Three ways in, one shared method.
Every track — workshops, competitions, and collaborative projects — teaches the same underlying discipline through a different format and commitment level.
Workshops
Hands-on sessions on the mechanics of research — the ones nobody teaches in a normal classroom. Drop into any single session, no application or prerequisite.
What you'll cover
- Forming a testable hypothesis
- Literature review and source evaluation
- Experimental & survey design
- Basic statistics for student research
- Academic writing and citation
Format
- 90 minutes, online or on-site depending on chapter
- Taught by a trained student mentor
- Small groups, capped at 20
- Take-home worksheet for the next step
Competitions
Structured contests that give a team a real deadline and a panel of outside judges — from regional case-research contests to a fair-style poster round.
What's involved
- Teams of 2–4, registered in advance
- A prompt released 3–6 weeks before judging
- Written submission plus a live defense
- Judged by graduate students and faculty partners
Why it works
- Forces a project to actually finish
- Outside feedback that isn't a grade
- Strong addition to a research resume
- Winning teams get a mentor for a follow-on project
Collaborative Projects
Multi-month research run in small teams with a faculty or graduate-student advisor, ending in a paper, poster, or public presentation. The deepest track we offer.
How a cohort runs
- Applications open twice a year
- Teams of 3–5 matched to an advisor by field
- Biweekly check-ins over 12–16 weeks
- Ends in a public poster session or short paper
Past focus areas
- Environmental & earth science
- Public health & behavioral science
- Computational & data-driven research
- Social science & policy
Common questions.
Do I need a research idea already?
No — workshops are designed to help you find and narrow one. Competitions and collaborative projects do expect a starting direction.
Is there a cost to join?
Workshops and competitions are free. Collaborative projects may involve a small materials fee depending on the field, covered case-by-case.
Can I join more than one track at once?
Yes — most collaborative project participants started in a workshop and moved up from there.