School Research Collective

Project SEED

Students Empowered through Experimental Design — our flagship project, serving Frisco ISD

Frisco ISD has 12 high schools and thousands of students who want to do real research — the kind that competes at ISEF, gets published, or actually answers a question nobody’s answered before. There’s no district-level program that teaches them how to start. Project SEED fills that gap.

We run workshops on experimental design, match students with mentors at UTD and UNT, and walk them through the science fair pipeline from regionals to ISEF. Four programs, all free, all designed to compress the first six months of figuring-it-out into something you can actually finish before the regional fair deadline.

Workshops: Curiosity to Question

A five-week series that takes you from “I think I’m interested in [topic]” to a defined research question with a draft methodology. Sessions run weekly, in person at rotating Frisco ISD schools and over Zoom. Replays available.

  1. From Curiosity to Question — the difference between an interest and a research question; how to narrow a topic by reading 5-10 papers.
  2. Reading the Literature — finding papers, reading efficiently (abstract → figures → discussion → methods), identifying a gap.
  3. Experimental Design & Controls — hypothesis vs. research question, variables, why controls matter, common methodology pitfalls.
  4. IRB, SRC, and Paperwork — when you need IRB approval, the Scientific Review Committee process for ISEF-affiliated fairs, walking through the actual forms, common rejection reasons.
  5. The Project Canvas — a one-page document summarizing question, hypothesis, methods, expected outcomes, timeline, and materials/access needed. This is what mentors will actually look at.

Mentor Matching Network

Once you have a question and a draft methodology, we match you with a mentor — a graduate student or professor at UTD, UNT, or another local institution who works in your area. We’ve already done the cold-emailing so you don’t have to. Match commitment is one meeting per month for the duration of your project. Some mentors offer lab access; others stick to advising. Both are useful.

Competition Navigation Guide

A free, public guide to the science fair pipeline in North Texas — covering the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair (our region’s ISEF qualifier), the Texas Junior Academy of Science / JSHS pathway, Regeneron STS and ISEF-affiliated competitions, journal options for high school authors, and the deadlines, paperwork, and eligibility rules for each. It’s a living document we update every fall. Read the guide →

Peer Review Circles

Before you submit anything, you get feedback. We run small group sessions where students present their projects to each other and to senior ambassadors who’ve competed before — one round in early winter, one two weeks before the regional fair deadline.

Ready to get started? Apply for the fall cohort or request a mentor.