SoTS Research Residency

The Opportunity

Scientific labs don't chase hype, which means they also don't adopt technology as fast as industry does. In our work with researchers from various fields of science we saw how much they may benefit from someone bringing valuable parts of emerging technology: such as modern data science, classical ML, deep learning, AI, GenAI, agentic systems, and other technologies that constantly pop up - we never know what is useful in a particular lab before we start.

Our Residency bridges this gap. Exceptional high-school researchers work in teams to bring emerging technology to scientific problems, commissioned by external partners - university labs, government agencies, or companies. The program is based on the methodology published in Artificial Intelligence for Scientific Research.

Here's how it works: your team runs like a small consulting team, identifying the goal, the question worth asking, where technology genuinely helps, and how to apply it. This is R&D: real impact goals, hard deadlines, a cross-functional team, and genuinely unknown questions and directions. A delivery standard keeps it focused: the partner expects something usable and worthy by a deadline.

• The program runs online, so Residents take part from anywhere.
• Teams of 4 - 6 Residents work with one partner across two consecutive semesters.
• New teams start in September, February, and July.
• Possible roles (not limited to): emerging tech/computation, domain science, data/experiment, hardware engineering, literature/theory, coordination.
• Live sessions with a Research Guide: 1 - 1.5 hours weekly.
• Independent work: ~10 hours/week (fall/spring) or ~20 hours/week (summer).
• Regular presentations and discussions with peers.
• Final deliverable: a result the partner can use - workflow, application, or analysis.

The team is guided by a professional Research Guide, one of the SoTS team members.

Who May Apply

We are looking for exceptional high-school researchers with deep, well-developed expertise in their domain who have taken research through its full cycle (as described in The Research Guide paper) for at least one year. Impress us with the quality, depth, impact, and originality of your research. This is where you cross boundaries between disciplines, not where you learn to do research.

Satisfying the minimum requirements is only the first step. We evaluate every application, and the research expertise behind it, from several angles, including the need to form balanced teams with complementary skills. We do not provide reasons for individual decisions, positive or negative. If your work does not impress us, this may not be the right opportunity.

The program is open to applicants in North and South America, Europe, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

What We Expect from Residents

We expect a positive, productive, and collaborative attitude.

• Commit to the partner's problem.
• Attend every session, prepared.
• Complete the work between sessions.
• Stay accountable to your team.
• Follow through for both semesters.

For Partners

Bring a research question from your work. We will assemble a team of exceptional high-school researchers, guided by one of the SoTS team members, to produce a result you can use. Your time commitment: ~1 hour every two weeks.

The Residency is a nonprofit, public-interest program. Projects must advance scientific research.

Interested in partnering? Write to us at team@teenscientists.org.

Support the Residency

The Residency is offered through the Authentic Research Access Program, fiscally sponsored by NOPI (501(c)(3)).

Authentic Research Partners is fiscally sponsored by NOPI INC, EIN 81-5089505. thenopi.org