Go beyond the classroom.

A Research Intensive gives students the opportunity to pursue a question they genuinely care about through a structured, mentored research process.

Designed for motivated middle and high school students, Pembroke Research Intensives combine independent inquiry, research training, academic writing, and individualized feedback. Students develop a research question, investigate existing scholarship, evaluate evidence, construct an argument, and produce a substantial final project that they can then publish.

Research Intensives are 12-week, asynchronous, online courses modeled after (and drawing best practices from) the Research Training Programme I completed for my PhD studies at UCL. They are available in the humanities, social sciences, and non-experimental STEM fields.

Students move through the research process:

Explore → Question → Investigate → Analyze → Argue → Write → Revise

Depending on the field and project, a student may investigate historical documents, analyze literature, examine social-science research, conduct a systematic review of existing scholarship, analyze publicly available datasets, explore a scientific question through existing literature, or develop another appropriate non-experimental research project.

Students are not expected to arrive knowing how to conduct academic research. The Intensive teaches them how. The finished project can then be published and even used as a stepping stone to future opportunities in their interest area, including competitive summer programs and internships, for which the Intensive provides guidance.

Three Research Pathways

Humanities Research

For students interested in fields such as:

History
Literature
Philosophy
Classics
Languages
Religious studies
Art history
Cultural studies
Media and cultural analysis

Humanities research often begins with a question about how people have understood, represented, interpreted, or experienced the world.

Students might investigate a historical question, analyze a body of literature, examine primary sources, compare competing interpretations, or explore how ideas have changed across time and place.

Social Science Research

For students interested in fields such as:

Sociology
Psychology
Economics
Political science
Education
Anthropology
Geography
Communication
Social policy

Students learn how social scientists investigate questions about people, institutions, behavior, and society.

Depending on the project, students may conduct a literature-based investigation, analyze existing research, examine publicly available data, conduct a structured comparison, or develop another non-human-subject research approach appropriate to the question.

The emphasis is on research design, evidence, methodological reasoning, analysis, and argument.

Pembroke does not conduct experimental or human-subject research with minors through these programs.

STEM Research — Non-Experimental

For students interested in STEM fields who want to pursue research without conducting laboratory or experimental work.

Possible areas include:

Biology
Environmental science
Computer science
Data science
Mathematics
Astronomy
Earth science
Public health
Neuroscience and related fields

Depending on the discipline, students may conduct literature reviews, analyze existing datasets, examine computational or mathematical problems, conduct systematic investigations of published research, or explore a scientific question using publicly available evidence.

The emphasis is on scientific reasoning, evidence evaluation, analytical thinking, and clear communication of findings.

Research Intensives do not involve laboratory experiments, medical research, or experiments involving human or animal subjects.

What Students Learn

The final paper or project is only part of the experience. Students develop transferable research skills that will serve them throughout high school, university, and beyond.

Research Questions

Learn to move from a broad interest to a focused, researchable question.

Finding Sources

Learn how scholars locate relevant books, articles, datasets, primary sources, and other evidence.

Evaluating Evidence

Learn to assess sources for relevance, credibility, limitations, context, and perspective.

Reading & Note-Taking

Develop systems for reading complex material, recording evidence, and synthesizing ideas.

Analysis

Move beyond summarizing sources to identifying patterns, relationships, contradictions, and implications.

Argument

Develop a defensible claim supported by evidence and appropriate reasoning.

Academic Writing

Learn to structure and communicate a sustained research argument clearly.

Citation & Research Ethics

Learn responsible approaches to attribution, citation, paraphrasing, and the use of sources.

A Structured, Independent Experience

Research Intensives are designed to strike a balance between independence and structure.

Students are expected to do the intellectual work themselves. They find sources, read, take notes, analyze evidence, develop arguments, and write their projects.

The Intensive provides the structure and guidance needed to make that work possible.

The Intensive instruction and support can include:

Refining the research question
Developing a research plan
Identifying appropriate sources
Discussing research methods
Reviewing research progress
Providing feedback on outlines and drafts
Helping students troubleshoot challenges
Guiding revision
Discussing how to communicate the finished research

Flexible by Design

Research Intensives are designed for students whose schedules may not fit a traditional summer or after-school research program. The program is asynchronous through Google Classroom. While materials are released weekly, they can be reviewed on the student’s own schedule, and detailed feedback is offered with each assignment submission.

Students have a clear research roadmap while retaining flexibility in when they complete individual research and writing tasks.

Who Is It For?

Research Intensives are particularly well suited to students who:

Have a genuine academic interest they want to explore more deeply
Enjoy asking questions that do not have obvious answers
Want to develop university-level research and writing skills
Are considering a research-oriented field of study
Want to pursue an independent project beyond their school curriculum
Need structure to turn an idea into a completed project
Want meaningful intellectual work rather than a résumé-building activity

No particular prior research experience is required. Students should, however, be prepared to read, write, think independently, and sustain attention on a question over an extended period.

Ready to Investigate a Question?

If your student has a question they cannot stop thinking about—or simply wants to learn what it means to conduct serious academic research—a Pembroke Research Intensive can provide the structure and resources to take that curiosity further.