Explore Big Ideas with Real Projects

Nova Project Labs for Middle School students

From artificial intellegence to healthcare, middle schoolers dive into fun, month-long small-group projects guided by mentors from the world’s top 25 universities. Along the way, they build early domain expertise, gain confidence for the future, and complete one of their first portfolio-ready projects.

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Enter High School with Focus and Confidence

The earlier students discover what excites them, the sooner they can grow into their best selves. Middle schoolers have big dreams but need guidance to turn curiosity into real-world skills and projects. With expert mentorship and hands-on experiences, Nova helps students uncover passions, build showcase-ready work, and gain the confidence and skills they’ll carry into more advanced projects, high school, college, and beyond.

By the numbers

500+

Students served

350+

Mentors from top-25 universities

25,000+

Hours of mentoring delivered

$120,000+

In financial aid awarded

Nova mentors are from top-25 universities

You deserve world-class support to reach your full potential. That’s why every Nova mentor is a graduate candidate, professor, or alumnus of a top-25 university, including Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. We want middle and high school students to create meaningful work that showcases their best selves.

Our Guarantee to You

Eight Hours, Real Results

Four two-hour sessions completed within a month. Flexible for families, yet deep enough for students to explore a field, build a project, and discover what excites them.

Small Group Learning

Two to seven students per lab (average of three), ensuring personal attention while fostering collaboration and peer learning.

Expert Mentor Team

Graduate students and alumni from top-25 universities who connect with middle schoolers and make complex ideas engaging and understandable.

Showcase-Ready Outcomes

Every student completes a project they’ll be proud to share—such as an AI chatbot, a startup pitch, or a health-tech prototype.

See Pod Topics

Choose Your Nova Project Lab

Explore the foundations of machine learning and ethical AI, and discover how artificial intelligence shapes platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and ChatGPT.

Learn directly from mentors at leading computer science programs who provide guidance on coding, algorithms, and real-world AI applications.

Gain experience in how AI works by learning algorithm basics, training image classifiers, interpreting pseudocode, and experimenting with real-world systems.

In just four weeks, design a redesigned YouTube interface prototype with mock-ups of the recommender system, comments section, and search features.

Explore innovations in startups and discover how new business models are reshaping industries worldwide.

Learn directly from mentors from top companies and MBA programs with experience building ventures.

Gain early business expertise, strengthen strategic thinking, and develop skills in finance, marketing, and innovation.

In just four weeks, develop your own business plan, financial model, and go-to-market strategy—and pitch it with confidence.

Explore breakthroughs in medicine and public health, and discover how innovation is shaping the future of healthcare.

Learn from mentors pursuing MDs, PhDs, and advanced healthcare degrees who can share career guidance.

Gain domain expertise, discover your passions within healthcare, and launch an project to bring those interests to life.

In just four weeks, publish a professional webpage that addresses a real-world health challenge and raises awareness.

Apply now

Download Program Guide

Hear from our students

Sia

All the hands-on projects made learning computer science and AI fun and exciting

Nova AI Fundamentals

Texas, USA

Keshav

We learned really cool things - from coding to GenAI. I wanted to learn about AI do this was a great experience.

Nova AI Fundamentals

California, USA

Divya

I used to think AI was just for engineers, but Nova showed me how AI intersects with business, law, and even social justice.

Nova AI Fundamentals

New York, USA

Cassie

AI is changing the world, and Nova helped me understand how I can be part of that change. Now, I want to explore AI in environmental science!

Nova AI Fundamentals

New York, USA

Richard

I’ve never been in an environment where learning felt so engaging. My Nova Research Mentor gave me the tools and confidence to tackle complex problems with creativity and rigor.

Nova Research

Washington, USA

Brianna

Learning AI at Nova helped me see how it connects with my passion for healthcare. I now understand how AI can be used for medical diagnostics and research.

Nova AI Fundamentals

Illinois, USA

Grace

I never imagined I’d be working on an app that people might actually want and even pay for as a student. Thanks to my team and mentor, I learned how to refine my ideas and transform them into something truly impactful

Nova Patent

Washington, USA

Jessica

My mentor at Nova Research was more than just a guide—they were a true collaborator. Their expertise and encouragement pushed me to think deeper, work smarter, and grow as a researcher.

Nova Research

New Jersey, USA

Druv

Despite not having a programming background, Nova Patent provided enough instruction, support, and an incredible team to help me succeed. I loved working on the app design and I felt that I was truly contributing to something meaningful.

Nova Patent

New York, USA

Anna

Maya was amazing - she knew a lot about AI and convinced me that electrical engineering was the path I wanted to explore next!

Nova AI Fundamentals

California, USA

Priya

I'm glad I did something productive over break! I also liked my cohort

Nova AI Fundamentals

Arizona, USA

Elena

I’ve always loved problem-solving, and AI opened up a whole new way to approach challenges.

Nova Research

Texas, USA

Bella

My mentor went above and beyond, providing personalized feedback, thoughtful discussions, and invaluable career advice. Their passion for research was contagious.

Nova Research

Rhode Island, USA

Jess

I thought I needed a strong programming background to understand AI, but Nova’s structured approach made it easy to learn, no matter my starting point.

Nova AI Fundamentals

Washington, USA

Kate

Learning AI at Nova helped me see connections to fields I never expected—like environmental science, policy, and social impact.

Nova AI Fundamentals

Washington, USA

Taylor

The mentorship at Nova Research is unmatched. My mentor took the time to challenge my ideas, refine my methodology, and help me develop as both a thinker and a scientist.

