Announcing the 2021 Pioneer Research Journal Nominees

December 15, 2021

Journal nomination , News , Pioneer News

The Pioneer Research Journal is an annual publication of the best research papers that high school students can accomplish before they go to colleges

Pioneer Academics is proud to announce that 118 papers authored by scholars from the 2021 program have been nominated for publication in The Pioneer Research Journal, an annual publication showcasing the most outstanding undergraduate-level research and writing generated by the high school students from 48 countries and regions who participated in this year’s program.

The scholars whose work has been nominated hail from five continents, 13 countries and regions, and 104 high schools. The nominated research papers present original research in a wide range of academic fields spanning STEM, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Pre-professional disciplines.

The Pioneer Research Program is the world’s only online research program granting U.S. college credit for high school students. These nominated research papers form the capstone of the Pioneer Research Program, in which exceptional high school students from around the world follow Pioneer’s strict process to conduct original research. The scholars enrolled in the program meet online with small international cohorts to develop deep knowledge in their research concentration before moving on to work individually with the professor to generate an undergraduate-level research paper on a topic of their own.

All of the research papers completed by Pioneer Scholars undergo rigorous academic oversight, each one representing a significant achievement in original exploration and discovery and held to the highest academic standards. The 118 papers nominated for the 2021 edition of The Pioneer Journal, which marks the 8th volume, comprise the top 10% of the papers produced during Pioneer’s 2021 Spring and Summer terms. The nominated papers will now be evaluated in a comprehensive review process which includes a double-blind review by a panel of more than 40 university faculty experts from leading universities and colleges.

We look forward to announcing the papers selected for publication shortly after the start of the new year. In the meantime, we congratulate the authors of all the nominated papers, each of whom exemplifies the academic rigor embodied by the Pioneer system. For a complete list of nominated papers and authors, please see the chart below.

