Pioneer Academics announces the 27 original research papers that were selected for the 2020 Pioneer Research Journal, an international collection of undergraduate-level research. Published annually, the journal features the most outstanding scholarship generated by the young scholars enrolled in the Pioneer Research Program, the world’s only online research program providing U.S. college credit for exceptional high school students from around the world. Each paper was nominated by one of Pioneer’s world class mentoring professors before undergoing a rigorous review by a member of the 47-member expert review committee of faculty from top American universities and colleges. This committee evaluated each paper according to four criteria: engagement with scholarship, evidence and analysis, writing and organization, and scholarly contribution. The papers ultimately selected after undergoing this rigorous review represent the top 2.7% of the research papers from Pioneer’s 2020 academic year.
For the authors featured in the 2020 Pioneer Research Journal, publication of their work represents a significant personal accomplishment and marks a major milestone in their academic career. Working alongside their professors under Pioneer’s academic oversight, the authors pursued important lines of scholarly inquiry while sharpening the research and writing skills so crucial to academic success. Maanasi Nair, a student at the International School Bangalore, emphasized the value of carrying out original research, pointing out that it opened her eyes to the versatility of research and challenged her to use different skill sets. Additionally, she highlighted the value of being part of Pioneer’s diverse international community. Participating in the program allowed her, she said, “to learn tremendously from the beautiful community of scholars and mentors from around the world.”
Having honed their research skills under Pioneer’s auspices, the authors whose work is featured in the 2020 Pioneer Research Journal are making meaningful contributions to their respective academic fields and recognize the power of research to promote deeper understanding and drive change. Ethan Estrada,a student at Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School in Austin, Texas, and a Pioneer scholar in the field of psychology, noted that his research in Pioneer allowed him to understand how research can empower communities and said, “In the future, I hope to engage in community-based participatory research to give more voice to my community and others like it.”
We are so proud to feature the important work of all the authors whose research will be published in the 2020 edition of the Pioneer Research Journal, which marks Volume 7. The papers in this volume span multiple disciplines in STEM, the social sciences, and the humanities, with authors drawn from schools in China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States. We look forward to publishing this volume of original and compelling research, which demonstrates the extraordinary work that high school students from around the world can achieve when given access to exceptional mentorship and held to the highest academic standards. Please see the list below for the paper titles and authors that will appear in this year’s journal.
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Author: Abhishek Don Hemlani
School: BASIS International School Guangzhou, China
Pioneer Research Area: International Relations
Pioneer Research Concentration: Political Risk and Prediction
Pioneer Research Topic: Lebanon: An IMF Case Study
Author: Adrienne Lai
School: St. Stephen`s and St. Agnes School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Science, Technology, and Society
Pioneer Research Concentration: Digital Mapping
Pioneer Research Topic: Diversity vs. Inclusion in STEM: Factors that Accurately Measure a Tech Company’s Commitment to Inclusion
Author: Alejandra Duran Urriago
School: Colegio Santa Francisca Romana, Colombia
Pioneer Research Area: Biophysics
Pioneer Research Concentration: Biological Sensors: How and How Well Do They Work?
Pioneer Research Topic: Not so Optimal: The Evolution of Mutual Information in Potassium Voltage-Gated Channels*
*This paper will not be printed in the Pioneer Research Journal, as it is currently under consideration for publication in another journal.
Author: Annapurna Ananya Maddali
School: Quarry Lane School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Economics
Pioneer Research Concentration: The Politics of the Gig Economy: Entrepreneurship, Technological Innovation, and Politics
Pioneer Research Topic: Can Corporations Balance Economic Profit with Corporate Social Responsibility?
Author: Bangjun Yue
School: Institut Le Rosey, Switzerland
Pioneer Research Area: Philosophy
Pioneer Research Concentration: Bioethics
Pioneer Research Topic: Bioethics: To What Extent should Humanity Perceive Eugenics as Applicable?
Author: Chuhan Zhang
School: Nanjing Jinling High School International Department, China
Pioneer Research Area: Anthropology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Communication and Culture
Pioneer Research Topic: What Is Wolf: Narratives About Human-Wildlife Conflict in Tibetan China
Author: Dojin Choi
School: Coppell High School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Neuroscience
Pioneer Research Concentration: Understanding the Sense of Touch
Pioneer Research Topic: Exploring Neurotrophin Therapy as a Treatment for Rehabilitating Victims of Childhood Abuse
Author: Ethan Estrada
School: Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Psychology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Psychology of Immigration
Pioneer Research Topic: “¿Que Dijo?” Adolescent Feelings Towards Language Brokering and its Effects on Family Conflict
Author: Jiaying Liu
School: Indian Springs School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Environmental Studies
Pioneer Research Concentration: Our Planet’s Plastic Plight
Pioneer Research Topic: Coastal Plastic Management as a Response to Rafting Invasive Species
Author: Lutfi Erdogan
School: Uskudar American Academy, Turkey
Pioneer Research Area: Computer Science
Pioneer Research Concentration: Biology in Computing: Why Are Networks Neural?
