About

I’m Soundarya. I’m a senior at Liberty High School, and the first time I tried to do independent research, I had no idea what I was doing. I was working on a hydrogel project and later an AI project. Both started with me cold-emailing professors, watching YouTube videos about IRB approval, and figuring out a regional science fair pipeline by trial and error.

I got there eventually. But the only reason I got there is that I had the time, the initiative, and access to people who could point me in the right direction. Thousands of students could do real research if someone showed them how. School Research Collective is the program I wish had existed when I started.

What we believe

Research isn’t for “research kids.” It’s a skill, and skills can be taught. Most students who think they “aren’t science people” haven’t been given the tools to design an experiment. That’s a curriculum problem, not a personality problem.

The hardest part is starting. Once a student has a question they actually care about and a mentor who can point them at relevant literature, the rest is execution. We focus relentlessly on the first 30 days.

Pipeline matters more than prizes. A student who makes it from “I don’t know what to research” to “I submitted to the regional fair” has won, even if they don’t place. The number we care about most is participation, not awards.

How we work

We’re not one program — we’re a collective that runs individual projects, each aimed at a specific gap in how students get access to research. Our first, Project SEED, serves Frisco ISD. As we grow, we plan to launch more projects for more students, in more places.

Team

Founder and ambassador bios coming soon. Real photos, real names — no stock photos.