Scholar Name	Scholar School	Scholar country and regions (by school)	Pioneer Research Area	Pioneer Research Topic
Aadvik Shukla	The Shri Ram School Moulsari	India	Sociology/Political Science	The Uttar Pradesh Anti Conversion Ordinance, 2020 - Deconstructing the stated neutrality of legislative material in the BJP’s populist, majoritarian India.
Aanya Bhalla	International School of Hyderabad	India	Chemistry/Biology	Developing Alectinib-based Small-Molecule Antagonists to Treat Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Aaron Lu	West Point Grey Academy	Canada	Business	Casper Sleep Valuation: Are Investors Sleeping on Casper’s True Value?
Amena Hussain	South Brunswick High School	United States	Neuroscience	Dopamine signals reward prediction error and action selection
Anna Kassim	Croydon High School	United Kingdom	Philosophy	Being’s Chain, God’s Death, and Atlas’ Shrug: How meaning is blurred and deferred in the consideration of godlessness and freedom
Anna Song	Seoul Foreign School	South Korea	Film Studies / Media Studies / Sociology / Culture Studies	Instagram: A Tool for Maintaining Sex: Comparative Objectification in Young Women
Anruo Wang	Shenzhen College of International Education	China	Education	The academic implications of out-of-school tutorials on Chinese and American students’ high-stake test performance
Ariane Vidal	San Francisco University High School	United States	STS	Race in the Eugenics Movement and the Progressive Era, 1910-1939
Ashlesha Bhojane	Hollis-Brookline High School	United States	Psychology / Neuroscience	A Healthy Body Is a Healthy Brain When It Comes to Alzheimer's Disease
Bao Nguyen	Punahou School	United States	Chemistry	A theoretical study into the stepwise mechanism of the McLafferty rearrangement of 2-pentanone
Brian Fan	Appleby College	Canada	Economics/Mathematics	Game Theory: Red Packet Game
Brian Nguyen	Northside College Prep High School	United States	Film Studies / Media Studies	Film’s Portrayal of Mental Illness and Violence: Schizophrenia, DID, and PTSD
Caroline Greenstone	Greenhill School	United States	Philosophy	Making Decisions in a Crisis: The Ethics of Scarce Resource Distribution Policies During COVID-19
Catherine He	Ridley College	Canada	International Relations/Political Science	Myanmar Risk Analysis
Charisma Chen	Westridge School for Girls	United States	Economics/Political Science	Eliminating the Inefficiencies of the Current Car Resale Market Through Startup “BuyoutALease”
Chong Tin	Eton College	United Kingdom	Cultural Studies/Environmental Studies	A Contemporary Perspective on the Health of the Great Barrier Reef and the Wellbeing of the Torres Strait Islanders
Christopher Buyalos	Calabasas High School	United States	International Relations/Political Science	New Wars in Yemen? Classifying Debates around post-Cold War Conflict and Tracing the Emergence of New Wars in Yemen
Claire Liu	Naperville North High School	United States	Music/Music Theory	The Role of K-pop in Modern East Asian-American Cultural Identity and Mental Health
Connor Lee	La Cañada High School	United States	Criminology/Sociology	An Analysis on the Value of Self-Control in Committing Crimes
Daeyong Kwon	Centennial High School	United States	STS/Computer Science/History/Political Science/Culture Studies	Distinct Minorities’ Relationships with Political Ideology in Baltimore City
Daniel Zhu	Dougherty Valley High School	United States	Biology	Does IL-10 induced upregulation of the NKG2A receptor in NK cells result in lymphopenia of NK cells in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2?
Dat Chau	Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School	United States	Sociology/Political Science	Vietnam: Disillusioned Equality for Ethnic Minorities
David Li	William P. Clements High School	United States	Computer Science	Using Networks and Supervised Machine Learning to Analyze and Predict the Results of Team Sports Games
Dhun Nishchal	Heritage Xperiential Learning School	India	Physics/Chemistry	Identification of the different chemical structures present in an unknown sulfur sample using K-edge X-ray absorption near end structure (XANES) data analysis
Divya Mamidi	Mira Loma High School	United States	Economics / Political Science / International Relations / Sociology	Private Companies Dictating Public Purpose: Aadhaar in India’s Digital Welfare Revolution
Dorothy Chan	Brooklyn Technical High School	United States	Environmental Studies	Imagining a carbon-neutral future through Standard Oil’s Four Sisters standing: Beyond Petroleum, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell
Duru Unsal	Alameda High School	United States	International Relations	“Democracy as a Choice:” Weimar Civil Society and the Rise of the Nazi Party
Efe Uğurlu	Robert College	Turkey	Physics/Astronomy	Putting Constraints on the Dark Matter Density at the Center of our Galaxy from the Most Recent Observations of GRAVITY
Ege Kabasakaloğlu	Bahcesehir High School for Science and Technology	Turkey	Computer Science	Analyzing Generalized Harary’s Tic-Tac-Toe Using Automated Algorithms
