<p>I'm currently a Sophomore and I really want to do a science project. I don't have a mentor at the moment.</p>
<p>For all of you who are/have been semi-finalists or finalists or whatever in Siemen's/Intel competitions, how did you do it? How did you start your project? How did you find an interesting project/topic? What did you have to do to get started? Please explain in as much detail as possible because I have no idea how to start.</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>Ok, start of with a topic you find interesting. Then do many hours of literature search on the subject (google scholar, pubmed, ect.) when you have narrowed down your topic to specifics track down a proffesor at a local university. Just google your subject matter and the universitys name and you’ll be able to find lots of potential mentors. Email one you find the most interesting (regarding research that he/she is currently doing). Do this until you find someone who is willing to help a high schooler with a project. You might want to go with a specific project in mind or just learn at the lab first and then choose something. Look up your local fair and figure out when the paperwork is due ( if your project needs preapproval make sure you get that done). Then do your project, do some fancy statistics, and make a proffessional looking poster.</p>
<p>Bump…</p>
<p>You could start by reading about the winning projects from the past few years. If you google the names of the winners, you can read interviews that answer most of your questions.</p>