Frequently Asked Questions

Middle-school students standing at their project boards while parents and judges listen.
Younger scholars showing their boards at the Ardent science fair.

Who it is for

Who is the program for?
Students in grades 6–12 with a real interest in science, engineering or computing.
Does my student need prior research experience?
No. What matters is a willingness to sit with a question that has no answer key yet.
Which division will my student be in?
Junior division is grades 6–8 and senior division is grades 9–12. These match the divisions used in science-fair competition, so a scholar prepares in the bracket they will compete in.
Can we take part from outside Irvine?
Yes. The program runs online, so a student works with the right mentor rather than the nearest one.
A student adjusting a stereo microscope, working closely on a specimen.
A project runs for months. Most of it looks like this rather than like a finished board.

Time and commitment

How much time does a project take?
A competitive project takes roughly 160 hours across the program. That is real work spread over months, not a summer camp.
How often does a student meet a mentor?
Summer cohort scholars have 20 mentor office-hour meetings across the program, plus five research classes and a topic-selection kickoff. One-on-one scholars purchase 10 or 20 private mentoring hours and have weekly research office hours while enrolled.
Kevin standing beside his ISEF board on a computational model of the heartbeat.
Kevin at ISEF, with a computational model of the heartbeat. Second place.

The work itself

Do you help choose the topic?
Yes. Every scholar starts with a topic-selection kickoff with Dr. Li, which exists to turn a broad interest into a question that can actually be investigated.
Is a lab required?
No. Strong projects run from home and school-lab experiments to field studies, engineering builds, and data analysis. The data-science pathway works entirely from existing datasets and needs no lab at all.
Do you provide equipment?
Ardent offers simple biology and physics lab equipment. Most projects are designed to be run with household and school-scale materials.
Do you place students in university labs?
No. Ardent does not arrange access to college or university research labs. Projects are designed to be done with the resources a student can reach.
Which science fair will my student enter?
Most students start at their regional fair: the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair for local students, or the equivalent regional fair wherever you are. Strong projects continue to the California Science and Engineering Fair and to national and international competitions from there.
What happens if a project needs safety approval?
Projects involving human participants, vertebrate animals, biological agents, tissue or hazards may require approval before research begins. Ardent identifies which requirements apply months before the forms are due, and tracks each one through to signature.
Dr. Li sitting beside a student at a laptop, reviewing code together.
Working through a problem at the keyboard, not over the student’s shoulder.

Mentors and AI

Who will mentor my student?
Dr. Li and Dr. Ko are the principal research mentors, and both hold weekly office hours. As a project becomes more specialized, Ardent brings in subject experts and coding coaches: graduate researchers and working scientists in the relevant field, selected and briefed by Dr. Li for that project.
What role does AI play?
AI reviews the student’s own writing, checks it for shape and grounding, and helps assemble their notes into documents. It never approves a step, never invents science, and never replaces the mentor’s judgment.

Contact Us

Care@ArdentAcademy.com(949) 861-2211