By Rajiv Movva, senior at The Harker School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
The mixture remained a dull brown, reminding me that another evening had slipped away without success. Why was I here, again? My science project really meant swirling around a beaker every day, fingers-crossed that my solution would blush red like in the pictures. This wasn’t the type of serious scientific research that I wanted to be conducting.
Determined to spend my summer doing more meaningful scientific research instead, I contacted every local professor I could find. One of them, a renowned biochemist responded affirmatively. He…
By Vinjai Vale, senior at Phillips Exeter Academy and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
Today’s education system has created a rift between STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and the humanities. It may seem counterintuitive, but studying the humanities actually makes you a better scientist. Scholars of literature, philosophy, art, and history develop an understanding and appreciation for what it means to be human. I believe it is vital for scientists to study these fields, especially in a modern world full of rapid technological advances.
Through my own research, I experienced firsthand how the humanities can help scientific research.
…
By Nitya Parthasarathy, senior at Northwood High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
In the 8th grade, I temporarily wanted to be a doctor because of the fire inside me that made me want to give back to my community. Immediately I was bombarded with questions like: “Are you sure? Don’t you want a family? It’ll be too late to have children once you finish medical school and you will be so busy.” …
By Skyler Jones, senior at Ossining High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
I had never worked so hard to feel like I knew so little.
I was sitting in the middle of my first group meeting at my new lab, a physical chemistry lab where I had secured a research mentorship to study solar cell semiconductor materials for the next three years. For years, I had wanted to do research, and had spent months reading papers on chemistry and alternative energy and reaching out to local research groups.
After my new mentor offered me a position in…
By Franklyn Wang, senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
I never thought that that someone like me — a relatively inexperienced high schooler — could make progress on a nearly 100-year old math problem.
Many have tried. Countless mathematicians, including the winners of three Wolf Prizes, two National Medals of Science, and one Fields Medalist, had worked on this problem, making significant progress but were unable to bring it to a conclusion. Through my research, I was able to solve the problem and bring insight into rational functions.
I’ve…
By Mihir Patel, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and a Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
My aunt stepped through the front door, greeting me with a warm smile. As my cousins and uncle filed in behind her, I noticed something odd. Her entire left arm appeared to be bandaged and was swollen to nearly twice its original size. When I asked what had happened, she pursed her lips and explained that following her treatment for Hodgkin’s disease, she had contracted lymphedema.
Lymphedema, she explained, was a condition where fluid buildup in the immune…
By Isani Singh, senior at Cherry Creek High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
Every year, there are so many different projects at fairs surrounding “high profile” diseases, such as various types of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. It’s incredible that the students completing these projects are dedicating their time towards research that may one day limit the suffering of these patient populations, but there are so many other disorders that people suffer from across the nation and the globe that receive nowhere near the same level of attention. Rare or orphan diseases affect 350 million people worldwide…
By Natalia Orlovsky, senior at Garnet Valley High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
I spent the summer before my junior year of high school shuttling between a toxicology lab and the Penn Museum’s Mesoamerica gallery, flitting between two very different worlds.
On weekdays, as a student in the University of Pennsylvania’s Teen Research and Education in Environmental Science (TREES) program, I attended lectures, visited sites of environmental interest, and designed and conducted a molecular toxicology research project examining the effects of e-cigarette vapor on cell stress pathways. …
By Michael Ma, senior at Plano West Senior High School and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
I used to think that research math would be similar to competition math, which I have been doing since the second grade: you have a problem and use all the techniques you know and sometimes think of new ones to solve the problem or reduce it to an easier one and eventually solve it.
But mathematical research opened up a whole new world for me. I’ve learned how to overcome great challenges and persist in doing what I want to.
I first learned…
By Haniya Shareef, a senior at Lincoln Park Academy and Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018 finalist
Ever since I was a child, and even as I became a teenager, my driving motivation was to win. It could be something as small as a card game or something as big as the International Science and Engineering Fair.
When I was about 15 years old, I worked on a research project for over 300 hours that I had hoped to present at the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair. In my eyes, the project was unique in that it targeted an invasive…
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