Leonardo da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks

Channeling da Vinci

Senior art student Nikolai Oskolkov talks so knowledgeably about one Italian master that it's as if the two of them are contemporary collaborators.

Oskolkov began studying da Vinci in spring 2004, when he set out to paint Genevra de Benci, da Vinci's portrait of a beautiful Florentine lady. "The idea," he said, "is not to try to make a forgery, but to learn and address the same issues the artist faced."

Oskolkov learned more about Renaissance artists during a student trip to Venice led by art professor David Voros. In his classes, Voros often emphasizes working with original materials such as making pigments the way the painters did. That is how Alex Duineka, a recent graduate and Voros student, created a section from the Ghant Altar Piece, by Jan van Eyck. Her work is now on exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art.

"She created the piece as a research project and, as a result, developed an interest in conservation and is currently doing a restoration assistantship in Florence, Italy," Voros said. "A good percentage of my students want to be involved in research like this; the majority of my independent studies center around this type of exploration."

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USC's Office of Undergraduate Research takes inquisitive students into the lab, the studio, even the on-campus nursery school.

They don't wear deerstalker hats or gaze intently through magnifying glasses, but many undergraduates at USC are intent on pursuing knowledge and taking part in the latest research.

For these students, and the faculty and graduate students they work with, "research" simply means asking questions and finding answers. And it can be pursued in virtually any area of study. Not every student at USC is involved in the traditional areas of research; that is, not every student is peering into a microscope or scratching bacteria onto a petri dish.

"Our office encourages students to explore research opportunities in the traditional areas of science, technology, and medicine, as well as music, theatre, and art," said Julie Morris, program director in USC's new Office of Undergraduate Research. "We support any arena that provides an environment for students to explore their interests at a more in-depth level than they could in the classroom."

Undergraduate students conducting research is not a new concept for USC or other universities across the country. What is new at USC is its Office of Undergraduate Research, initiated by the Research and Health Sciences division and officially unveiled this past November.

"Creation of this office clearly demonstrates USC's commitment to promoting student inquiry, discovery, and creativity in all disciplines by integrating instruction, research, scholarship, and creative activities," said Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health sciences.

"Basically, we are the flag-wavers for student research at USC," Morris said. "This office centralizes the student research that is going on, provides a definition for each project, and creates and maintains a database that lists all of the faculty members and their research.

"We also offer seminars and workshops for students on topics such as how to write a manuscript. We have a huge database for summer research opportunities. With a large number of medical and graduate schools now requiring undergraduate research experience, we expect more undergraduates to become involved."

USC's new Magellan Scholar Program will be one incentive. Magellan Scholars receive up to $3,000 to fund a research or creative project in collaboration with a faculty mentor. Project proposals are competitive and are chosen based on several criteria, including the student's prior academic success and the intellectual merit of the proposal.

And while not every undergraduate will conduct research-or even want to-many will. We spoke with several who are already making discoveries.