"To study the topic" means to carefully learn and explore a particular subject or subject matter in order to gain knowledge and understanding about it. Full definition
Encourage students to explore social studies topics such as American history, leadership, money, and the country and community in which they live. (teachercreatedmaterials.com)
But while object recognition is one of the most widely studied topics in artificial intelligence, even the best object detectors still fail much of the time. (sciencedaily.com)
Over the course of an entire school year, 5th grade students study a topic of personal interest — their «it» that inspires them — and become experts in the process. (ascd.org)