I understand that stuff perfectly fine, but it just feels like I've been doing that and not completing the projects because I don't have a specific project chosen, if that makes sense.
there are a number of factors, some projects only become available to be completed after certain points in the story. make sure your team has plenty of tech and your exploration has surveying, as those are the most relevant stats for what this build has to offer. other than that, you may try the maths background, since it gives you the most explicit information. tech background will also give a passive buff to the tech stat.