How can I start an independant research study/project, specifically for AI and ML.

Answered

Hi!

I'd recommend first going to scholar.google.com/ and searching for something you're interested in with the keyword 'AI', and the keyword 'reviews'. A scientific 'review' is a meta-paper written about papers in a certain field. By reading a review paper, you can find out examples of current research. For example, I might search 'hematology AI reviews'. To narrow it down further, add a specific application of the AI you are interested in, e.g. 'hematology AI reviews leukocyte classification' (using AI to classify white blood cells). Add a recent date range to ensure accurate data.

For example, I found this review: jmir.org/2022/7/e36490/. After reading it, I found several studies I found interesting, for example Das et al. 2020 and Sahlol et al. 2020 which both explored using AI to analyse WBCs and see if they are indicative of leukemia. Search up the authors of those papers (not just the first author, but mainly only search those that are postdoc researchers - don't want to bother people working towards MS/PhD as they are very busy!) on Google Scholar and find a more recent paper they have published to ensure that their current research interests still align with yours.

Now, email this researcher with some considered questions about their research (either the newer paper or the one that lead you to them) that can't be googled/found in the paper. In your email, ask if they are open for providing assistance/inspiration for a project of yours or if they are open for taking on new research assistants. If you have already done some research in the area, highlight your experience (for example I might discuss my experience developing a CNN with TensorFlow Keras to identify the different types of healthy white blood cells apart and how it can be applied for leukaemia classification). If they don't reply, maybe send a follow-up email in 5 days, but otherwise leave them alone. It might help to use an @.edu email address if your school allows you to send emails for this purpose. I'd also recommend CC-ing in a trusted adult like a science teacher or parent with all communications and never jumping on a call unsupervised.

Many profs are very busy as it is, so you will probably be ghosted/denied most of the time, so ensure to email a wide variety of profs (but please don't spam, keep your questions and collaboration ideas relevant to them). The great thing about AI work is that it isn't mainly wet-lab focused so you can likely find some profs willing to collab remotely, but you will more likely find success with profs in your local area.

Good luck finding a project and collaboration!