How I Began Independent Research (5-Step Process)

Summary

In this exclusive video, the speaker shares his secret formula for success in science fairs and independent research, which contributed to his Ivy League college acceptances. He emphasizes the importance of narrowing research scope, engaging with various sources for topic ideas, and the necessity of deep dives into research papers. The script outlines a step-by-step guide, from identifying a specific field of interest to formulating research questions and the importance of incremental improvements in research. It also addresses the misconceptions about the 'Eureka' moments in research and the practicality of starting with accessible projects, like coding, or leveraging local lab resources for more complex topics.

Takeaways

• 🧐 Start with a Specific Interest: Narrow down your focus within a broad field like biology to a more specific area such as microbiology or neuroscience.
• 🔎 Conduct Preliminary Research: Use various sources like YouTube, documentaries, and news articles to get a basic understanding of your chosen field.
• 📚 Dive Deeper with Academic Sources: Progress to more educational content like research papers and articles to understand current scientific advancements.
• 📝 Take Notes and Save Key Papers: Document important findings, challenges, and ideas from your research to help formulate your own hypotheses.
• 💪 Embrace the Challenge: Be prepared for the initial difficulty of understanding complex scientific papers and persist through the learning curve.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Analogy of Building Strength: Just like working out, push through the initial struggle to gradually build your understanding and capabilities in research.
• 🤔 Identify Problems in the Field: Recognize the challenges that scientists are trying to address within your area of interest.
• 💡 Generate Ideas: Use your understanding of existing research to propose new ideas or improvements to current methodologies.
• 🚀 Realistic Expectations: Understand that groundbreaking ideas are rare and building upon existing research is a valid and important part of scientific progress.
• 💻 Coding Projects: For those without access to lab facilities, coding projects can be a highly accessible way to conduct independent research.
• 📧 Reach Out to Professors: Consider contacting professors for mentorship or access to lab facilities, which can significantly enhance your research capabilities.
• 🏆 Finalize with Presentation: Complete your research with findings, and prepare to present or publish your work, potentially entering it into science fairs or conferences.

Q & A

What is the primary activity mentioned in the script that helped the speaker get into multiple Ivy League colleges?

The primary activity mentioned in the script is participating in science fairs and conducting independent research.

What is the first step in getting involved in research according to the script?

The first step is to do research and narrow down the scope of the field you are interested in, such as focusing on a specific area within biology like microbiology, immunology, or neuroscience.

What are some sources recommended for initial research on a broad topic?

The script recommends YouTube educational videos, TV documentaries, news articles, and science magazines as good starting points for initial research.

What is the importance of narrowing down the research focus in the early stages?

Narrowing down the research focus is crucial as it helps in identifying specific topics within a field that are interesting and manageable, making it easier to delve deeper and contribute meaningfully to the field.

What is the recommended approach for reading research papers in the early stages of research?

The script suggests not necessarily reading papers from front to back, but rather reading the abstract or the results section to get a summary of the research, and taking notes on significant papers.

Why is understanding technical terminology important during the research process?

Understanding technical terminology is important as it helps in deciphering research papers and connecting ideas, ultimately leading to a deeper comprehension of the field.

What is the purpose of identifying problems in a field during the research process?

Identifying problems helps in forming the basis of a research question and understanding the challenges that scientists are attempting to solve, which is essential for developing a focused and impactful research project.

What misconception does the script address about the nature of research?

The script addresses the misconception that research involves sudden breakthroughs like Einstein's theory of relativity. Instead, it emphasizes that research is a gradual process of building on the work of others.

Why is it suggested to start with optimizations in research projects?

Starting with optimizations is suggested because it allows researchers to build on existing work, making incremental improvements that can eventually lead to significant advancements.

What are some practical tips for high school students interested in conducting independent research?

The script recommends learning how to code, picking a science project that is accessible with reasonable materials, and reaching out to local labs or professors for mentorship and access to facilities.

What are the final steps mentioned in the script for completing a research project?

The final steps include finishing the research, coming to some findings, and creating a paper or presentation, as well as potentially participating in science fairs, officially publishing papers, and attending conferences.

