CURIOSITY, TAKEN SERIOUSLY

A subject you love. A question of your own.

Explore 80 research topics across four subject areas. Start with your intended major or a question that interests you, then find a research path that fits.

PARTIAL LIST / RESEARCH TOPICS

Four fields. More ways to explore.

Open a subject area to browse its topics, or search across all four.

Start with a question, learn the methods, examine evidence and develop work you can explain. We help match the topic and preparation to your background, time and goals.

80 research topics

Computer ScienceAI, data science, human–computer interaction and computation20 topics

Computer Science: research topics

AI and computer vision: How do self-driving cars see the world? From image-processing fundamentals to object recognition and image segmentation.
Led by a tenured professor at Duke
Ask about this topic →
Vehicle perception and AI: Combining semantic understanding and spatial mapping in autonomous driving through vision, radar and ultrasound.
Led by a tenured professor at Duke
Ask about this topic →
Embedded vision: Real-time environmental perception in resource-constrained systems, using urban traffic perception models.
Led by a tenured professor at Duke
Ask about this topic →
Intelligent business interactions: Understanding consumer behaviour and intent, from computer vision to user-perception models and feedback systems.
Led by a tenured professor at Duke
Ask about this topic →
Machine-learning systems: Task-driven perception through multimodal information fusion, using weakly supervised object recognition.
Led by a tenured professor at Duke
Ask about this topic →
AI for robot vision: Deep learning and object recognition, using clustering and optical character recognition to improve navigation and decision-making in complex environments.
Led by a tenured full professor at Imperial College London
Ask about this topic →
Computation and information: The physics of quantum information, from quantum states and probability amplitudes to qubits and measurement.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Computer science: Building machine-learning models in Python, using neural networks, logistic regression and linear regression to investigate heart-disease prediction.
Led by a tenured full professor at Georgia Tech
Ask about this topic →
Computer science: Bayesian thinking and cross-domain AI reasoning. How can machines generalize and make better decisions?
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Statistics: Are these variables really related? Using modern statistical models to investigate causality and prediction in complex data.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Data science: Applying uncertainty modelling and intelligent reasoning to business decisions, from market insight to risk assessment.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Applied mathematics: How can mathematics build a digital twin of the real world? System modelling from graph models to optimal strategies.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Artificial intelligence: Decision-making under uncertainty, using probabilistic models and intelligent algorithms to improve machine judgement.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Human–computer interaction: Psychology-informed digital products and behaviour change. Why do some apps change your habits while others do not?
Led by a tenured professor at Carnegie Mellon
Ask about this topic →
UX/UI and AI: Designing intelligent interactions and behaviour-change products. What makes an AI product both useful and worth returning to?
Led by a tenured professor at Carnegie Mellon
Ask about this topic →
Game design and psychology: Immersive experiences and behaviour change. How can entertainment support learning, public benefit and social change?
Led by a tenured professor at Carnegie Mellon
Ask about this topic →
Theoretical computer science: What can algorithms actually solve? Modern computation, from Turing theory to undecidability.
Led by a tenured full professor at Dartmouth
Ask about this topic →
AI engineering: Multi-agent coordination, queueing models and LLM deployment. From LangGraph to OpenClaw, how do enterprise AI agents work in practice?
Led by a tenured full professor at UC Berkeley
Ask about this topic →
Generative AI and large language models: Deep learning, attention and multimodal systems. How does Claude Code use tools, and how do AI agents complete complex tasks?
Led by a tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
Embedded systems: Microcontrollers, communication protocols and reliable C++ architecture. Building real-time Arduino and Raspberry Pi systems with timing constraints, debugging and hardware–software optimization.
Led by a tenured professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →

Discuss a topic in this field

Humanities & Social SciencesEducation, psychology, sociology, culture and public policy20 topics

