Finding Topics and Research Ideas: Links to Local Universities and Other Resources
The most difficult part of high school research is finding doable projects for students. One good approach to collecting ideas is to see what local research is underway and to talk with local experts, who usually have good suggestions for projects. Below are links to local university departments, and typically professors have descriptions of their research as well as publication lists. Also, links to the project titles of Intel Semifinalists are provided, as well as links to some research institutes which are loaded with information, articles, expert contact information and ideas.
Local University Links:
Former High School Research Students
Northwestern University:
Biology http://www.wcas.northwestern.edu/biosci/
Chemistry http://www.chem.northwestern.edu/
Physics http://www.physics.northwestern.edu/
Mathematics http://www.math.northwestern.edu/
Engineering http://www.mccormick.northwestern.edu/departments/
Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics http://www.esam.northwestern.edu/
Astronomy and Astrophysics http://www.astro.northwestern.edu/
Geology http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/
Chicago State University:
Biological Sciences http://www.csu.edu/BiologicalSciences/
Chemistry and Physics http://www.csu.edu/ChemistryAndPhysics/
Mathematics and Computer Science http://macs.csu.edu/
DePaul
Biology http://condor.depaul.edu/~biology/ugrad/programs.html
Chemistry http://condor.depaul.edu/~alchemy/
Physics http://condor.depaul.edu/~physics/
Math/CS http://condor.depaul.edu/~math/index.html
Biology, Chemistry, Physics
research
http://www.iit.edu/~bcps/database/search.cgi/Biology/:/frontend/research/index
Engineering http://www.iit.edu/%7Earmour/
Biology http://www.luc.edu/depts/biology/
Chemistry http://www.luc.edu/chemistry/
Physics http://physics.luc.edu/
Northeastern
University:
Biology http://orion.neiu.edu/~biology/
Chemistry http://orion.neiu.edu/~chemdept/
Physics http://physics.neiu.edu/
Biology http://www.roosevelt.edu/biology/default.htm
Chemistry http://www.roosevelt.edu/cas/bcps/chem-all.htm
Biology http://www.bsd.uchicago.edu/
Chemistry http://chemistry.uchicago.edu/
Physics http://physics.uchicago.edu/
Math http://www.math.uchicago.edu/
Astronomy and Astrophysics http://astro.uchicago.edu/
Geosciences http://geosci.uchicago.edu/
U of
Biology http://www.uic.edu/depts/bios/
Chemistry http://www.chem.uic.edu/
Physics http://www.uic.edu/casp/depts/phys/index.asp
Math/CS http://www.math.uic.edu/
Engineering http://www.uic.edu/depts/enga/
For Mathematics, comprehensive set of links at http://www.math.uiuc.edu/sci.math.research/.
Still
other sites list the titles of Intel semifinalists; one can get good ideas from
these lists!
Intel Science Talent Search 2008 semifinalist book (paper titles) http://www.societyforscience.org/sts/67sts/semibook08.pdf
Intel Science Talent Search 2007 semifinalist book (paper titles) http://www.societyforscience.org/sts/66sts/semibook07.pdf
Intel Science Talent Search 2006 semifinalist book (paper titles) http://www.sciserv.org/sts/65sts/semibook06.pdf
Intel Science Talent Search 2005 semifinalist book (paper titles) http://www.sciserv.org/sts/64sts/semibook05.pdf
Intel Science Talent Search 2004 semifinalist book (paper titles)
http://www.sciserv.org/sts/64sts/semibook04.pdf
Check out the biographies on the 2008 Intel Finalists, 2007 Intel Finalists, 2006 Intel Finalists, 2005 Intel Finalists, and 2004 Intel Finalists. The biographies have brief descriptions of the top projects.
National
Labs:
Argonne www.anl.gov
Fermilab www.fnal.gov; Quarknet Program is at http://quarknet.fnal.gov/
Department of Energy (oversees all national labs)
A good federal site with more than 1,000 links to science information, http://www.science.gov
Research Institutes:
Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO)
Northwestern Interdepartmental Biological Sciences Program (IBIS)
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton)
Santa Fe Institute, dedicated to work on complexity.