Nova Research

Arizona, USA

Raj

I really liked it - I learned so much! I'm excited to do research next

Nova AI Fundamentals

Texas, USA

Hear from Middle School Lab instructors

At Nova, students are guided not only by academic mentors but also by publication specialists—peer reviewers and published researchers who help shape papers into journal-ready work. See how our experts support students from first draft to confident submission.
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How Nova AI Fundamentals works

Learn for ten hours over one month within a small, interactive group

Students can join our 2.5-hour small-group online classes. Classes typically meet once a week.

Taught by instructors from top Computer Science universities

Our program has been developed and is taught by instructors from top universities, including Stanford and MIT, often with experience at leading companies like Facebook and OpenAI.

Program costs are $490 USD, covering 10 hours of mentorship and all software expenses for activities.

Taught by former Stanford instructors

All our instructors are BS, MS, or PhD candidates or graduates at top-25 universities with extensive teaching experience in computer science.

Beyond that, our mentors have experience at leading institutions and companies

We look beyond impressive work experience in our mentors—teaching expertise and a genuine passion for AI are essential. With an acceptance rate of around 10% for our AI Fundamentals course, only the most dedicated make the cut. Of course, experience at top-tier AI companies is always a plus.

Five session schedule

Over the course of one week, middle school students will learn the fundamentals of AI through small-group instruction and hands on projects.

Introduction to AI and Machine Learning

Session 1

1. Understanding AI: Overview of AI, machine learning, and deep learning.
2. How AI Learns: Introduction to training AI through data and pattern recognition.
3. AI in Daily Life: Exploration of AI applications, including NLP and computer vision.
4: Activity: Students text classification program that categorizes sentences (e.g., as “positive” or “negative” sentiment)t parameters such as the threshold for categorization, to set stricter or more lenient criteria for each category
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Teaching AI to Understand: Natural Language Processing

Session 2

1. Basics of NLP: Core NLP tasks like language translation and text generation.
2. How NLP Works: Tokenization and basic sentiment analysis.
3. Activity: Students will work enhance a chatbot framework and add a response function for specific keywords (e.g., triggering a greeting when “hello” is detected). Students will also adjust parameters, such as response delay or message length, to modify the chatbot's personality and response style
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Teaching AI to “See”: Computer Vision

Session 3

1. What is Computer Vision?: Introduction to image classification and object detection.
2. Understanding Images as Data: How computers analyze images through pixels.
3. Activity: Students will e image classifier that uses basic image data (such as color or shape). Students will add a function to include a new category (e.g., “red objects”) and adjust parameters like confidence level to control how certain the model needs to be before categorizing an image.

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The Brain Power Behind AI: Neural Networks

Session 4

1. Neural Network Basics: Explanation of layers and how data flows through them.
2. Applications of Neural Networks: How neural networks are used in NLP and computer vision.
3. Activity: Students will pre-builtetwork model, adding a simple activation function and tweaking learning rate parameters how slight adjustments impact the model’s training outcomes.
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Generative AI and the Future of AI Development

Session 5

1. Introduction to Generative AI: How AI can create new content, such as text, images, music, and even video. Overview of OpenAI’s Five Stages to AGI.
2. How Generative AI Works: Basics of how generative models learn patterns in data to produce new outputs. Introduction to key models (GANs, transformers).
3. Deep dive into AI Agents: Understand what AI agents are, how they operate autonomously, and their real-world applications.
4. Activity: Students will work with a text generation script, adding a function to introduce a new storyline or setting (e.g., “space adventure”). They will then adjust parameters like creativity an

Hear from our students

Elena

Nova Research

Texas, USA

I’ve always loved problem-solving, and AI opened up a whole new way to approach challenges.

Divya

Nova AI Fundamentals

New York, USA

I used to think AI was just for engineers, but Nova showed me how AI intersects with business, law, and even social justice.

Brianna

Nova AI Fundamentals

Illinois, USA

Learning AI at Nova helped me see how it connects with my passion for healthcare. I now understand how AI can be used for medical diagnostics and research.

Bella

Nova Research

Rhode Island, USA

My mentor went above and beyond, providing personalized feedback, thoughtful discussions, and invaluable career advice. Their passion for research was contagious.

Jess

Nova AI Fundamentals

Washington, USA

I thought I needed a strong programming background to understand AI, but Nova’s structured approach made it easy to learn, no matter my starting point.

Sia

Nova AI Fundamentals

Texas, USA

All the hands-on projects made learning computer science and AI fun and exciting

Grace

Nova Patent

Washington, USA

Kate

Nova AI Fundamentals

Washington, USA

Learning AI at Nova helped me see connections to fields I never expected—like environmental science, policy, and social impact.

Keshav

Nova AI Fundamentals

California, USA

We learned really cool things - from coding to GenAI. I wanted to learn about AI do this was a great experience.

Anna

Nova AI Fundamentals

California, USA

Maya was amazing - she knew a lot about AI and convinced me that electrical engineering was the path I wanted to explore next!

Raj

Nova AI Fundamentals

Texas, USA

I really liked it - I learned so much! I'm excited to do research next

Cassie

Nova AI Fundamentals

New York, USA

AI is changing the world, and Nova helped me understand how I can be part of that change. Now, I want to explore AI in environmental science!

Taylor

Nova Research

Arizona, USA

The mentorship at Nova Research is unmatched. My mentor took the time to challenge my ideas, refine my methodology, and help me develop as both a thinker and a scientist.

Druv

Nova Patent

New York, USA

Jessica

Nova Research

New Jersey, USA

My mentor at Nova Research was more than just a guide—they were a true collaborator. Their expertise and encouragement pushed me to think deeper, work smarter, and grow as a researcher.

Richard

Nova Research

Washington, USA

I’ve never been in an environment where learning felt so engaging. My Nova Research Mentor gave me the tools and confidence to tackle complex problems with creativity and rigor.

Priya

Nova AI Fundamentals

Arizona, USA

I'm glad I did something productive over break! I also liked my cohort