When a student applies to Lumiere, an important part of their application process is the interview stage. During the interview, we ask them questions about their topic of interest and what they might like to do research on, and add these to their application notes.

When mentors join the Lumiere team, we also ask them for a list of topics that they feel equipped to help students with. After the interview, we run the student’s interests against those of all the mentors in our roster and make a preliminary match.

We would first send the student profile to the mentor, and if the mentor thinks they would be able to support the student, they would indicate ‘yes’ on an attached form. Next, we send the mentor’s profile to the student, who will say ‘yes’ if they think this might be a good fit.

Once both the student and mentor have agreed to work with each other, the match has been made, and they can begin working together in the following cohort.

Our students join us from across the world, but with the majority coming from the US.

Students typically hear of us from their friends, teachers, and college counselors, or when they look online for research programs for high school students.

We have four core cohorts a year - Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Winter: December - February

Spring: March - May

Summer: June - August

Fall: September - November

We also have smaller Summer II and Winter II cohorts for students in countries where holidays start a little later, or if they were unable to meet the core application deadline but would still like to make use of their break to participate in the research program.

How many students you take on is up to you! Before every cohort, we will send around an availability form, asking how many students you will have the capacity to mentor in that quarter, and you’re welcome to answer as many or as few as you’d like. On average during the summer, mentors often take 3+ students.

This number is supposed to be indicative of your capacity. This means that if you tell us that you are able to take on 3 students, we will pair you with a maximum of 3 students. Some cohorts are smaller, and mentors may be paired with fewer students than they have the capacity to take on.

Mentors usually work with 2-3 students per cohort, but we have mentors who prefer to work with fewer or more students as well.

Lumiere primarily offers 3 programs -

The Individual Research Program (IRP) is a 12-week program. Mentors and students meet 9 times for an hour each during this period.

The Premium Research and Publication Program (PRPP) is a 16-20 week program. Mentors and students meet 15 times for an hour each over the course of it, and students submit their paper to a high-school level journal or competition at the end of it.

The Research Fellowship Program (RFP) is a 6-8 month program. Mentors and students have up to 30 hour-long meetings during this time, and and students submit their paper to a competitive college-level journal or competition at the end of it.

In the Individual Research Program, students are expected to write an independently researched academic paper that is about 15-20 pages long.

As part of the Premium Research and Publication Program, students are expected to write an independently researched academic paper that is about 15-20 pages long and submit it to be published in a high school level journal.

In the Research Fellowship Program, students will be asked to produce a research paper that has a component of original work, either through primary data collection or conducting experiments where possible. Scholars then submit their paper to a high school or undergraduate journal or submit to prestigious competitions.

Lumiere has an in-house team of Publication Specialists who will be in touch with the students in the Premium Research and Publication Program, and the Research Fellowship Program, to help them choose their target publications, tailor their papers according to the needs of each target, as well as to guide them (and you!) through the process of making the submissions. Most students will be targeting high school level journals, so different from the type of journals you would submit to as a PhD researcher.

The role of the mentor is to provide content expertise and research guidance for students who are interested in their area of discipline.

Students will come into the program with particular interests and areas of curiosity, and we will pair our mentors and students to ensure as close an alignment of interests as possible. The mentor molds these interests and guides the students through the research process.

Since the expectation is that students also do a large amount of the work independently, mentors will act not just as a supervisor; but in the earlier stages of the program, they will take on the role of a teacher, and eventually, transition to an overseer of the work that is being done.

For each student that they are working with, mentors can expect to spend around one hour per week meeting with the student (depending on the number of mentor-student meetings in that particular program).

Mentors also spend an average of 30 minutes in preparation for each contact hour they have with a student. This may vary slightly over the course of the program.

Students have different goals when applying to be a part of Lumiere’s research program depending on the stage they are in their academic careers.

Some students are excited about learning more about a discipline they have not had a chance to explore academically, like Psychology, or Astrophysics. Is the right discipline for them? Is it something they are able to commit to in an academic context? Would they want to pursue it at university?

Other students may have disciplinary knowledge but would like to try their hand at conducting research themselves. They are probably looking to test if research/academia is for them. Since research is likely to be a big part of their collegiate life, they would like to attempt it for the first time in a more supportive, protected environment.

There are also students who understand that universities appreciate research, and they look to get a head start on the research process and experience. They hope to build a more well-rounded profile before they enter college.

We are eager to work with students who can demonstrate academic excellence and a drive to learn beyond the classroom. We are also always excited to work with scholars who are curious and passionate about a particular field or discipline, though they may not have had the resources or opportunities to explore the fields they are interested in!

Our best mentors are not only experts in their respective fields but also empathetic to their students. They acknowledge that students' lives and interests can be confusing and dynamic during high school! As an extension, they try their best to be flexible and accommodative, while also taking care to guide and shape the research projects as effectively as possible.

Absolutely! Here you go