewards on individual food preferences through biomedical and psychological approaches, and how this process may lead to the development of obesity and related health problems.

Physics research topics for high school students

7. Sharpness Identification of Referenceless Images in Autofocus Systems

Distortion is inevitable during image acquisition. The purpose of this project is to explore the key sharpness discriminant function in refocusing algorithms, i.e., to visualize the sharpness of an image as a mathematical function, and to select the appropriate sharpness discriminant function for different situations.

8. Nanofluid Thermophysical Properties Research

From the smallest CPU chip to the largest thermal barrier coating on the surface of a spacecraft, the effect of heat transfer plays a crucial role in the performance of the material. This project is suitable for students interested in heat transfer, fluids, chemical engineering, applied physics, energetics, electronics, mechanics, engineering thermophysics and materials, and other related majors.

9.2D "Natural Evolution" in Mesh Structures

There are many macromolecular reticulations in living organisms, and we can simulate the effect of "natural forces" in the reticulations by computer. The effect of "natural forces" can only occur if the basic constituent particles are randomly distributed. We want to investigate this random process: what kind of random process can simulate nature, or how much randomness does nature need?

10. Physics on Ice - Figure Skating

Figure skating (FIGURE SKATING) is one of the ice sports. This topic is to analyze and study why the movements made by figure skaters make sense under physics, i.e., how to use the conservation of angular momentum, and analysis of rotational inertia, to study the physical beauty of figure skating from a physical point of view, while keeping the movements graceful.

Environmental science research topics for high school students

11. Coral Response to Global Warming

This project uses tropical corals as research objects to study the effects of ocean heat waves on coral growth by observing the changes in the number of Flushing Yellow Algae in corals under different seawater temperatures and different durations of higher water temperatures, to understand the response of corals to global warming.

12. Non-linear effects on El Niño phenomenon

This study is to investigate the influence of nonlinear terms on ENSO oscillations in a moderately complex air-sea coupling model and to further deepen the understanding of the influence of nonlinear effects on ENSO by linearizing the nonlinear terms and comparing the difference between the ENSO oscillations before and after the linearization.

13. Investigation of Pathogenic Bacterial Pollution in Urban Water Bodies and Health Risk Assessment

Urban water bodies are an important part of urban ecosystems. This study will clarify the degree of microbial contamination by determining and comparing the bacterial content of several typical water bodies in the city, to provide reference data and policy recommendations for the management of urban water pollution.

14. Impact of Carbon Labeling on Consumer Behavior

To achieve peak carbon by 2030, this project collects data based on questionnaires through regression analysis to analyze the impact of carbon labeling on different types of products and products with different prices. The project explores and analyzes the contribution of carbon labeling to the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality through econometric methods, and provides suggestions for reducing carbon emissions.

15. Influence of warming effect on organic matter mineralization in rice soils of different horizons

This project aims to investigate the effect of warming on organic matter mineralization microbial community composition and metabolic pathways in soils of different carbonaceous quality, and whether there are differences in the temperature sensitivity of SOM mineralization in soils of different horizons.

Psychology research topics for high school students

\16. artificial intelligence chatbots and happiness

This course begins with an overview of the development of AI-based conversational agents over the past five to ten years. At the end of the course, students will complete an independent project on AI chatbots and happiness. Given the novelty of this project, there is a high chance that the student project will be published in arxiv, conference proceedings, and journals.

17. the catalyst for Resilience: revealing adolescent mental health trajectories through longitudinal Analysis

In addition to exploring the demographic and socioeconomic factors that influence adolescent mental health, this project delves into the complex interactions between various environmental, family, and individual factors over time. To ensure transparency and reproducibility, we followed rigorous data cleaning and analysis protocols and used the versatile R programming language, thus enhancing the reliability and validity of our findings.

18. A study of the effects of social media on appearance anxiety in high school girls: influencing factors and intervention strategies

This study focuses on the mechanisms and consequences of social media's influence on appearance anxiety among 14- to 18-year-old high school girls. Using a broad sample across different socio-economic backgrounds, it aims to deeply analyze the relationship between social media usage patterns, types of content exposed, and appearance anxiety.

19. Exploring the bidirectional relationship between sleep quality and stress: a biopsychosocial study

This research proposal aims to explore the subtle relationship between sleep quality and stress, utilizing both subjective and objective measures. By examining the association between sleep quality and stress, this study has important implications for understanding the bidirectional role of these factors in influencing an individual's health and well-being.

Chemistry research topics for high school students

20. Computational Thermodynamics and Algorithmic Development in Biotechnology

This project focuses on how to design algorithms to optimize problems and solve them for use in pharmaceutical biotechnology through the fundamentals of mathematics and thermodynamics. The algorithms are developed using Python and Matlab and simulations and regressions are performed. Then find the most important algorithms in biopharmaceutical development by predicting the results and finally optimize the capacity of the pharmaceutical company by applying the results through predictive modeling.

Computer Science research Topics for High School Students

21. Deep Learning-Based Segmentation of Multimodal MRI Brain Tumor Images

In this course, we will learn the basics of Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Image Recognition, and Detection. We will also use the deep learning library Pytorch to implement deep neural networks and complete the object detection, through hands-on implementation of their neural network model for digital intelligent transportation cases.

22. Artificial Intelligence - Education Technology

In this project, we can use communication and observation with teachers and students (possible methods such as designing questionnaires, distributing and collecting questionnaires, and analyzing the acquired data or other ways) to study how educational technologies and AI systems can help them in their lives, what are the shortcomings and challenges and deficiencies in their use of the systems, and to understand how these educational technologies can be better designed, to better help teachers and students in their teaching and learning. Thereby better-helping teachers and students in their teaching and learning process.

23. Impact of Dimensionality Reduction Techniques on Image Recognition

A common bottleneck of deep learning in practical applications is facing limited data resources. In this project, we will try to study the impact of image dimensionality reduction techniques on the learning efficiency of limited datasets based on open-source data and using deep learning tools.

24. Internet + Public Welfare

What is the significance of the combination of the Internet and public welfare for the development of public welfare in China? What are the typical models of Internet welfare in China? How to realize the openness and transparency of public welfare in the era of the Internet + public welfare? In this project, we will use the issues you are interested in as an entry point to study the infinite possibilities of the Internet + public welfare.

25. Digital Intelligent Transportation Technology Based on Artificial Intelligence-Neural Network Computer Vision

This topic covers the fundamentals of deep learning, computer vision, Pytorch programming, and selected cutting-edge research papers. There will be several programming assignments, as well as a final course project.

If you are planning to take the plunge into an independent study, then the Embark is worth your consideration. This is a background-enhancing educational institution that focuses on customized research training for young people, and the core team members are all master's and doctoral graduates of prestigious American universities. Exploration Programs are online short courses facilitated by top-tier mentors, allowing you to collaborate with like-minded peers who share your enthusiasm.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please feel free to contact us. we will be happy to assist you and even explore possible collaboration opportunities.

Also, check out the Prestigious STEM Competitions and Liberal Arts and PBL Contest, they are some international competitions suitable for high school students to participate in.

Participating in these international competitions can also make you stand out when applying for college.

We believe that every potential student should have the opportunity to showcase their talents, and the Embark Exploration Program is the bridge to make that happen. Join us to broaden your research path and put your academic dreams within reach.