THE ASPIRING SCHOLARS DIRECTED RESEARCH PROGRAM
Interested? Find out more:
Who we are
The Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program (ASDRP) is a nonprofit, private research institution in Fremont, California. ASDRP is the Bay Area's premier precollegiate research & development institution, run by a consortium of highly skilled scientists, engineers, and researchers with years of academic and industry experience who collectively seek to push forward the current frontiers in biology, chemistry, physics, computer science, psychology, medicine, engineering, and more. Meet our leadership team and some of our faculty members here.
We mentor high school students - budding scientists in 9th through 12th grade - who come from every corner of the greater Bay Area, California, and across the United States. Students in 9th-12th grade who are interested in performing research at ASDRP must apply at this link. ASDRP performs research year-round, but prospective applicants must apply before the posted deadlines. Please see the "Applications" page for deadlines. Applications are competitive, but we aren't necessarily looking for simply "straight-A's" or a particular grade point average. We seek student researchers who are passionate, who are unafraid of a steep learning curve, and who want to be involved in real science that has real impact on society.
What we do
Quite simply, we do research. Research at ASDRP is divided into three Departments - Biological, Human, and Life Sciences; Chemistry, Biochemistry & Physics; and Computer Science & Engineering. Our investigators and student researchers strive to make impact in fields ranging from cancer biology, drug discovery, and computer-guided drug design to radioastronomy, machine learning, psychology, and urban sustainability.
Our scientists are involved in developing novel therapies against cancer, using data science to understand the impact of climate change on society, synthesizing the next generation of antibiotics, developing machine learning platforms for drug discovery, understanding mechanisms of memory acquisition, probing the universe for ultrafast radioburst signals, and much, much more. Read more about our research here.
As in any other R&D establishment, we publish papers, present work at conferences, and generate intellectual property. Check out some of our latest preprints, publications, and conference proceedings here.