Elise Pham	Lawrence Dale Bell High School	United States	Biology	Mechanisms of Inhibition for β-lactam Resistance: A Novel Investigation of Therapeutic Efforts against Gram-negative Bacteria
Emory Sun	International School of Beijing	China	Mathematics/Physics	Representations of a natural number as the sum of four of eight squares
Enzo Banal	North Hollywood High School	United States	Media Studies/Political Science	A Photo Finish Amidst a Hurricane: Why Election Outcomes Have Been Consistently Narrow Despite Institutional Bias
Ezgi Erzincan	Saint Joseph Istanbul	Turkey	Political Science/International Relations	The Consequences of Urbanization on Access to Housing and Education in Turkey: Struggles and Coping Strategies of Syrian Refugees
Faruk Ecirli	NUN Schools	Turkey	Business	Exploring the Entrepreneurial Differences Between Immigrant and Local Populations within the Context of Necessity and Opportunity Entrepreneurship
Hanqi Su	Culver Academies	United States	History/Culture Studies/Political Science	Liberation Through the Imperial Imagination: Garveyism in Nigeria, 1919-1922
Hao Jiang	International Department of the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University	China	Chemistry	Formation of Umami Taste in Furu: The Role of Fermentation and Associated Health Benefits
Haoyu Wang	International Department of the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University	China	Cultural Studies/Anthropology	Communication and Trade Between African and Chinese Merchants in Guangzhou, China
Inyoung Lee	Seoul Foreign School	South Korea	Economics / Political Science / International Relations / Sociology	Civil Society and Democratization: The Role of the Labor Movement in South Korea’s Democratic Transition
Irene Lin	Homestead High School	United States	Music/Music Theory	Complexity Within Minimalism: Rhythmic Perception of Steve Reich’s Clapping Music
Isaac Lowry	Granville High School	United States	Biology	A Proposal to Facilitate Endogenous, Physiological Adrenal Steroidogenesis in 21-OHD CAH Patients via Recurrent Enzyme Replacement Therapy-
Isabella Lashley	The Chapin School	United States	International Relations/Political Science	Along a Post-Colonial Spectrum: Considering Theory through an Analysis of Jordanian and Lebanese Identities
Ivy Jiang	Stuyvesant High School	United States	Psychology	The Curious Mind of Self-Deception: The Effects of Personality and Its Influence on Academic Achievement
Jeffrey Chen	Niskayuna High School	United States	Chemistry	Skin-Inspired Semiconducting Polymers and SulfurNitrogen Containing Porous Polymer Networks
Jiali Yu	Hangzhou Foreign Languages School	China	Mathematics/Computer Science	Impact of Fans on Home Court Advantage in the NBA
Jiaxi Wei	Shenzhen Middle School	China	Physics/Chemistry	Sulfur K-edge XANES Study of Determining the Proportion of Known Structures in an Unknown Element
Jiayuan Jiang	The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University	China	Cultural Studies/Anthropology	A Temporary Gender Indexical : How Female Mandarin Serves as a Constructive Force on Modern Female Identity in Beijing Society
Jingru Yang "Jenny"	United World College Changshu China	China	Anthropology / Psychology / Culture Studies	An Examination of Urban-Rural Differences in Maternal Child-Rearing Strategies: Using Data from Shanghai and Sui-Ning
Jingyuan Zhang	The Experimental High School Attached To Beijing Normal University	China	Architecture/Art History	“War” at “Home“: The Feminist Narratives of Martha Rosler’s Photomontages
Jiyul Shin	Korea International School	South Korea	Literature/History	Secret of the Grotesque: Exploring the physical and fantastical realms of Nikolai Gogol’s The Nose and E.T.A. Hoffman’s Little Zaches called Cinnabar
Josephine Lee	Seoul Foreign School	South Korea	Economics	Advancement during Crises in Developed Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Economic Growth of Germany and Italy
Junfei Sun	United World College Changshu China	China	Computer Science / Biology / Neuroscience	A more eﬃcient cell segmentation network with SkipNet
Kathryn Beistle	Gilbert Classical Academy	United States	Economics/Political Science	Overproduction and Inefficiency in the Fashion Industry: A Proposal for Creative Destruction
Kayla Wanahita	United World College of South East Asia - Dover	Singapore	Film Studies / Media Studies / Sociology / Culture Studies	What Are the Differences of White and Black Women's Actions Within America's Political Structures During and Following the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Kenedy Quandt	Sierra Canyon High School	United States	Biology/Neuroscience	Effectiveness of Virtual Reality on the Arm Following Stroke
Kosta Barsov	Nova International Schools	Macedonia	Environmental Studies/Engineering	Efficient Wastewater Treatment through Smart Stormwater Management
Kyle Tignor	Dallastown Area High School	United States	Mathematics/Physics	A Proof of the Asymptotic Formula for Partitions
Kyra McKauffley	Churchill High School	United States	History/Culture Studies/Political Science	“Everything for Them, Nothing for Us”: Slogans and the “Us versus Them” Relationship of the 2006 and 2011 Chilean Education Protests
