Find & Focus Your Research Topic
Turn your passion into a clear, 6-week Laidlaw research question.
Laidlaw projects start with a question that matters—to you and to someone else. This page will help you move from a broad interest (“climate justice,” “education access,” “public health,” “AI and ethics”) to a focused, feasible research question you can pursue in a 6-week summer.
Your Next Steps to Develop a Research Topic
- Passion — I care about… because…
- Why me — This connects to me through [course/experience/curiosity].
- Impact — If we learn more about…, it could help [who?] by [how?].
A topic is more focused than “climate change” or “education.” It names a concrete angle: a place, a policy, a population, a time frame, or a debate.
- Start with a phrase that captures your interest
- e.g. “aging in community,” “youth mental health,” “fair housing”
- Add words to narrow and specify
- place, group, time, specific policy/program, or a particular debate.
- Turn it into a statement that hints at a relationship or tension
- “Community development corporations can help modify dwellings and connect aging residents to the services they need.
Answer the following:
I am studying ________
because I want to find out ________
in order to help my audience of ________
understand better ________.
- What problem, puzzle, or argument are you addressing? Is it actually a puzzle, or is the answer already obvious?
- What does your audience care about? What do they need to know to inform action?
- Is your focus specific enough to go into depth, but broad enough to matter beyond a few cases?
- Who else cares about this?
- scholars, practitioners/policy actors, community stakeholders.
- Does your project add something meaningful or overlooked to what they already know?
- Will this hold your interest for the summer (maybe beyond...) and help with your next steps (grad school, jobs, community work)?
- Fill Out Our "Application Assistance Form"
- Check Our "How to Find a Mentor" page
- Subject / Research Librarians - help with databases, finding gaps/controversies in the literature, and sharpening your question.
- Data Lab - for data, GIS, stats, coding questions (help checking feasibility).
- Faculty & advisors - your advisor and other faculty can help!
- Laidlaw team - sign up for an upcoming info session here or email us here.
