ABOUT SCIENCE RESEARCH

Science Research is a three year college course run through the University of Albany.  Students in this course pursue their scientific interests through professional level research.  This can be anything from studying psychology to carbon nanotubes.  Students also find a well-established mentor in their field to guide them through the research they decide to pursue. 

A student’s sophomore year typically consists of them finding their topic of research.  Students read scholarly journal articles to narrow their topic into a testable idea, and then begin their research plan or search for a mentor who is an expert in the field that they have chosen. 

Following the sophomore year, a student creates a research plan and subsequently conducts their experiment.  The research is completed by the fall of the senior year, at which time, the student writes a detailed research paper, then the student submits to a variety of competitions, including the Intel Talent Search and the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. In addition, the student presents the research at a variety of venues and science fairs.  At the end of the year, seniors are in charge of running the high school's annual science symposium.