Conducting research projects as a high school student can open up a world of intellectual curiosity and discovery.

Immersing yourself in original research allows you to explore questions that truly matter to you, push the boundaries of your knowledge, and develop vital skills for academic and career success.

It turns the pursuit of knowledge into more than just an assignment or a grade.

By taking the initiative to investigate a topic in-depth, you'll hone your critical thinking abilities, problem-solving creativity, communication proficiency, and passion for lifelong learning.

Having this type of research experience as a high schooler can be transformative

- fueling your scholarly interests, shaping future pursuits, and giving you a unique competitive edge.

By embracing these challenges you will be able to prepare yourself to make a meaningful impact.

However, one of the biggest obstacles you will face is figuring out what research topic to pursue in the first place.

It must have not been done before, be feasible to be explored as a high schooler without extensive training in the subject, and have the potential to be novel and important enough to eventually be published in a real research journal.

While it won't be feasible to give you ideas, I hope that this blog post helps equip you with the tools to be able to do so yourself Brainstorming You can essentially come up with any idea you want, obeying the following constraints: You must be able to do the work required to implement your idea (knowledge is not too specialized and cost is low) Your idea is novel Your idea helps advance the field of research It is actually very hard to brainstorm something that fulfills all of these three points.

This is because many ideas that you come up with may have been done before.

Even if you come up with something new, since you are not bombarded by news in the field the same way that researchers are, it is hard to think of something that other people will value.

Additionally, you are very time and resource constrained as a high school student.

You should consider that most great research is not done alone, and try talking to researchers as a way of brainstorming.

Once you have a field of interest and a broad idea of things you would like in investigate, read on to learn how you can do this.

Collaboration is key Identify Potential Mentors Look for teachers, professors, or subject matter experts at your school or local colleges/universities.

Reach out to those who specialize in areas related to your research interests and inquire if they'd be willing to provide guidance as a mentor.

Professors are often actively involved in research themselves and may appreciate the opportunity to mentor a motivated student.

Most are focused on helping undergraduates at their school over random high schoolers, but some may be willing to help, especially if you contact many people.

This is also why I would advise not specializing too much, since your potential group of collaborators will get a lot smaller and you may find you enjoy something else entirely.

I wrote a detailed guide on the mechanics of crafting and sending cold emails so that you can implement this as soon as possible. https://rishabacademy. com/2024/03/06/how-to-cold-email-as-a-high-school-student Explain Your Goals When you connect with a potential mentor, clearly communicate your desire to pursue a high school research project.

Outline the general topics or disciplines you're interested in exploring.

Ask for their insights into potential areas that need further study or innovative approaches they'd recommend based on their expertise.

Mentors can help identify knowledge gaps ripe for investigation, since they are always looking for these gaps to do their own research.

Discuss Your Ideas Once you've developed some initial research ideas, schedule time to run them by your mentor.

They can provide critical feedback on whether your idea is novel, impactful, and viable given your resources and skills as a high school student.

They can poke holes in your rationale, suggest ways to adjust the scope, and push you to refine your ideas into a clear research question.

Seek Guidance In addition to evaluating your ideas, a mentor can coach you through the entire research process from ideation to execution to presentation.

They can connect you with helpful resources, recommend effective methodologies, troubleshoot any obstacles you encounter, and ensure you're adhering to ethical research protocols.

Having an expert guide can elevate the quality and significance of your work.

Your mentor will know important information that you probably won't, such as which journals you should target and whether your idea is publishable.

Make It Official Inquire if there are any formal mentor/mentee program opportunities available through your school, local universities, student organizations or companies.

These structured programs have established oversight and expectations to foster a productive mentoring relationship.

Alternatively, you may want to have an informal mentorship but clarifying time commitments, meeting schedules, and responsibilities.

Conclusions Once you find a mentor and do these steps you should be at a point where they will be able to guide you through the publication process.

If you hope to do so, you will likely have a paper with you, the mentor, and any other collaborators, all as co-authors.

Hopefully, you enjoy the process, start developing a network of researchers, and gain a strong asset for applications to colleges and scholarships.

Given that you are interested in doing research, I would recommend that you learn about options through Rishab’s Ultimate STEM Student Guide, which is available to anyone completely for free.

It has 50+ competitions for you to consider, as well as research opportunities, a guide to internships, and cold email templates.