Lara Buruk	Robert College	Turkey	Economics	The Effect of Culture on How Emotions Influence Spending Decisions
Laura Zhang	Ravenswood School for Girls	Australia	Sociology/Political Science/History	Opening Our Hearts: An Analysis of How Noel Pearson Reframes the Debate Through Irony and Identification
Luojia Liu	Shenzhen Foreign Languages School	China	Business	How friendship and shared leadership impact team performance
Manya Lalwani	Flintridge Preparatory School	United States	Anthropology/ STS	Do the Incarcerated Have Rights? The Impact of Covid-19 in America’s Prisons
Michael Jacob	Research Triangle High School	United States	Physics	Modeling the Frequency Shift of Light Emitted from Stars Orbiting Around Black Holes
Michelle Liu	Chinese International School	China-Hong Kong	Psychology	The Efficacy of Practicing and Expressing Gratitude Interventions for Improving Well-Being in Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong
Minghan Gao	Qingdao No. 58 High School	China	Media Studies	The Comparison Between BBC News and Myanmar Times: How Do Different Frames Express Racial Grievances of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar?
Moxuan Xiong	Rutgers Preparatory School	United States	Philosophy	Trans Selfhood, (Mis)recognition, and Post-identity Resistance
Munachimso Isabel Ohakamma	L.V. Hightower High School	United States	Psychology	Collective Memory Within the Black Community
Naisha Agarwal	Saratoga High School	United States	Computer Science	Recommendation Algorithms to Encourage Equal Access to Influencers in a Network
Nanru Dai	BASIS International School Guangzhou	China	Mathematics	A Brief Introduction to Fractional Coloring with Applications to Graph Products
Nathaniel Chapman	St. Paul`s School	United States	Philosophy	An Examination of Descartes’ Doubt and the Foundations of Certain Knowledge
Paridhi Latawa	Liberal Arts and Science Academy	United States	Mathematics	Applications of Convolutional Codes to DNA Codes and Error-Correction
Peter Tizora	USAP Community School	Zimbabwe	Engineering	Investigating the Advantages of Battery Swapping For Increased Adoption of Electrical Vehicles
Qianyu Liang	Shenzhen College of International Education	China	Psychology	The Relationship Between Religious Practice and Depression: Intrinsic Religiousness as Moderator
Rheem Abbas	West Ashley High School	United States	Political Science/International Relations	There is no 'Ancient Egypt.' There is Only Nubia: The Shifting Role of Grade School Education in the Shaping of Sudanese National History
Rishika Gupta	Amity International School, Saket	India	Sociology/ International Relations/Political Science/Gender Studies	Gendered Nature of Art & Resistance in Kashmir
Rizabek Alpamys	Atyrau `Bilim-Innovation` lyceum	Kazakhstan	Engineering/ Computer Science	Facial Edge Extraction Using Quantum Hadamard Edge Detection Algorithm
Ruby Tseng	The Primacy Collegiate Academy	China-Taiwan	Literature	Resurrecting Dead Voices
Ruomin Xin	Shanghai United International School Gubei Campus	China	Biology	Introducing probiotics or probiotic polysaccharide A to complement Nivolumab’s antitumoral activity in colorectal cancer
Ryan Hsi	Mercer Island High School	United States	Music/Music Theory	Background and Analysis of Fugues No. 3, No. 5, and No. 7 in Nikolai Kapustin’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, OP. 82: The Life and Compositional Mind of Nikolai Kapustin
Ryan Su	Concordia International School Shanghai	China	Biology	The Potential of Linoleic Acid as an Anti-biofilm Agent Paired With Antibiotics to Target P. Aeruginosa Biofilms
Samantha Shah	San Ramon Valley High School	United States	History / Sociology / Biology	The Illegitimate Defenses of Nazi Physicians
Sangwon Shin	The SMIC Private School, Shanghai	China	Chemistry/Biology	Structure-based mixed cannabinoid design presents new opportunities for fibrosis treatment
Sean Liu	Dulwich College Beijing	China	Engineering	Automatic Flood Barrier for Protecting Urban Underground Facilities
Seungmo Ku	Korea International School, Jeju Campus	South Korea	Computer Science	Arbitrary Length and Arbitrary Quality Audio Steganography
Shiv Kampani	Dhirubhai Ambani International School	India	Engineering	Swarm and Search Systems An Application of Swarm Robotics to the Exploration of Fireground Environments
Shivani Menon	Oakridge International School Bangalore	India	Literature/Philosophy	The Representation of Untouchables as Others in Indian Literature
Siddharta Laloux	Sevenoaks School	United Kingdom	Physics/Computer Science/Mathematics	Epidemic Propagation in Multilayered Networks
Simratpal Deol	Ithaca Senior High School	United States	Environmental Studies	Exploring the Adverse Health Effects Associated with Atrozene and Whether More Substantial Restrictions are Required in the United States
Soham Dasgupta	Mallya Aditi International School	India	Computer Science	Learning predictive models of entity-threat relationships in cybersecurity from distributed representations of knowledge graphs