Humanities & Social Sciences: research topics

Education: How does the expansion of higher education affect equity? Comparing China and the UK to examine how policy reshapes opportunities across social groups.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Digital education: Rethinking the ethics of higher education and lifelong learning in the age of generative AI. What should higher education offer now?
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Socioeconomics: From the promise of higher earnings to skills mismatches in the labour market. Is higher education still a worthwhile investment?
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Educational psychology: Does learning two languages create two ways of thinking? Investigating cognitive development in bilingual children.
Led by a tenured professor at UC Berkeley
Ask about this topic →
Machine learning and cognitive science: Does AI learn language like a child? Comparing large language models with childhood language acquisition.
Led by a tenured professor at UC Berkeley
Ask about this topic →
Digital education and sociology: Where does schooling go when ChatGPT becomes a study partner? Investigating changes in learning and knowledge production.
Led by a tenured professor at UC Berkeley
Ask about this topic →
Film, media and culture: Female agency in science fiction and desire in In the Mood for Love. Examining gender, the gaze and the politics of emotion.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Comparative literature: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and representations of modern Chinese women. An East–West dialogue on liberation, social narratives and control of the body.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Gender studies and sociology: Women’s work, class mobility and identity through a feminist lens, from family roles in Royal Beatings to agency in Working Girl.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Digital humanities and popular culture: Bodies in A Cyborg Manifesto and contemporary retellings of myth. Investigating gender boundaries, technology ethics and shifting identities through posthumanism and Metamorphoses.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Social psychology: How digital media affects teenagers’ emotional development and social skills. How do Instagram likes shape their emotional lives?
Led by a tenured professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
International relations and public policy: How social policy and economic development interact, comparing income distribution, resource allocation and population ageing in China and the US.
Led by a tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
Public health: How exposure to digital media shapes mental-health risks for children and teenagers, from research evidence to public-health interventions.
Led by a tenured professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
Public policy and ESG: Climate governance and the green transition. Exploring policy design and strategic interaction through climate policy, energy transitions and ESG frameworks.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Arts management: How can public art support reconciliation between communities and contribute to social change? Cultural expression and social intervention through public art.
Led by a tenured full professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Ask about this topic →
AI and law: Copyright disputes over generative-AI training data and conflicts between legal systems, from Kadrey v. Meta to the EU AI Act.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Youth culture: How social structures, economies and cultural settings shape young people’s identities. How do young people move beyond an extended wait for adulthood?
Led by a tenured professor at Harvard
Ask about this topic →
Digital culture: Trends and identity expression from TikTok to YouTube, exploring young people’s social experimentation around the world.
Led by a tenured professor at Harvard
Ask about this topic →
Archaeology and environmental humanities: Reconstructing millennia of human–environment relationships, from settlement patterns to ecological crises and the long interaction of climate, agriculture and civilization.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Developmental psychology: Changes, challenges and influences at key stages of psychological development, with a focus on childhood.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cornell
Ask about this topic →

Discuss a topic in this field

Economics & BusinessFinance, economics, accounting, marketing and management20 topics

Economics & Business: research topics

Finance: The foundations of option pricing and optimal solutions in quantitative finance, using binomial trees and Wiener processes.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Financial engineering: Derivatives pricing through risk-neutral valuation and the Black–Scholes model, examining speculation and hedging in stocks and options.
Led by a tenured full professor at Columbia
Ask about this topic →
Behavioural economics and AI: Looking beyond classical economic theory to investigate irrational behaviour and AI applications in finance and environmental decisions.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
Management and AI: Economic challenges and corporate strategy in the global energy transition. How can businesses support sustainable economic development?
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
ESG: Exploring long-term economic development through ESG principles and AI, with a focus on business-led pathways to sustainability.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
Microeconomics and AI: Where reality diverges from classical theory, identifying and addressing irrational behaviour by individuals and firms.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
Business analytics: How information asymmetry and differences in market efficiency across industries shape business analysis.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Accounting and finance: Understanding cash flow and financial budgeting through asset-pricing models and capital structure.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Financial mathematics: From mathematical statistics to modelling portfolios and pricing in complex environments.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Digital marketing: How consumer focus and influencer strategies have helped digital marketing expand in China, examining e-commerce and job-search apps.
Led by a tenured full professor at the London School of Economics
Ask about this topic →
Consumer insight: Digital consumer behaviour, Go-Stop signals and the psychology of decision journeys, examining persuasion in livestream commerce.
Led by a tenured full professor at the London School of Economics
Ask about this topic →
Gaming and entertainment marketing: How Honor of Kings uses audience targeting and video comments to build its ecosystem, focusing on Luban No. 7 on Bilibili.
Led by a tenured full professor at the London School of Economics
Ask about this topic →
Hospitality marketing: How hotels build their story through digital word of mouth, examining ibis on Dianping and Xiaohongshu.
Led by a tenured full professor at the London School of Economics
Ask about this topic →
Innovation economics: Examining firms’ economic impact through comparisons of China and the US and a startup calculator. What have Elon Musk’s startups contributed to the economy?
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Management: Timing, location or people: What matters most to a business? Using multiple business data sources to investigate Tesla’s growth.
Led by a tenured full professor at Oxford
Ask about this topic →
Accounting and financial analysis: Assessing solvency and profitability through financial statements, using Costco and other multinational retailers.
Led by a tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
AI and supply-chain management: Data-driven process optimization, demand forecasting and intelligent decisions, examining global supply-chain efficiency at Amazon and other leading companies.
Led by a Teaching Fellow at Harvard
Ask about this topic →
Accounting and finance: Building investment-value assessment models from financial statements, exploring company valuation and capital markets through listed companies.
Led by a tenured full professor at Johns Hopkins
Ask about this topic →
Brand management: Data-driven brand positioning and marketing, examining Starbucks’ approach to managing its brand.
Led by a tenured full professor at the University of Chicago
Ask about this topic →
Economics and pricing: How does Uber’s dynamic pricing work? Applying business-data models in Python and R to predictive pricing.
Led by a professor at the University of Southern California
Ask about this topic →

