Xavier Portillo is a postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, where he is a Kavli-Laukien Fellow with the Origins of Life Initiative and works with Harvard Medical School. He holds a PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He has received national research fellowships from the National Science Foundation and NASA and has over a decade of experience mentoring students, including founding Yale’s Graduate Undergraduate Mentorship Initiative.
How to Turn Biology Lab Research Into a Science Fair-Ready Project
3rd November · 6 PM UAE · Zoom
Join Dr. Xavier P., Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, and Samyra M., 2x ISEF Grand Award winner and Yale University chemistry student, for a practical look at how high school students can approach lab-based biology research and develop it into a competitive science fair project. Dr. Portillo will explain what meaningful lab research involves and how students can build the skills to contribute to scientific work, while Samyra will share the student perspective on turning lab research into a project that can stand out at high-level science fairs.
If you’re considering biology research or science fair competitions, this session will help clarify what strong preparation looks like.
If you’re considering biology research or science fair competitions, this session will help clarify what strong preparation looks like.
Register now
Discover how students can start lab research and build toward competitive science fairs.
Hear from a Harvard researcher and a 2x ISEF Grand Award winner on building rigorous lab research and developing it into a strong science fair project.
Webinar in collaboration with ScienceFair.io
Webinar in collaboration with ScienceFair.io
You will learn:
01
How high school students can get started with lab-based research
02
What meaningful lab research involves and the skills students need to contribute
03
How to develop lab research into a rigorous, science fair-ready project
04
What makes a project stand out at competitive science fairs, including ISEF
Learn from
real mentors
About Elizabeth
About Alex
Samyra is a Chemistry major at Yale University, with a research focus spanning DNA nanotechnology, metallated DNA systems, and nanomaterials synthesis.
Her academic achievements include the Alan S. Tetelman Fellowship for International Research in the Sciences and the Robert C. Bates Summer Research Fellowship at Yale. In high school, she was a two-time Grand Award winner in Materials Science at the International Science and Engineering Fair (2nd place in 2025, 3rd place in 2024) and received a New York State Assembly Citation for Excellence in Research and Innovation.
Her academic achievements include the Alan S. Tetelman Fellowship for International Research in the Sciences and the Robert C. Bates Summer Research Fellowship at Yale. In high school, she was a two-time Grand Award winner in Materials Science at the International Science and Engineering Fair (2nd place in 2025, 3rd place in 2024) and received a New York State Assembly Citation for Excellence in Research and Innovation.
How Indigo Research works
Indigo Research mentors high school students to produce exceptional, publishable research. With a curriculum designed by Harvard and Oxford graduates, students work with top university faculty or PhD fellows, building intellectual depth and boosting their academic profile.
Our students achieve real outcomes – journal publications, competition wins, and admissions to the world’s leading universities. Indigo students have a 33% Ivy League acceptance rate – over three times the global average – and a 22% acceptance rate to Oxford and Cambridge.