Outlines

00:00

🧪 Kickstarting Research with Science Fairs and Independent Projects

The speaker emphasizes the importance of science fairs and independent research in securing admission to Ivy League colleges. They share their personal strategy for success, focusing on the initial challenge of idea generation. The speaker advises narrowing down a broad field of interest to a specific area, such as microbiology or immunology, and then identifying interesting topics within that field. They recommend starting with accessible resources like YouTube, documentaries, and news articles to build foundational knowledge before moving on to more in-depth research papers. The speaker also stresses the importance of note-taking and identifying key ideas and challenges within the chosen field.

05:00

📚 Deepening Understanding and Identifying Research Problems

Building upon the foundational knowledge, the speaker discusses the next steps in the research process. They highlight the need to delve deeper into the chosen topics by reading research papers and articles to understand current scientific advancements. The speaker encourages taking notes on significant papers and organizing observed problems and challenges in the field. They use the example of leukemia to illustrate how one might identify and formulate a research question based on existing challenges faced by scientists. The speaker also dispels the myth of instant breakthroughs, comparing the gradual process of research to building up strength at the gym, and emphasizes the importance of persistence and incremental progress.

10:01

💡 Idea Generation and Practical Approaches to Independent Research

The speaker transitions into the phase of idea generation, where they discuss the misconceptions about research perpetuated by media and emphasizes the reality of incremental scientific progress. They advise that initial research goals should be realistic, such as optimizing existing methods or technologies. The speaker also addresses the practical aspects of conducting independent research, suggesting that coding projects are highly accessible and can be adapted to various fields of study. For those without coding skills, they recommend learning to code or choosing a science project that is feasible with accessible materials. They also suggest reaching out to local labs and professors for potential mentorship and access to resources, setting the stage for more formal research involvement such as science fairs and paper publications.

Keywords

💡Ivy League colleges

Ivy League colleges refer to a group of eight prestigious private universities in the United States, known for their academic excellence, selectivity, and social prestige. In the script, the speaker mentions being accepted into multiple Ivy League colleges, which establishes a high-achieving context for the video's theme of academic success and research involvement.

💡Science fairs

Science fairs are competitive events where students present their scientific research or projects. The video emphasizes science fairs as a key activity that contributed to the speaker's academic achievements, illustrating the importance of hands-on involvement in scientific exploration and competition.

💡Independent research

Independent research denotes self-directed study or investigation in a particular field, often pursued outside of formal classroom settings. The speaker highlights the significance of independent research in gaining a deep understanding and contributing to a field, which is central to the video's message of self-driven learning.

💡Narrowing scope

Narrowing scope refers to the process of focusing one's research or interest within a broader field to a more specific area. The script advises viewers to narrow their research focus, such as from general biology to a more specific field like Neuroscience, to facilitate a more effective and manageable research process.

💡Research papers

Research papers are formal documents that present new research, data, and analysis in a specific field. The video underscores the importance of reading and understanding research papers to familiarize oneself with current scientific discussions and to identify potential areas for personal research.

💡Abstract

An abstract is a brief summary at the beginning of a research paper that outlines the main points and findings. The script mentions reading the abstract as a way to quickly grasp the essence of a research paper, emphasizing the value of efficient information gathering in the research process.

💡Terminology

Terminology refers to the specific vocabulary used within a particular field or profession. The video script advises looking up and understanding unfamiliar terms when encountered in research, highlighting the importance of mastering technical language for effective communication and comprehension in a field.

💡Research question

A research question is a focused inquiry that aims to explore or solve a problem within a field of study. The script discusses forming a research question as a critical step in the research process, using it as a foundation for identifying and exploring scientific challenges.

💡Optimization

Optimization refers to the process of making something as effective, efficient, or functional as possible. In the context of the video, optimization is presented as a valid starting point for research, where one can build upon existing work to improve it incrementally, such as enhancing an encryption algorithm or a smoke alarm's effectiveness.

💡Coding projects

Coding projects involve the development of software or applications using programming languages. The speaker suggests that coding projects are highly accessible for independent research, especially for those without access to specialized lab facilities, and can be applied to a wide range of fields beyond computer science.

