Three IUSD students have been named among the top 300 scholars in the 79th Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors.
In 1942, the competition was founded to offer a chance for America’s best and brightest students to present their original research to professional scientists. As a reward, each student will receive $2,000 for themselves and $2,000 for his/her school. Previous contestants have gone on to win the world’s top science and math honors such as the Nobel Prize and National Medal of Science.
“It’s similar to winning Oscars in movies,” said David Knight, chair of the science department at University High School. “It’s a big deal.”
Here are the three scholars from IUSD and their research topics:
Karen Chung, 18, Northwood High School
Integrating Mathematical Modeling with Machine Learning to Identify Cancer Driver Genes
Lev Kruglyak, 16, University High School
Maximal Divided Power Extensions of the Rational Cherednik Algebra of Type A1
Arjun Neervannan, 17, University High School
Combating Cyberbullying and Toxicity by Teaching AI to Use Linguistic Insights from Human Interactions in Social Media
Arjun Neervannan has been named a top 40 finalist and will represent IUSD during the Finals Week competition this March in Washington, D.C. The top 10 finalists for the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2020 will be given a range of $40,000 to $250,000 in prize money.