Discuss a topic in this field

Science & EngineeringMaterials, engineering, physics, biomedicine and environmental science20 topics

Science & Engineering: research topics

Materials science and engineering: Investigating polymers and nanocomposites for flexible electronics, solid-state batteries, drug delivery and carbon capture.
Led by a tenured professor at Cornell
Ask about this topic →
Nobel chemistry topic: Synthesizing and applying metal–organic frameworks. Exploring porous materials for hydrogen storage, carbon capture and clean energy.
Led by a tenured professor at Cornell
Ask about this topic →
Biomaterials and biomimetic materials: Designing nanoparticle-based smart biocomposites, with biodegradable medical materials for precision drug delivery.
Led by a tenured professor at Cornell
Ask about this topic →
Electrochemistry and energy: Polymers in energy storage, investigating interface control with new polymer electrolytes in lithium-metal batteries.
Led by a tenured professor at Cornell
Ask about this topic →
Microelectronics: Optimizing high-performance operational amplifiers for integrated electronics, from circuit simulation to chip fabrication.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
Optics and optoelectronics: Laser-resonator sensors and high-precision lasers in industry and medicine, including cutting, welding and laser surgery.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCL
Ask about this topic →
Robotics: Autonomous navigation and interaction for embodied multimodal robots in dynamic environments, using dynamics, SLAM, Hamiltonian path planning and PID control.
Led by a tenured full professor at Imperial College London
Ask about this topic →
Mechanical engineering: Optimizing automated production in Industry 4.0, from conventional multi-degree-of-freedom robots to AI-driven collaborative robots.
Led by a tenured full professor at Imperial College London
Ask about this topic →
Molecular biology: Genomics through high-throughput sequencing, investigating genetic variation and the regulation of gene expression.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Biotechnology: From reading genes to editing them. Using Sanger and Illumina sequencing and CRISPR-Cas9 to build models of inherited diseases.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Epigenetics: Why does the same DNA behave differently at different ages? Analysing DNA methylation and ageing through bisulfite sequencing.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Bioinformatics: How does BLAST find the sequence you need in a vast database? Sequence-alignment algorithms and their use in gene-function annotation.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Physics: An introduction to quantum mechanics and particle physics, from wave functions and the Schrödinger equation to qubits and the Standard Model.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Quantum physics and computing: Exploring the future of computation through superposition, qubits and the physics of interference and entanglement.
Led by a tenured full professor at Cambridge
Ask about this topic →
Electrical and computer engineering: How energy-efficient semiconductors and optoelectronics support VLSI and chip design, focusing on low-power transistors and new memory architectures for AI hardware.
Led by a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Ask about this topic →
Materials science and energy engineering: Materials innovation for renewable energy, including perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells and nitride-based ferroelectric memory.
Led by a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania
Ask about this topic →
Biomedical engineering: Multisensor systems for robotic surgery and medical imaging, using piezoelectric sensors and tactile biosensors.
Led by a tenured professor at Stanford
Ask about this topic →
Mechanical engineering: Thermodynamic cycles in modern machines, from Carnot engines and steam cycles to electric vehicles and rocket propulsion.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Environmental engineering and climate science: Understanding Earth’s climate and energy balance through thermodynamics, using entropy, heat transfer and reversibility to analyse tropical storms.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →
Aerospace engineering: The thermodynamics of propulsion and energy conversion, examining rocket-engine cycles, extreme-environment loads and high-energy-density systems.
Led by a tenured full professor at UCLA
Ask about this topic →

Discuss a topic in this field

A subject you love. A question of your own.

Computer Science: research topics

AI and computer vision: How do self-driving cars see the world? From image-processing fundamentals to object recognition and image segmentation.