💡Mentoring

Mentoring is a process where an experienced individual guides and supports the development of a less experienced one. The video script mentions reaching out to professors for potential mentoring opportunities, which can provide valuable access to resources and guidance in conducting independent research.

💡Science fairs

The term 'science fairs' is mentioned again due to its significance in the video's narrative. It highlights the importance of participating in science fairs as a platform to showcase research, compete, and gain recognition, which is integral to the video's overarching theme of academic achievement through research involvement.

Highlights

Emphasizing the importance of science fairs and independent research in gaining admission to multiple Ivy League colleges.

Highlighting the challenge of coming up with a research idea and getting started.

Advising to narrow the scope within a field of interest (e.g., microbiology, immunology, neuroscience) for effective research.

Recommending starting research by exploring accessible sources like YouTube, educational TV, documentaries, news articles, and science magazines.

Suggesting to gradually shift from broad, entertaining sources to more educational, focused content.

Encouraging to read abstracts and results sections of research papers to grasp essential information without getting overwhelmed.

Advising to take notes and save significant papers to identify key challenges and popular ideas within the chosen field.

Emphasizing the iterative process of learning terminology and understanding research papers over time.

Focusing on identifying specific problems and challenges in the chosen field, rather than seeking immediate solutions.

Using leukemia as an example to illustrate the process of identifying research questions and potential areas of improvement.

Clarifying that research builds on incremental advancements by scientists, rather than sudden breakthroughs.

Suggesting coding projects as accessible research options, especially for those with limited resources.

Recommending reaching out to local labs and professors for mentorship and access to research facilities.

Encouraging students to mass email professors to find opportunities to work in their labs.

Outlining the final steps of completing research, publishing findings, and participating in science fairs and conferences.

