Starting lives of science, leadership, and service

VITALITY BIOSCIENCES

What is Vitality?

Simply put: an experiment in education

A member-powered, independent nonprofit organization, six-figure cost BSL-2 biotech laboratory, interdisciplinary scientific research group, competition team, and think tank of ~20 high school students. Guidance is received from alums of Vitality, PhD student mentors, various partners, and teachers from local schools.

Founded in 2022, Vitality is a unique institution of scientific research. The year-round (June-June) program is built upon three pillars: academics, member self-government, and service. The physical lab space is located in Fremont, California. Between five and nine new members are admitted each year, with entire membership consisting of high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors from the San Francisco Bay Area. The program is at a meager cost and is completely free in case of financial need. In exchange, Vitality member are expected to dedicate themselves to service and humanity. Vitality alums have gone on to study in many different fields, ranging from biology to engineering to political science.

The three pillars, which comprise members’ formal responsibilities in their usually three years in Vitality, prompt each member to take real responsibility for and ownership of the community. Members are expected to bring a high level of preparation and engagement to each session, well above what is expected of members of the same age in any other program. While we do not expect anyone to be perfect, especially when first entering Vitality, a constant desire for improvement is essential. Contrary to anything else the members may have experienced, in Vitality, members are largely not told what to do.

We provide the same promise as life itself: to pursue genuine happiness so that the world may become more perfect.

The Offer of Vitality

To recognize that what hurts one teammate hurts us all.

To recognize that, no matter what, we are always doing better than we deserve.

To continually strive not just to meet expectations, but to surpass them.

To build a standard for the appreciation of others' work and the criticism of your own.

To meet challenges head-on, knowing true potential lies beyond comfort.

To explore deeply and embrace diverse perspectives in our big world.

To make committed friends, who are to be leaders in all walks of life.

To always have integrity, ensuring personal growth fuels our collective success.

To prioritize the health of the heart, mind, and body, knowing true vitality begins within.

To find our flow state—supporting our missions, each other, and humanity as a whole.

This is the offer of Vitality for a journey of vitality.

Science

As part of the Vitality experience, science is a study of responsibility, cooperation, and the research. With small groups, thorough preparation and participation are seen as the member's responsibility to the team. We treat member not as consumers but as creators of their education and related projects. Members create their research projects and, with guidance, learn by doing. Vitality sets members years above expectations in terms of not only scientific knowledge but also the inherent interdisciplinary fields that come with it. While we are primarily a biological research institution, just about any field of study is somehow integrated into our projects and competitions.

Members drive all lab sessions and are responsible for thinking critically about how each project can improve, attempting to enhance their participation, and giving feedback to other members.

Self-Governance

Members at Vitality participate in running the organization itself in ways that are not possible at larger institutions. The students are tasked with governing itself and working with advisors in the institution's day-to-day operation. Students are mutually selected to leadership positions within the student body.

Additionally, members serve on one of three standing committees:

Resources Committee

Initiatives Committee

Communications Committee

Members learn skills ranging from replying to emails and posting on social media to finding research grants, arranging travel, writing contracts, managing hundreds of thousands in assets, and much more.

In addition, as members are responsible for maintaining the lab space, there will is an element of labor involved in cleaning, repairing, building, and operating machines in the lab. Members also must work on attaining specific lab safety certifications.

Service

We believe that education of the heart is just as, if not more important than the education of the mind. As part of it, we allow for members to contemplate their role in a community. A community where everyone must be committed, not just involved. A community that holds each other accountable. A community that will push everyone to develop healthy habits.

We are a community that is in the service of humanity, both inside and outside the lab. Whether that means group volunteering events, working on projects that actively seek to serve humanity (requirement of all projects), and the general uplifiting of others both within and outside of our community.

As a charity, all work in Vitality grants service hours to our members.

For more details, feel free to explore the rest of our website, as well as the Institute for Vitality website, where common principles across all Vitality programs are explained. This year's general handbook for all Vitality programs is below:

Vitality Handbook 2025-2026 General.docx (1).pdf

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