RISE Scholar Award

The 2025 Research in Science and Engineering (RISE) Scholar Awards recognize 12 exceptional young female STEM scholars in the Los Angeles area for their commitment to innovative scientific research or engineering and design projects.
 
Each RISE Scholar will receive a $300 stipend to be paid to the student’s educational institution of choice to cover the costs of tuition and fees for the following year. If the winning project is completed by more than one student, the award will be split equally among students.
The RISE Scholars will be honored at the Archer STEM Symposium on Saturday, May 17, 2025, where they will each present their research in a 15-minute presentation to a small audience of attendees.

List of 5 items.

  • Eligibility

    Entrants must meet all of the eligibility requirements listed below.
     
    1) You must be a female student, or a team of female students, attending a Los Angeles area high school.  

    2) You must have conducted original and independent research in a STEM discipline during the 2024-2025 school year under the guidance of a research mentor. Students conducting research at professional or university laboratories must submit an original project that is not part of an existing research project, grant, or thesis.

    3) All applicants must submit a RISE Scholar Award Application with the required Research Report (see Guidelines) and Parental Consent & Media Release Agreement by Monday, April 21, 2025 (by 8:00 p.m. PST). Each member of a group project must submit an application.

    4) All applicants must RSVP to Present a Poster by Monday, April 21, 2025, in addition to your application.

    5) Research mentors must submit a Research Mentor Feedback Form for each project submitted for a RISE Scholar Award by Monday, April 21, 2025. 

    6) All selected RISE Scholars are required to attend the Archer STEM Symposium on Saturday, May 17, 2025, and present their research in both a poster session format and a 15-minute slide presentation to a small audience of attendees.

  • How to Apply

    The following components must be completed by Monday, April 21, 2025 (by 8:00 p.m. PST):  
     
    By the Student Applicant(s) (each member of a group project must submit an application) 
    1. The RISE Scholar Award Application, including the following uploads:
     
    By Student Research Mentor:
    • Research mentors must submit a Research Mentor Feedback Form for each project submitted for a RISE Scholar Award.
    • With sufficient notice, please share the link with your mentor and kindly request them to complete the form prior to Monday, April 21, 2025.

  • Judging Criteria

    The Selection Committee considers the following aspects when judging the project submissions:
    • Scientific communication: clear logic and flow    
    • Literature review: strong background research    
    • Question or problem is original with real-world application
    • Innovative methodology or design
    • Technical achievement
    • Perseverance and tenacity in process    
    • Research Mentor feedback
    • While the following are not required to be complete at the time of submission, their inclusion can add further support to applications:
      • Results: application of mathematical reasoning or statistical analysis and clear data visualization
      • Conclusions: strong evidence and reasoning

  • 2025 RISE Scholar Award Timeline

    • Monday, April 21: Deadline to submit the following: 
      • RISE Scholar Award Application Form
      • RSVP to Present a Poster
      • Research Mentor Feedback Form
    • Monday, April 21 - Thursday, May 1: Selection Committee reviews RISE Scholar Award submissions
    • Friday, May 2: Archer RISE Scholar Award recipients will be notified via email
    • Saturday, May 17: Archer RISE Scholar Award recipients will:
      • Present their research during one of two poster sessions
      • Present their research in a 15-minute presentation to a small audience of attendees
      • Attend the RISE Scholar Award ceremony

  • Previous Winners

    2024 Archer RISE Scholar Award Winners
    Alex Martin (Archer School for Girls)
    The Roles of ACE I/D Polymorphism and HLA-B*15:01 in COVID-19 Outcomes

    Anna Entin (Archer School for Girls)
    The Effects of Social Interaction on Oxidative Stress in a Drosophila Model of Parkinson’s Disease

    Finley Vincent (Archer School for Girls)
    The Effects of Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG) and Nano-EGCG on Cadmium Chloride and Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate Induced Cancerous Tumors within Planaria Model

    Angelina Lin (Brentwood School)
    Algae NanoTextiles: A Sustainable and Versatile Alginate-based Textile Infused With Nanotechnologies