Transcripts

so outside of being deviously handsome

there are several core activities that

got me into multiple Ivy League colleges

now the number one activity on that list

for me was science fairs and independent

research by far the hardest part of this

activity is coming up with an idea and

getting started you guys have requested

this video so here it is I'm going to

tell you exactly how it's done this

video is strictly for my subscribers I

really don't care about how it performs

the views my goal here is to give out

the sauce this is exactly what I used to

do in high school and how I was able to

win like crazy top level national awards

in science fairs I don't want any NPCs

watching this I cannot be bothered by

their comments the first step is to do

research some of you guys come to me

with emails talking about you know

prathik I want to get involved in

research in biology where do I start I'm

telling you right now if you have an

idea like that like I want to get

involved in biology where I want to get

involved in chemistry research that is

way too broad there is nothing that you

can do with that and nothing that I can

do with that as well what you need to do

is narrow your scope work within biology

do you like is it microbiology is it

Immunology is it Neuroscience that's

what I liked in high school you need to

focus your scope now we're not done yet

but we are laying the foundation your

next step once you find a specific field

is to find topics within that field that

are interesting a pretty logical

question is where do I research these

topics YouTube educational TV

documentaries news articles science

magazines all of these are great places

to get started some people think that

you have to get knee deep into these

like 50 page elaborate Publications just

to get an understanding of how a field

or a topic works that is by no means

necessary start by doing things that are

a little bit more interesting for you

just to get yourself kind of excited and

motivated to keep going with this

research but I will say that certain

sources are more prone to giving you

better topics to further do research on

than others like for example you've

probably seen kurz Gazette videos on

YouTube where they take some like

general science topic and make it super

entertaining those sources might be

better for step one where we're doing on

more broad research but as you get into

step two and we proceed with this

research you want to try to narrow down

where we go from more entertaining to

more educational content that's going to

serve you better here step three is

arguably the most important because this

is where everyone tends to tap out let's

say you've picked a particular topic

maybe it's Alzheimer's disease maybe

it's encryption maybe it's Quantum

Computing doesn't matter what it is you

have to learn more about that field you

now have to do the uncomfortable work

the unsexy answer is that once you have

these topics around you you need to

learn as much as you can about those

topics and familiarize yourself with not

just what's going on right now but what

exactly scientists are working to

advance in that field this is when you

start reading research papers and

research articles to truly understand

what scientists are doing you don't need

to read papers fully from front to back

a lot of times just reading the abstract

is enough if they do a good job giving a

summary or even just skipping down to

the results section and seeing what

happened but what you absolutely should

be doing is taking notes and saving any

really really good papers that you like

actually enjoyed or furthered your

understanding of a certain topic or

maybe they were just very novel like a

lot of other papers are citing this

particular paper through these notes

you're going to start organizing what

particular problems and challenges

you're seeing like what things

scientists are tackling what's standing

out to you and then also what kind of

ideas seem popular is there a particular

type of Alzheimer's treatment that

people are working on one particular

strain of some bacteria that they're

testing with what are those key ideas

that are you know you're taking away

from doing all of this research the

reason that people fail here is because

when you go to read your first paper I'm

telling you right now you're going to

open it up and it's going to make no

sense you're going to read the title

it's going to be some crazy fancy words

that you don't know you're gonna go read

the abstract and nothing is going to go

into your head that's just how it goes

I've had people ask me if there's a way

to make this part easier and here's the

way I tend to think about it okay

imagine you're going to the gym right we

have a 10 pound dumbbell here and you're

doing your bicep curls right you're

going to keep doing these curls and

you're going to start to feel a little

bit of a burn in your arm now imagine if

you look at me dead in the eyes while

you're doing your curls and you ask

pratik is there a way that I can get my

bicep gains without feeling the burn the

better way to look at it is that if you

keep doing these bicep curls today you

push to failure you're only going to be

able to do 10 but then you come back

tomorrow and now you can do 15. you can

like the next day now you can do 20 and

boom before you know it you're an

amateur researcher in a field you are

very familiar with what's going on and

you are equipped to enter the next step

a bonus tip I have for you guys once you

run into terminology that you don't know

even if it's three words in a sentence

go look it up understand what means and

then make some notes about it as you

keep learning more and more terminology

more technical jargon and you start to

understand what these words mean how

they connect to one another and what's

generally going on in these papers as

you continue doing your research it

becomes easier eventually you get to a

point where you actually have enough

understanding of what's going on very

technically speaking that you can truly

decipher a paper front to back you

understand what's going on and once you

get to that stage that's when this

research process actually becomes fun

step four is the implementation this is

where the research that you probably

imagined in your head when you clicked

on this video actually begins what you

need to do is start identifying the

problems in a field that scientists are

attempting to solve you don't need to

come up with any solutions here yet just

start listing out the different

challenges that you see the good news is

if you're already following this pathway

and you're on step three this should

just come naturally yes you're going to

run into some papers that are like

literature reviews or they're very very

introductory just kind of getting you

into the material but most of the papers

you read at this stage should be very

technical very focused on some

particular goal or some research they're

doing something that they're trying to

improve those are the papers you want to

use as inspiration to try to come up and

see with what these scientists are

actually working on what is interesting

and relevant to them and their eyes and

what can you make notes about let me

give you an example to make this super

clear let's say you're interested in

leukemia or blood cancer one of the

