All high school students are welcome to apply. We look for ambitious, self-driven students with a passion to learn more about STEM.

You don’t need to enter the program with a clearly defined research question, though some students do. Your research question will likely evolve and sharpen as you learn and work with your mentor. Your mentor will act as a guide – not working on your research project for you – but guiding you in the direction of the most fruitful work. Logistically, you will align on a research question by the end of week four. This question will then be vetted and refined with your Research Mentor. From there, over the following four weeks, you will be expected to create a research proposal, a first draft of the research paper, and then a final draft at the end of week eight.

After the program, your mentor will assign a grade to your research paper and write an evaluation. Additionally, you may find that your Research Mentor has gained a unique perspective on you and your academic ability. Naturally, the question arises if your mentor is able to write a recommendation letter. In this case, it is entirely appropriate to ask your mentor for a letter of recommendation. However, just as with any academic mentor, they are not required to do so. Your mentor will be assessing your performance during the program and then deciding whether or not to write a letter.

Yes, we have limited financial aid available. Please contact us for more information.

This is an online program. Meetings with the Research Mentor take place via Zoom.

Initially, you will be connected with your Research Mentor by email or another mutually agreed-upon platform. Afterwards, you and the Research Mentor will coordinate directly to find a mutually agreeable time for the weekly meetings. Your Research Mentor will provide an invitation and include a personal Zoom link.

The program runs four times per year: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. For more details, please see the Programs page.

If your goal is to publish a paper, this program is not for you. Writing a research paper of publishable quality requires original ideas that often take years of work to develop. The purpose of writing the paper is for the student to learn how the tools taught by their mentor can be applied in practice to specific situations. It is a powerful exercise that demonstrates command of theoretical skills.

Our mentors are current PhD candidates at the best STEM universities in the United States. We exclusively source our mentors from the US News & World Report Top 20 Universities. However, this program operates independently of these universities.