Overview
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Overview

The world’s ONLY fully accredited online research organization for high school students. We offer high schoolers institutional resources to conduct original, undergraduate-level research. Pioneer is widely respected for its selectivity and academic rigor.

Academic Standards and Oversight That Matter

Pioneer is the only program that teaches and adheres to the highest possible global standards for creating original research.

We provide faculty oversight to ensure these standards are met consistently.

Pioneer is the only research program with third-party oversight, provided in collaboration with Oberlin College.

This shared responsibility includes independent full-spectrum reviews, which consistently demonstrate that Pioneer is meeting and exceeding undergraduate academic standards.

Pioneer is the only fully-accredited online college research program for high school students — earning college credits with your research.

The journey to your possible starts here

  • Pioneer Academics

    Spring-to-Summer Term

    FEBRUARY ― APRIL
    • Group seminar sessions
    • 5 sessions; 1.5 hours per session
    • 3-5 reading hours per week*
    MAY
    • Program intermission
    • Formulate research topic
    JUNE ― JULY
    • Individual research mentoring 5 sessions; ¾-1 hours per session
    • Write and edit research paper
    • 8-14 research hours per week*
  • Pioneer Academics

    Summer Term

    JUNE ― JULY
    • Weekly group seminar sessions
    • 5 sessions; 1.5 hours per session
    • 6-10 reading hours per week*
    AUGUST
    • Individual research mentoring
    • 5 sessions; ¾-1 hours per session
    • Formulate research topic
    • Write and edit research paper
    • The Pioneer papers are due by the end of August
    • 8-14 research hours per week*
    September
    • Some students may be permitted to extend their due dates into September

* The above range of hours spent on research is the average as reported by surveyed Pioneer Scholars. The actual hours may vary.

Pioneer Research Highlights & Tuition

Learn About Pioneer’s Unique Program And Tuition Details

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Pioneer Offers A Full Spectrum of Research Areas

  • Anthropology
  • Architecture
  • Art History
  • Astronomy
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • Comp. Sci.
  • Criminology
  • Culture Studies
  • Ecology
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • Envir. Studies
  • Film Studies
  • Gender Studies
  • History
  • Int’l Relations
  • Literature
  • Mathematics
  • Media Studies
  • Music/Music Theory
  • Neuroscience
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • STS (Science, Technology and Society)
  • Sociology

Explore our extensive collection of student research papers to see the innovative and impactful work our students have produced.

Pioneer Topics Research

A few examples of past Pioneer research topics include

  • The Socioemotional Brain and Decision Making (Neurosci.)
  • Cells and Intracellular Machines (Biology)
  • Environmental Neurotoxicology (Bio-chemistry)
  • Gravitational Waves and LIGO (Physics)
  • Combinatorics and Graph Theory (Mathematics)
  • European Integration in Comparative Perspective (International Relations)
  • The Political Economy of International Development (Econ.)
  • Film Noir and its Contexts (Film Studies)
  • Great Scientific Controversies in Context (Science, Technology & Society)
View Papers
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Online Information Session

Empower yourself with your possible at Pioneer Research and learn how to apply at our online information sessions

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How to Apply

Learn about Pioneer Research Institute’s unique value and tuition details.

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Video Insights

  • Tezen
    Francisco J. Tezen
    President & CEO, A Better Chance

    “Former Pioneer scholar Kennedy would never have considered her dream to earn a PhD in computer science had she not participated in Pioneer, which she learned about through A Better Chance. Kennedy is now working towards her undergraduate degree at Columbia.”

  • Mary Hetlage
    Mary Hetlage
    Former Senior Associate Director of Admissions University of Chicago

    “When Pioneer actually provides a written evaluation inside of an application, they provide a lot of information so you understand the program, you understand what is behind it, you understand the accreditation that comes from behind it, the rigor, that there is an evaluation rubric.”

  • Alexis
    Alexis
    California Institute of Technology

    Pioneer scholar Alexis, now a student at Caltech, says Pioneer gave her the confidence to ‘teach myself advanced concepts and interact with professors’.

  • Annabelle
    Annabelle
    Emory University

    Pioneer scholar Annabelle, loves hands-on problems, whether engineering or fix-it. She is now studying engineering sciences at Emory University.

  • Bailey
    Bailey
    UC Berkley

    Pioneer scholar Bailey, says her Pioneer experience has been invaluable for her studies at UC Berkeley.

  • Jada
    Jada

    Pioneer scholar Jada, was very thankful for Pioneer opening doors for her to receive guidance from her professor and learn much about college-level research.

  • Jeremias
    Jeremias
    Harvard University

    Pioneer scholar Jeremias, now a student at Harvard, is concentrating on neuroscience and government, hoping to understand medical problems and policy solutions.