challenges that I noticed that

scientists face when they're working

with patients and people who have

leukemia is that diagnosing the disease

is very very difficult especially until

leukemia has spread a lot further in the

body there are a ton of other issues

with leukemia in regards to relapses

during remission or issues with

treatment that you as a student

researching leukemia definitely should

have made note of but let's just say

this diagnosis part was what stood out

to you now you can start to form the

basis of a research question is there a

way we can improve the diagnosis speed

of leukemia or perhaps the variable that

you want to explore is accuracy so can

we improve the accuracy of current

methods or maybe you want to explore

false positive rate which is basically

the rate at which people are

accidentally diagnosed with leukemia or

maybe not at all there's so many

different Pathways you can go down here

and notice that you know me personally I

am no expert on leukemia I just looked

into this for the video and I came up

with this many ideas in just a day there

were so many directions that you can go

down I hope you're starting to

understand now why we focused so much

earlier on narrowing your search it's

because even when you get down to a

particular topic there are more angles

to explore and to research into than you

will ever have time to do pick something

and then think about how you can Target

that problem what are all of the

different angles that you can come from

99 of creators would just leave you here

feeling good like you really like

learned and did something and you're

about to go out there and achieve the

world but I'm in the one percent we're

still not done here I copy time hey jobs

not done I jobs not finished step five

now is when we enter the phase where

we're actually coming up with the idea

generation the crazy idea that shows up

on the news and wins the 75 000 cash

prize at isaf this is where that happens

there are two things that I am now going

to say if you truly want to succeed in

this field I'm going to need your

undivided attention for the next couple

of minutes first movies social media and

terrible College admissions advice have

completely warped your reality and

understanding of what research actually

is you can put a thousand hours into

staring at your computer screen and

Einstein's theory of relativity is just

not going to hit you out of thin air

that is not how this process works

research works by scientists building on

each other imagine that we have 10

different Labs each working on one

particular topic if each lab is able to

progress the field forward by one

percent two percent three percent

eventually that effort those efforts of

the scientists Compound on one another

and we lead to the entire field as a

whole moving forward and getting to some

big breakthrough that is how science

works when you first start research your

goal can absolutely be to optimize what

is currently out there to build on the

backs of what scientists are doing if

you can take an experiment recreate it

and then maybe make some encryption

algorithm for instance five percent

better or take smoke alarms that are out

there and make them two percent more

effective at half of market cost that is

totally a valid way to get started with

research it is just like starting a

YouTube channel in order to get to a

million subscribers one day you have to

get to a thousand subscribers first keep

making optimizations keep making

advancements and eventually you will get

to a stage where you get your big break

you come up with some smart idea that

takes your project to that next level

second we need to be real for a second

you are probably not some

multi-millionaire with a full-size

biology lab in your basement you'll

probably like how I was in high school

dead broke some topics just lend

themselves a lot easier to Independent

research than others coding projects are

by far the most accessible of any type

of science project you can do even if

you are interested in some very very

Niche engineering or medical field or

even some crazy economics or history

field you can make a coding project out

of it the tricky part here is if you

don't know coding and if that's the case

I'm going to give you the full pipeline

for what you should do let's keep it

simple if you are a freshman in high

school or younger learn how to code it's

just worth it even if you are not going

to go into CS in the future if you were

a junior or older and you hate computer

science you don't want to learn it I'll

talk about a couple alternatives for you

in a minute and if you're a sophomore

it's up to you just flip a coin the

other option is to pick a science

project where it's not that hard to get

access to the materials that you need

when I was in eighth going into ninth

grade I did a science project that

involved sourcing like scrap in raw

solar panels which are really not that

expensive it was literally like 25 bucks

to get the materials that I needed and

for a lot of science projects within

like a reasonable budget you should be

able to get the materials that you want

you can even ask your high school if you

can borrow things from them and usually

they're very open to letting you use

things like little instruments or little

like chemicals or resources that they

might have in the lab can also reach out

to local labs this is a super valid idea

and it's way more effective than

actually reaching out to get an

internship or something because most

professors are willing to help you out

if it's your idea the tricky part for

them is that if it's their research now

they have to teach you a bunch of things

get you up to speed it's like they're

doing you a favor when they offer you an

internship but if you have your own

independent project and you're reaching

out to them saying hey would you be cool

with you know maybe mentoring me or

allowing me to use you know the

expensive research facilities that they

have they're usually very open and happy

to it because they're College professors

they want to be able to work with

students that's their job they enjoy it

what I want you to do if this is the

pathway you want to go down is just mass

email professors ask them if they're

willing to let you work in their lab and

then at some point someone will give you

a chance this is fantastic because if

something does eventually work out you

might have access to like a multi

hundred thousand dollar or million

dollar lab facility at your fingertips

there's so much research you can do

there and some wonderful people that

you're being surrounded by step six is

technically to just finish your research

come to some findings and make some

paper or presentation you know the Vibes

following this that's when you're gonna

start getting involved in things like

science fairs officially publishing

papers going out to conferences all that

good stuff I would be more than happy to

make videos on some of these specific

topics like science fairs and Publishing

papers because I've done like crazy work

here in high school but just let me know

in the comments if there's something

you're interested in and I'd be more

than happy to talk to you guys like this

video if it was helpful and to boost my

YouTube algorithm stats thank you all so

much for watching this has been pratik

peace