Pioneer Research Topic: Semi-Supervised Classification with Generative Adversarial Networks on Medical Datasets with Limited Size and Label
Author: Maanasi Nair
School: The International School Bangalore, India
Pioneer Research Area: Neuroscience
Pioneer Research Concentration: Vision Impossible: An introduction to the Psychology and Neuroscience of Seeing
Pioneer Research Topic: Search Asymmetry Manipulation with a Common Feature
Author: Mengyao (Angel) Yang
School: San Domenico School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Science, Technology, and Society
Pioneer Research Concentration: History of Medical Technologies
Pioneer Research Topic: Complicated Implications of Simple Images: Schizophrenic Patients’ and Their Families’ Views of MRI and fMRI in the United States from 2000-2020
Author: Nabo Yu
School: Webb Schools of California, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Computer Science
Pioneer Research Concentration: Networks: from Searching the World Wide Web to Slowing the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Pioneer Research Topic: Analysis of Testing Accuracy Threshold for COVID-19 through a Computational SIR Model
Author: Qianyu Guo
School: YK Pao School, China
Pioneer Research Area: Mathematics
Pioneer Research Concentration: Fibonacci Numbers and Visual Proofs
Pioneer Research Topic: Cube-plate Tiling Numbers and Their Identities
Author: Qing Wan
School:Nanjing Jinling High School International Department, China
Pioneer Research Area: Sociology/Political Science
Pioneer Research Concentration: Gender and Political Conflict
Pioneer Research Topic: Uncovering the Invisibility: Protecting LGBT Groups in Armed Conflict and After
Author: Rohan Kartha
School: Westwood High School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Biology
Pioneer Research Concentration: The Gut Microbiome
Pioneer Research Topic: The Relationship Between the Anti-Inflammatory Strength of Butyrate and the Progression of Colorectal Cancer
Author: Ruoxuan Fang
School: Miss Porter’s School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Art History/Architecture
Pioneer Research Concentration: The Medieval Mediterranean: Confluence of Cultures
Pioneer Research Topic: Ship of Theseus: Looking at Hagia Sophia’s Cultural Complexity in the 21st Century
Author: Rushil Roy
School: Monte Vista High School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Political Science
Pioneer Research Concentration: Big Questions in Comparative Politics: Nationalism, Modernity, the Social Question
Pioneer Research Topic: Exit, Voice, and Violence: Contemporary Responses of Non-Hindu Groups to the BJP’s Hindu Nationalism
Author: Seo Yoon Yang
School: Signal Mountain Middle/High School, United States
Pioneer Research Area: History
Pioneer Research Concentration: Political Protest in Latin America
Pioneer Research Topic: “Ya me cansé”: The Role of International NGOs in the 2014 Ayotzinapa Massacre
Author: Vardaan Tekriwal
School: Jakarta Intercultural School, Indonesia
Pioneer Research Area: Business
Pioneer Research Concentration: Financial Accounting & Analysis, Capital Markets, Entrepreneurship, and Decision Making
Pioneer Research Topic: Intangible Assets: The Cause of Veblen Goods: A Breakdown of the Intangible Factors that Drive Pricing Premiums
Author: Xinlin Yu
School: International Department of the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University, China
Pioneer Research Area: Anthropology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Communication and Culture
Pioneer Research Topic: The Danmu Register and the Establishment of its Social Existence in a Youth-Centered Speech Community in China
Author: Xinyi Tian
School: Beijing Academy, China
Pioneer Research Area: Neuroscience/Psychology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Vision Impossible: An introduction to the Psychology and Neuroscience of Seeing
Pioneer Research Topic: How Images Influence People’s Understanding of Science in the Context of COVID-19
Author: Xinyue (Abby) Luo
School: International Department of the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University, China
Pioneer Research Area: History/Sociology
Pioneer Research Concentration: History and Sociology of Sport
Pioneer Research Topic: The Influence of Government Intervention on Sports Participation for School-Aged Children in China Between 2011 and 2020.
Author: Xuan Jiang
School: The Experimental High School Attached To Beijing Normal University, China
Pioneer Research Area: Anthropology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Nonverbal Communication
Pioneer Research Topic: The Slippery Slope: Naturalistic Observations into Nonverbal Manifestations of Formed Dominance Hierarchies Among Children at Play
Author: Yilong Wu
School: University School of Nashville, United States
Pioneer Research Area: Philosophy
Pioneer Research Concentration: The Examined Life
Pioneer Research Topic: Nietzsche’s Agon with Plato: Truth, Morality, and Modernity
Author: Yuanmuhuang Long
School: High School Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Pioneer Research Area: Biology
Pioneer Research Concentration: Cell Biology
Pioneer Research Topic: The Roles of Extracellular Vesicles in Cancer and the Investigation of Exosomal PD-L1 in Immunotherapy of Colorectal Carcinoma
Author: Zizheng Fang
School: Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, China
Pioneer Research Area: Mathematics
Pioneer Research Concentration: Combinatorics and Graph Theory
Pioneer Research Topic: Types of Graphs Generated by Pascal’s Simplices and a Problem Proposed by Teguia and Godbole
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