Vehicle perception and AI: Combining semantic understanding and spatial mapping in autonomous driving through vision, radar and ultrasound.

Embedded vision: Real-time environmental perception in resource-constrained systems, using urban traffic perception models.

Intelligent business interactions: Understanding consumer behaviour and intent, from computer vision to user-perception models and feedback systems.

Machine-learning systems: Task-driven perception through multimodal information fusion, using weakly supervised object recognition.

AI for robot vision: Deep learning and object recognition, using clustering and optical character recognition to improve navigation and decision-making in complex environments.

Computation and information: The physics of quantum information, from quantum states and probability amplitudes to qubits and measurement.

Computer science: Building machine-learning models in Python, using neural networks, logistic regression and linear regression to investigate heart-disease prediction.

Computer science: Bayesian thinking and cross-domain AI reasoning. How can machines generalize and make better decisions?

Statistics: Are these variables really related? Using modern statistical models to investigate causality and prediction in complex data.

Data science: Applying uncertainty modelling and intelligent reasoning to business decisions, from market insight to risk assessment.

Applied mathematics: How can mathematics build a digital twin of the real world? System modelling from graph models to optimal strategies.

Artificial intelligence: Decision-making under uncertainty, using probabilistic models and intelligent algorithms to improve machine judgement.

Human–computer interaction: Psychology-informed digital products and behaviour change. Why do some apps change your habits while others do not?

UX/UI and AI: Designing intelligent interactions and behaviour-change products. What makes an AI product both useful and worth returning to?

Game design and psychology: Immersive experiences and behaviour change. How can entertainment support learning, public benefit and social change?

Theoretical computer science: What can algorithms actually solve? Modern computation, from Turing theory to undecidability.

AI engineering: Multi-agent coordination, queueing models and LLM deployment. From LangGraph to OpenClaw, how do enterprise AI agents work in practice?

Generative AI and large language models: Deep learning, attention and multimodal systems. How does Claude Code use tools, and how do AI agents complete complex tasks?

Embedded systems: Microcontrollers, communication protocols and reliable C++ architecture. Building real-time Arduino and Raspberry Pi systems with timing constraints, debugging and hardware–software optimization.

Humanities & Social Sciences: research topics

Education: How does the expansion of higher education affect equity? Comparing China and the UK to examine how policy reshapes opportunities across social groups.

Digital education: Rethinking the ethics of higher education and lifelong learning in the age of generative AI. What should higher education offer now?

Socioeconomics: From the promise of higher earnings to skills mismatches in the labour market. Is higher education still a worthwhile investment?

Educational psychology: Does learning two languages create two ways of thinking? Investigating cognitive development in bilingual children.

Machine learning and cognitive science: Does AI learn language like a child? Comparing large language models with childhood language acquisition.

Digital education and sociology: Where does schooling go when ChatGPT becomes a study partner? Investigating changes in learning and knowledge production.

Film, media and culture: Female agency in science fiction and desire in In the Mood for Love. Examining gender, the gaze and the politics of emotion.

Comparative literature: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and representations of modern Chinese women. An East–West dialogue on liberation, social narratives and control of the body.

Gender studies and sociology: Women’s work, class mobility and identity through a feminist lens, from family roles in Royal Beatings to agency in Working Girl.

Digital humanities and popular culture: Bodies in A Cyborg Manifesto and contemporary retellings of myth. Investigating gender boundaries, technology ethics and shifting identities through posthumanism and Metamorphoses.

Social psychology: How digital media affects teenagers’ emotional development and social skills. How do Instagram likes shape their emotional lives?

International relations and public policy: How social policy and economic development interact, comparing income distribution, resource allocation and population ageing in China and the US.

Public health: How exposure to digital media shapes mental-health risks for children and teenagers, from research evidence to public-health interventions.

Public policy and ESG: Climate governance and the green transition. Exploring policy design and strategic interaction through climate policy, energy transitions and ESG frameworks.

Arts management: How can public art support reconciliation between communities and contribute to social change? Cultural expression and social intervention through public art.

AI and law: Copyright disputes over generative-AI training data and conflicts between legal systems, from Kadrey v. Meta to the EU AI Act.

Youth culture: How social structures, economies and cultural settings shape young people’s identities. How do young people move beyond an extended wait for adulthood?

Digital culture: Trends and identity expression from TikTok to YouTube, exploring young people’s social experimentation around the world.

Archaeology and environmental humanities: Reconstructing millennia of human–environment relationships, from settlement patterns to ecological crises and the long interaction of climate, agriculture and civilization.

