Why you should do academic research in high school!

“Nearly one-third of the admitted students engaged in academic research during their time in high school, many earning national and international accolades.”

— UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LETTER TO THE CLASS OF 2026

In the ultra-competitive college admissions process, colleges need to look beyond grades to distinguish one great looking applicant from another. What’s guaranteed to help your student stand out? Serious academic research. 

But finding opportunities to pursue serious research is not as easy as you think. The good news is that we’ve done the work so you don’t have to. There is a huge selection of research opportunities for teens that run the gamut from prestigious in-person lab research opportunities to independent academic research mentored by Ivy league teaching staff. Discover unique opportunities for the school year and for summer that will allow you to dig deeper into your passions and will also wow even the most jaded college admissions officer!

In this blog post we will be highlighting just a few of the companies that we think are doing a fantastic job connecting high school students with robust research opportunities. In each case we have dug into their methodologies for screening mentors and students and for ensuring a rewarding and impactful experience. 

1. THE CAMBRIDGE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH

CCIR is one of the premier companies that connects motivated students with leading academics (“Mentors”) in their fields of interest. For the right student, this customizable program can be a game-changer, and even lead to publication opportunities. Talk about a WOW factor!

CCIR offers two types of programs:

• Future Scholars, in which small groups of students (approx five) who are sorted by interest and region are paired with an academic in a 13-week program that is partly teaching and partly self-driven, supervised research; and
• One-on-One, in which individual students are linked with an academic in a highly customizable, and more flexible research relationship.

CCIR provides subsequent publication support for students who are keen to continue their work. The CCIR mentors have seriously impressive pedigrees and tend to hail from top colleges in the US, as well as Cambridge and Oxford.

2. COLLEGE IMPACT

Ambitious students often need to go above and beyond to be noticed in today’s ultra-competitive college admissions process. College Impact is a company that delivers “Extracurricular programs designed for maximum impact in the college admissions process”. Curious to hear more?

College Impact offers three types of outside-of-school opportunities:

• Research, which is a one-on-one mentorship with a PhD candidate that is highly customized and designed to develop research and writing skills and ultimately culminate in a published research article;
• Build, in which students with big ideas are mentored through design, build and launch stages of entrepreneurship; and
• Learn, where students engaged in one-on-one instruction with AP teachers over the course of an academic year.

College Impact prides itself on its screening process, and stands behind its mentors. Success requires a high degree of effort (for example, Research is estimated to take 8-10 hours per week over the 10-15 week program), but the rewards for success are impressive.

3. A.I. CLUB

In the AIClub Research Program, high school students and advanced middle school students work under the guidance of experienced Ph.D mentors to create unique research projects using applied Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science.

Their mentors have significant research and industry experience (over 100 research publications, 200 patents, and founded several successful startup ventures). Past students have performed innovative research to address problems in healthcare, climate change, computer science, literature, music, sports, and dance, to name a few.

Since 2019, AIClub Research students have won over 75 awards in national and international competitions, including publications in professional technical conferences, wins in prestigious high school research conferences, science fair and innovation competition wins, and filed patents.

4. LUMIERE

Is your teen keen to take their research chops to the next level so that they can demonstrate academic seriousness in the context of college admissions? Lumiere has build a solid platform that connects ambitious, hard-working high school students with top researchers from across the world.

Lumiere offers three types of programs:

• Individual Research (12 sessions, 9 with an academic mentor, plus research and writing coaching);
• Premium Research and Publication (16 sessions, 15 with an academic mentor, plus research and writing coaching as well as the development of a publication plan); and
• Research Fellowship (highly customized 6-12 month program including extensive sessions with research mentor and writing and publication coaches).

Research projects can be customized to the strengths and interests of the student, and Lumiere endeavors to screen mentors for subject-matter and fit. As with any large project, the real value comes from the effort put forth by the student. It’s a terrific way for a motivated student to get high level academic exposure and produce a fantastic final product.

5. HORIZON ACADEMICS

The Horizon Academic Research Program was founded in 2016 with the goal of helping high school students to do “college research with a cause”, working on research projects that were socially meaningful and identified workable solutions to pressing public policy problems, while also being assessed according to standards used for first-year university students.

Horizon was founded a team of three American educators and experienced NGO leaders, united by the belief that meaningful academic research can be done online and that, by using technology to bridge barriers of geography and access, the ability to do academic research with university researchers and faculty members should be governed by a competitive, merit-based admissions process, rather than based on personal or family connections.

In 2016, they introduced classes in Development Economics, Environmental Engineering, and International Relations. We traveled to schools around the US and China, making the pitch for high school research, and we sponsored debate tournaments, business competitions, robotics tournaments, and Model U.N. conferences because we believe in the importance of extracurricular activities. Since 2016, our program has grown substantially, and we’re now proud to work with 200 students each year from more than 30 countries in pairing them with 56 instructors.

6. PIONEER

Pioneer is one of a growing number of platform companies connecting ambitious and highly motivated high school students with academics who can help guide them in research projects. Although Pioneer tends to draw heavily from the international market, it also includes a high number of U.S.-based students. One appealing feature of Pioneer is that it includes a combination of teaching and research, so there’s more structure around the program. This is a highly attractive – and surprisingly uncommon – program component that can be especially helpful to a curious student who doesn’t already have a well-developed research idea.

“The Pioneer Research Program provides undergraduate-level research opportunities to talented, intellectually motivated high school students from around the world. It is the only online credit-bearing research program for high school students that offers STEM, social sciences and humanities disciplines.

In the Pioneer Research Program, selected students work one-on-one with leading U.S. university professors in advanced study and research of a topic of interest, culminating in a full-length research paper. The program is conducted entirely online, allowing high school students from all over the world to participate.

Teaching Style: Small class with other students in the general interest, then 1-on-1 with a professor mentor for a few sessions to develop your paper.”