    Hyejoon Oh and Isabella Valdivia (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Development and Validation of a Low-Cost Eye Tracking System

    Sihua Liu and Zihan Mao (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Ingestion of Tire Wear Microplastics Causes Potential Neurological Harm in Planarians, Manifested as Slower Phototaxis

    Ashley Hurjak and Yutong Xu (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Investigating the Impact of Tire-Wear Particles on the Regeneration of
    Dugesia tigrina

    Xirui Wan and Xuanxuan Zhong (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Real time detection of muscle fatigue using arduino based surface EMG frequency and amplitude measurements 

    Mikayla Hsieh and Veronica Udell (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Tracking Fixations and Saccades during Reading to Determine the Optimal Text
    Perceptual Features for Student Reading Comprehension

    Neha Agrawai (Gretchen Whitney High School)
    A Sticky Solution to Polystyrene Pollution: Determining the Optimal Polystyrene Product to Create the Strongest Adhesive When Dissolved in Acetone

    Luciana Piro and Akira Brown (Polytechnic Pasadena)
    Unveiling the Polymer Puzzle: Characterization and Quantification of Nanoplastic
    Pollution in Marine Water From Santa Monica Using MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry

    Stephanie Cheung (Westridge School for Girls)
    Hypoxic Environment Impacts CBX6 Expression and its Potential Target CA9 within Glioblastoma

    2023 Archer RISE Award Winner
    Amy Chen and Samantha Savage (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Treating Resilient Medical Implant Infections with the Hidden Genius of Apple Pies and Cranberry Sauce

    2023 Archer Scientific Research Award Winners
    Ellamae Fortin and Julia Krider (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Remediating Triclosan from Our Wastewater: New Methods to Keep Our Ocean Safe

    Greta Irvine (Archer School for Girls) 
    The effect of senolytic Nutlin-3a on Lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster as a Model for Healthspan

    2023 Archer Engineering & Technology Award Winners
    Sarah Choi, Kana Park, and Kirthana Senthil (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Direct detection of REM sleep using low-cost cameras: The ZZZleep
    Mask

    Caroline Fall, Lulu Hood, and Emily Manookian (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy)
    Development of blink rate detecting glasses for student attention monitoring SAM-EE: Student Attention Monitoring for Educational Enhancement

    2022 Archer RISE Award Winner
    Evan Bowman ’22 (The Archer School for Girls)
    The Effects of Curcumin and Paeonol on Oxidative Stress induced by Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate in the Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane Assay.

    2022 Archer Scientific Research Award Winners
    Olivia Jarvie ’22 (The Archer School for Girls)
    Snailed it! : The Effect of Helix aspersa Snail Mucus and Antimicrobial Bacterial Cellulose Hydrogel on Wound Healing in Caenorhabditis elegans 

    Karen Garcia ’23 (The Archer School for Girls)
    The Effect of Piperlongumine as an Inhibitor for the BRAF V600E Mutation from the Ras/MAPK Signaling Pathway in Caenorhabditis elegans

    2022 Archer Engineering & Technology Award Winners
    Katherine Lee ’22 (The Archer School for Girls)
    Detecting and Identifying Cell Debris and Foreign Material on Complex Medical Instruments through Neural Networks and Image Comparison

    Noa Wallock ’22 (The Archer School for Girls)
    Repairing Survivor Aftercare: Self-administered Intimate Sample Collection Device to Eliminate the Retraumatization of Sexual Assault Survivors
The Archer School for Girls admits students of any race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status in its hiring or in the administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, financial aid programs or other school-administered programs. 

The Archer School for Girls’ mission is to educate students in an environment specifically designed for girls. As such, the school will consider any candidate for admission who identifies as a girl. Once admitted to Archer, all students in good academic standing who abide by Archer’s code of conduct and who meet requirements for graduation will be eligible to receive an Archer diploma, regardless of any change in sexual identity or other legally protected status.