Developmental psychology: Changes, challenges and influences at key stages of psychological development, with a focus on childhood.

Economics & Business: research topics

Finance: The foundations of option pricing and optimal solutions in quantitative finance, using binomial trees and Wiener processes.

Financial engineering: Derivatives pricing through risk-neutral valuation and the Black–Scholes model, examining speculation and hedging in stocks and options.

Behavioural economics and AI: Looking beyond classical economic theory to investigate irrational behaviour and AI applications in finance and environmental decisions.

Management and AI: Economic challenges and corporate strategy in the global energy transition. How can businesses support sustainable economic development?

ESG: Exploring long-term economic development through ESG principles and AI, with a focus on business-led pathways to sustainability.

Microeconomics and AI: Where reality diverges from classical theory, identifying and addressing irrational behaviour by individuals and firms.

Business analytics: How information asymmetry and differences in market efficiency across industries shape business analysis.

Accounting and finance: Understanding cash flow and financial budgeting through asset-pricing models and capital structure.

Financial mathematics: From mathematical statistics to modelling portfolios and pricing in complex environments.

Digital marketing: How consumer focus and influencer strategies have helped digital marketing expand in China, examining e-commerce and job-search apps.

Consumer insight: Digital consumer behaviour, Go-Stop signals and the psychology of decision journeys, examining persuasion in livestream commerce.

Gaming and entertainment marketing: How Honor of Kings uses audience targeting and video comments to build its ecosystem, focusing on Luban No. 7 on Bilibili.

Hospitality marketing: How hotels build their story through digital word of mouth, examining ibis on Dianping and Xiaohongshu.

Innovation economics: Examining firms’ economic impact through comparisons of China and the US and a startup calculator. What have Elon Musk’s startups contributed to the economy?

Management: Timing, location or people: What matters most to a business? Using multiple business data sources to investigate Tesla’s growth.

Accounting and financial analysis: Assessing solvency and profitability through financial statements, using Costco and other multinational retailers.

AI and supply-chain management: Data-driven process optimization, demand forecasting and intelligent decisions, examining global supply-chain efficiency at Amazon and other leading companies.

Accounting and finance: Building investment-value assessment models from financial statements, exploring company valuation and capital markets through listed companies.

Brand management: Data-driven brand positioning and marketing, examining Starbucks’ approach to managing its brand.

Economics and pricing: How does Uber’s dynamic pricing work? Applying business-data models in Python and R to predictive pricing.

Science & Engineering: research topics

Materials science and engineering: Investigating polymers and nanocomposites for flexible electronics, solid-state batteries, drug delivery and carbon capture.

Nobel chemistry topic: Synthesizing and applying metal–organic frameworks. Exploring porous materials for hydrogen storage, carbon capture and clean energy.

Biomaterials and biomimetic materials: Designing nanoparticle-based smart biocomposites, with biodegradable medical materials for precision drug delivery.

Electrochemistry and energy: Polymers in energy storage, investigating interface control with new polymer electrolytes in lithium-metal batteries.

Microelectronics: Optimizing high-performance operational amplifiers for integrated electronics, from circuit simulation to chip fabrication.

Optics and optoelectronics: Laser-resonator sensors and high-precision lasers in industry and medicine, including cutting, welding and laser surgery.

Robotics: Autonomous navigation and interaction for embodied multimodal robots in dynamic environments, using dynamics, SLAM, Hamiltonian path planning and PID control.

Mechanical engineering: Optimizing automated production in Industry 4.0, from conventional multi-degree-of-freedom robots to AI-driven collaborative robots.

Molecular biology: Genomics through high-throughput sequencing, investigating genetic variation and the regulation of gene expression.

Biotechnology: From reading genes to editing them. Using Sanger and Illumina sequencing and CRISPR-Cas9 to build models of inherited diseases.

Epigenetics: Why does the same DNA behave differently at different ages? Analysing DNA methylation and ageing through bisulfite sequencing.

Bioinformatics: How does BLAST find the sequence you need in a vast database? Sequence-alignment algorithms and their use in gene-function annotation.

Physics: An introduction to quantum mechanics and particle physics, from wave functions and the Schrödinger equation to qubits and the Standard Model.

Quantum physics and computing: Exploring the future of computation through superposition, qubits and the physics of interference and entanglement.

Electrical and computer engineering: How energy-efficient semiconductors and optoelectronics support VLSI and chip design, focusing on low-power transistors and new memory architectures for AI hardware.