Unionville High School Student Named one of Top 300 Student Scientists in the Nation

Arnab Sircar Named Scholar in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2022

Society for Science (the Society) recently announced that Arnab Sircar, a student at Unionville High School, was among the top 300 scholars in the 81st Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Arnab Sircar will receive $2,000, and Unionville High School will receive $2,000 to use toward STEM-related activities.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search scholars were selected from 1,805 applications received from high school seniors across the world. Scholars were chosen based on their exceptional research skills, commitment to academics, innovative thinking and promise as scientists, and hail from 185 American and international high schools in 37 states, China, Switzerland and Singapore.

“Working on a project like this has been a very rewarding experience, especially as I was able to develop mathematical models to broaden the scope of decision-making problems, a field that I've enjoyed working in for some time,” stated Sircar. “Being recognized by the Regeneron Science Talent Search as a Top 300 Scholar is a huge honor and inspires me to pursue this kind of research in the future."

Sircar is a senior at Unionville High School. His winning project was titled: Characterization of Emotional Contagion in Collaborative Decision Support Systems. It is a fascinating deep dive into using statistical analysis to dig into the growth of toxicity in social media groups. 

In a summary of his project, Sincar shared, “With the rise of online forums that facilitate collaborative decision-making, participants post questions, replies, arguments, comments, votes, and various other forms of inputs toward deliberation. Sometimes, participants use emotional language that can be contagious, which may hinder objective decision-making. My project was to quantify toxicity as an emotional contagion that may be present in online forums. I developed a mathematical model to predict the spread of toxicity or any emotional contagion and also created a novel index that measures the extent of toxicity contagion in these environments. This could be a useful tool for managers/moderators of online forums."

The full list of scholars can be viewed here: https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/2022-scholars

“Arnab's ability to focus his ideas, complete analysis using appropriate mathematical notation and techniques outside of our typical math curriculum, and communicate his findings has only begun to keep pace with his sense of inquiry,” stated Ms. Dori Ray, Unionville High School Mathematics teacher and Arnab’s project mentor. He has grown as a mathematician and a researcher throughout high school. The sophistication of projects that he has pursued has evolved in practical and creative ways."

The Regeneron Science Talent Search provides students with a national stage to present original research and celebrates the hard work and discoveries of young scientists who are bringing a fresh perspective to significant global challenges. This year, research projects cover topics from bioinformatics to public health and energy efficiency.

“Amid an unprecedented and ongoing global health crisis, we are incredibly inspired to see such an extraordinary group of young leaders who are using the power of STEM to solve the world’s most intractable challenges,” said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of Society for Science, Publisher of Science News and 1985 Science Talent Search alum. “The ingenuity and creativity that each one of these scholars possesses has shown just how much intellectual curiosity and passion can thrive, even in difficult times.” 

On January 20, 40 of the 300 scholars will be named Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists. The finalists will then compete for more than $1.8 million in awards during a week-long competition taking place March 10-16.  

About the Regeneron Science Talent Search

The Regeneron Science Talent Search, a program of Society for Science since 1942, is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. Each year, nearly 2,000 student entrants submit original research in critically important scientific fields of study and are judged by leading experts in their fields. Unique among high school competitions in the U.S. and around the world, the Regeneron Science Talent Search focuses on identifying, inspiring and engaging the nation’s most promising young scientists who are creating the ideas that could solve society’s most urgent challenges.

In 2017, Regeneron became only the third sponsor of the Science Talent Search as a way to help reward and celebrate the best and brightest young minds and encourage them to pursue careers in STEM as a way to positively impact the world. Through its 10-year, $100 million commitment, Regeneron nearly doubled the overall award distribution to $3.1 million annually, increasing the top award to $250,000 and doubling the awards for the top 300 scholars and their schools to $2,000 each to inspire more young people to engage in science.

Program alumni include recipients of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes, 11 National Medals of Science, six Breakthrough Prizes, 21 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and two Fields Medals.