Songpei Li	Rutgers Preparatory School	United States	Economics / History / Poltical Science / International Relations	The Impact of the 2008 Financial Crisis on JPMorgan Chase and its future Implications
Sophia Lao	Cosumnes Oaks High School	United States	Political Science	The Impact of Female Political Representation in State Legislatures on Abortion Policy in the United States
Tianyi Wang	Shanghai Pinghe School	China	Biology/Neuroscience	Effectiveness of Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) on Upper Extremity for Stroke Patients: A Scoping Review
Ugochukwu Osondu	Federal Government Academy, Suleja	Nigeria	Mathematics	Tiling the [n × n] square with (1 × 1) squares and (n − 2) × 2 rectangles
Veer Gokhale	German Swiss International School	China-Hong Kong	Physics	A Study of Prompt and Non-Prompt J/psi production at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV via the mu+mu- channel using data from Compact Muons Solenoid (CMS) Experiment
Wangruoxi Liang	Keystone Academy	China	Economics/International Relations	Trade liberalization, capital stock, sectoral growth and urban-rural inequality: evidence from China
William Kim	Seoul Foreign School	South Korea	Economics	UAI and Economic Development: A Case Study of Singapore and South Korea
Xiaohan Wang	The Webb Schools	United States	STS/Media Studies/Political Science/Philosophy	Conspiracy Theory as a Technology of Power
Xiaoyi Shi	Shanghai Foreign Language School	China	Biology	Mutability and Function of SARS-CoV-2 ORF9b
Xinran (Cici) Xu	Saratoga High School	United States	Environmental Studies	Expanding Intergovernmental Water Markets Between Colorado River Basin Tribal Countries and Western States as a Response to Socioeconomic Drought
Xintong Chen	York School	United States	Psychology	Comparing the Response Rate, Remission Rate, and Effective Age Range of High-Frequency Left Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (HFL rTMS) and Low-Frequency Right Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (LFR rTMS) in Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
Xueyin Yang	Shanghai American School Pudong	China	Gender Studies/Sociology	A Tale of Two Model Minorities: A Critical Analysis of Saving Face
Yage Xin	Shenzhen College of International Education	China	Science, Technology & Society (STS)*/Anthropology/ Sociology	"I Have Autism": Uses and Misuses of Autism as Internet Slang in China
Yan Shu	SMIC High School	China	Literature/Film Studies	The Madness of Indifference: Literature and Film on the Comic Insanity of 20th Century Warfare
Yanxi Ren	Shenzhen Middle School	China	Neuroscience	Light and Photoreceptors Beyond Vision
Ying Hu	Rutgers Preparatory School	United States	Education/Sociology	Trends of Chinese Given Names and the Reflective Female Gender Stereotypes
Yixuan Huang	Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School	China	Literature/Film Studies	As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing: the Psychotherapeutic Effect of Comedies
Yong Jie Chou	St. Paul`s Co-educational College	China-Hong Kong	Sociology/ Media Studies	#Challenge Accepted for Women in Turkey: Trending Instagram Participation or Collective Feminist Activism?
Yue Yu	Teensen Genesis School	China	Physics/Biology	Realistic Kinetic Properties for Oxygen-Sensitive K+ Channels in Gloms Cells of the Carotid Body
Yueqi Mei	Guangdong Country Garden School	China	Psychology/Gender Studies/Sociology	How Parent’s Perceptions of student’s academic performance are affected by gender and gaming behavior
Yukino Sakai	Dulwich College Beijing	China	Engineering/ Mathematics	A Mathematical Model of Rocket Staging and Staging Optimization
Yuqian Qiu	Vanke Meisha Academy	China	Environmental Studies/Engineering	A Pilot Wastewater Treatment Plant Designed to Target the Removal of Nanoplastics using Acoustic Radiation Force (ARF)
Yushan Yuan	Tabor Academy	United States	Environmental Studies	Apply Systematic Evalation in Anti-Plastic Programs
Yuxiang Zhang	The Thacher School	United States	Astronomy/Physics	Is GW170817A Real? Investigating the Detection Confidence of GW170817A
Zane Mogannam	De La Salle High School	United States	Chemistry/ Biology	A Comparative Analysis of Three Nucleoside Analogue Inhibitors as Antiviral Therapeutics Against SARS-CoV-2 RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
Zehra Gundogdu	Bahçeşehir High School for Science and Technology	Turkey	Art History/Architecture	Change of Byzantine Art Programs through Iconoclast Era
Zhefei Cao	The Ethel Walker School	United States	Mathematics	Further Hops in Toads and Frogs
Zihao Gao	McCallie School	United States	Business	EDU Valuation: A New Era for Private Education or the Beginning of the End?
Ziyu Zhou	BASIS International School Park Lane Harbour	China	Economics/International Relations	Migration’s Effect on the Sending Country: The Case of Poland
Zoey Duan	Punahou School	United States	Psychology	Comparing Mediated Effects: Child Language Brokering Frequency and Family Obligation on the Association between Disaster Severity and Acute Stress Disorder Symptoms