Next week is Research
Appreciation Week at IUP, and the work many students have been doing will
be on display across campus.
Victoria Jakicic, of Bethel Park, is one of the students
who will be presenting her research. A senior with a double major in psychology
and mathematics, Jakicic will be presenting “A Theoretical Foundation for the
Application of Basic Research in Perception to Prosthetic Vision” at the
Undergraduate Scholars Forum on Tuesday at the Kovalchick Convention and
Athletic Complex.
“It’s about a mathematical model that explains a
psychological phenomenon—in this case, showing why phosphene exist when you
stimulate certain parts of the cerebral cortex,” she explained.
In basic terms, Jakicic has been doing research in
the field of prosthetic vision, where implants in the brain have been shown to
help blind people to see.
“There are 37 million blind people in the world,”
said Jakicic’s research advisor, Raymond Pavloski, Department of Psychology, who has guided Jakicic’s
work this semester, “and if there’s the ability to make a chip cheap enough, a
lot of those people could have the ability to see.”
Jakicic’s presentation is one of 39 during the Undergraduate Scholars Forum. On
Wednesday, there will be 29 at the Graduate Scholars Forum. Both events are at
the KCAC, and also feature rooms with poster presentations by scores of
students, as well as an art display.
It’s all part of Research Appreciation Week,
which “spotlights the spirit of innovation and collaboration shared by all
disciplines and recognizes the contributions that IUP original research and
scholarship make to the region and world.”
“For me, research is
important because it gives me hands-on experience in something I will be doing
in the future,” Jakicic said. “It’s a good experience to have now before
graduate school, and IUP has a really good research program.”