When Olja Simoska came to the U.S. from Macedonia she gained a passion for chemistry and a feeling that she was “pretty good at it.”
After attending high school and a summer pre-college program, she says she fell in love with the hands-on science opportunities available. But tough courses in college, like organic chemistry, threatened the path she imagined as she was still adjusting to life in a new place. But she says, working in a lab on campus changed everything, keeping her on track with classes and helping her realize a path forward.
“I was lucky enough to join a research lab my first semester. If it wasn’t for that, I’m not sure I would’ve stayed in the major,” Simoska says. “The idea of this hands-on experience is what pushed me to improve and improve and improve, and I eventually ended up becoming good at the subject.”
Simoska, recently named the 2025 Dennis A. Pruitt Outstanding Advocate for First-Year Students, says finding her place in a research lab early on in college inspired how she works to provide opportunities to her own first-year students. Now an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in USC’s McCausland College of Arts and Sciences, Simoska serves as an instructor and conducts research focused on studying antibiotic resistance, monitoring stress biomarkers and understanding gut-based bacteria.
“Dr. Simoska also provides a unique experience to first-year graduate students. Inclusion is a major tenet in the Simoska lab and has fostered an environment that gives first-year students confidence and passion for their research. Dr. Simoska dedicates a large portion of time to discerning the goals, learning styles, and personalities of her students, allowing them to flourish without changing who they are,” one nomination letter says.
Simoska graduated from Bard College with a B.A. in Chemistry and from University of Texas at Austin with a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry. After time as a postdoctoral research fellow at University of Utah, she joined USC in 2022 and went on to establish the Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI) within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
URI, which was developed with help from Amir Hosseini, is a course-based undergraduate research experience that trains and places select first-year students in research labs as part of their initial class schedule at USC. Simoska says the program is designed after her experience at Bard as well as a similar program at University of Texas that was established by her advisor there.
Established in 2023, URI has welcomed two classes, each of about 24 first-year students selected from more than 100 that applied before ever starting classes at USC. The students are eventually split among different research labs, with four from the initial cohort going into Simoska’s own lab, including rising junior Sophia Woytowitz.
“During my participation in URI, I found myself matched with experimental procedures and data analysis work that was completely foreign to me. The learning curve was steep, and I faced new complexities that challenged me in ways I hadn't experienced before,” says Woytowitz, who has continued working in the Simoska lab this summer. “However, with Olja's exceptional guidance and steadfast support, I persevered through these challenging obstacles. Her mentoring approach created an environment where I felt empowered to tackle unfamiliar territory, knowing I had someone who truly cared about my growth and success.”
Simoska also teaches a CHEM 322: Analytical Chemistry, which is mainly returning students but first-year students typically make up about a quarter of the class, she says. For that group, Simoska reserves extra office hours to understand how they are adjusting and what is and is not working in her class.
“These students are jumping into a whole new world of learning while also jumping into a very hard chemistry course. Olja takes the extra step by truly helping these students and meeting with them,” another nominator says. “She takes the extra time to help them because she truly wants them to succeed. Olja will also accept these students into her research lab very early on. Many research-based professors won't take students into their lab until their sophomore year, but Olja truly wants to help them from the beginning. Olja is also helping others do the same.”
However, the awards (she was also named the 2025 Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentor Award by the Office of Undergraduate Research) are not what make the experience for Simoska. She says It’s about helping students find their passions and gain crucial experience early on so that they can flourish as undergraduates, as graduates and eventually as professionals.
“A lot of them have gone on to win awards at Discover USC. This year, I think six out of 12 within Chemistry were students from the Undergraduate Research Initiative last year,” she says. “Some of them get South Carolina Honors College grants, some of them get Magellan funding. And they are just sophomores.”
Simoska hopes to see that success pay off for the future of the program. Her goal is to be able to accept more incoming students into research labs for the upcoming Fall 2025 semester and eventually see this blueprint expand to other departments around the university.