Prof. Sigitas Podėnas, Director of State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, participated in the first Lithuanian-Japanese Science Forum to promote scientific cooperation at Waseda University, Tokyo, on 10 June.
The forum brought together more than 100 experts of life sciences, biotechnology and high technology from both countries. Lithuanian scientists presented cutting-edge research results from Alzheimer’s disease to quantum physics.
President Gitanas Nausėda pointed out the importance of science diplomacy: “There is no other way to create a sustainable future for both our countries.”

This forum marks a new phase of cooperation, consolidating the partnership between Lithuania and Japan in advancing science.

More information is available at: Japonijoje vyko pirmasis Lietuvos–Japonijos mokslo forumas, skatinantis šalių mokslinį bendradarbiavimą – Lietuvos mokslo taryba

Photos by the Research Council of Lithuania

On 20 June at 10:00 a.m. we invite you to the conference “Diversity of indigenous plants: solutions for the creation of natural landscape elements and enhancement of biodiversity” at the Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Centre of Agrarian and Forestry Sciences (Instituto al. 1, Akademija, Kėdainių district municipality).  Programa

Registration: https://forms.gle/qmmB6cVYtSQ35mBB6

Leonora Živilė Gelumbauskaitė, Algimantas Česnulevičius, Algimantas Grigelis

 

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN MEMORY OF HERITAGE OF IGNOTAS DOMEIKA

On 6 June, the Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute (PGI-NRI), Warsaw, hosted an international conference “Ignotas Domeika – Hero of Four Nations and Two Continents” in conjunction with the 106th anniversary of the foundation of the PGI. The event, which brought together a large number of scientists, geological researchers and historians of science to commemorate the heritage of Ignotas Domeika, was organised by Prof. Dr habil. Stanisław Wołkowicz from PGI Department of Environmental Geology. A delegation of the Lithuanian Ignotas Domeika Society (LIDD) took part in the conference: president, Acad. Prof. Dr. habil. Algimantas Grigelis, board member Dr. Leonora Živilė Gelumbauskaite-Grigelienė, and vice president, Prof. Dr. habil. Algimantas Česnulevičius.

The conference was opened by Prof. Dr. habil. Krzysztof Szamałek, renowned geologist, former Chief Geologist of the Republic of Poland and Director of PGI. The following scientific presentations were delivered: “Scientific, Educational and Humanistic Activities of Ignotas Domeika in the Republic of Chile (1838-1889)” (S. Wołkowicz), “The Lithuanian Ignotas Domeika Society and its Activities” (A. Česnulevičius), “The Heritage of the Great Kontrieme-Domeika Family in the Lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (since 1725)” (L.Ž. Gelumbauskaite-Grigelienė and A. Grigelis)

After the break, a ceremony to honour the PGI’s distinguished staff – geologists and engineers – was held in the open courtyard of the PGI Geological Museum. The Lithuanian delegation presented Domeika commemorative medals to distinguished geologists from Warsaw and Krakow. The medal was given to the following persons for their services to the science of geology and the history of natural sciences and for extensive studies of I. Domeika’s heritage:

• habil. Jadwiga Garbowska, geologist, palaeontologist, historian of science, author of books and organiser of conferences, researcher at the Museum of the Earth at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw;
• habil. Zbigniew Wójcik, geologist, speleologist, historian of science, pioneer of modern research into the heritage of I. Domeika, author of numerous monographs and books, researcher at the Museum of the Earth at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw;
• habil. Stanisław Wołkowicz, geologist, geochemist, environmental scientist, author and editor of scientific publications, organiser of scientific conferences, honorary member of the Geological Society of Lithuania, PGI scientist;
• posthumously, Dr. habil. Zdzisław Jan Ryn (1938-2022), medical doctor, psychiatrist, diplomat, publicist, researcher on the history of science in the Republic of Chile, biographer and bibliographer of I. Domeika, author of major monographs and books, researcher at the Jagiellonian University of Cracow, hiker and climber, holder of the honorary title “Polish Hero of the year 2000” (“Kolos 2000”);
• habil. Andrzej Tomasz Paulo, geologist, mountain engineer, distinguished scientist in geology and mining, author of scientific books and organiser of conferences, honorary member of the Polish Geological Society, scientist at the Stanislaw Staszic Academy of Mining and Metallurgy in Cracow, hiker;
• Ewa Koszowska, geologist, mineralogist, author of scientific publications, organizer of geological exhibitions, researcher at the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow;
• Dariusz Obuch-Woszczatyński, holder of master’s degree in engineering, aeronautical engineer, pilot, entrepreneur, grandson of the cavalry colonel Obuch-Voščatinski, fifth-generation descendant of the Domeik family of the Niedzwiadka Manor, promoter of historical memory.

The excellent conference dedicated to the personality and heritage of I. Domeika gave hope that future researchers will continue the work started by today’s scholars.

On 27-30 May, the 42nd International Conference of the Polish Society of Phycologists “Vast Potential of Algae and Cyanobacteria – From Diversity to Application” was held in Bialystok. The conference was attended by 83 researchers from Poland and 16 other countries: United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, etc.

The plenary lecture was given by J. Koreivienė, and poster presentations were given by J. Kasperovičienė, J. Karosienė, G. Petrėnas, G. Šiurkutė and K. Karaliūtė. G. Šiurkutė won the first prize in the Young Scientist Poster Presentation category.

Politicians often use the phrase “a tectonic fault” in their speeches to emphasise the significance of an event. Geologists have written extensively and mapped a fair amount about actual natural tectonic faults. The closest fault to the surface can be seen from the Buivydžiai outcrop. The fault causes the Neris River to bend sharply, and the seismic texture of the Buivydžiai outcrop shows traces of the earthquake, indicating an active tectonic fault. This earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.0-6.5, occurred before the last glacial period. In addition, the Buivydžiai fault was also the cause of a more recent earthquake, i.e.  a seismic event of a magnitude of 3.5-4.0 recorded in Bystrica (12 km east of the Buivydžiai outcrop) on 29 December 1908.

On 25 June 2025 (Wednesday) at 12:30 pm, The Conference Hall of the Academy of Sciences of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 3, Vilnius, will host a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of birth of Mindaugas Strukcinskas (1925-2013), academician, agronomist, botanist, phytopathologist, scientist.

We are pleased to share that Dr. Alžbeta Šujanová, a researcher at the P. B. Šivickio parazitologijos laboratorija  focusing on avian blood parasites, has recently received two prestigious awards in recognition of her scientific work:

🥇 1st place in the competition “Young Scientist under 35”, awarded by the Slovak Academy of Sciences in the field of biological sciences.
🥈 2nd place for the Best Scientific Article by a Young Researcher, awarded by the Slovak Parasitological Society.

Both awards were presented during a ceremonial event held in Košice, Slovakia.

The awarded article, titled “Isospora and Lankesterella Parasites (Eimeriidae, Apicomplexa) of Passeriform Birds in Europe: Infection Rates, Phylogeny, and Pathogenicity”, was published in Pathogens (MDPI) and is available here. The study was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from Vetmeduni Vienna, and reflects the outcomes of Dr. Šujanová’s research stay in Austria.

These achievements highlight not only Dr. Šujanová’s commitment to scientific excellence, but also the growing relevance of parasitological research in understanding wildlife health and ecosystem dynamics. Her work exemplifies the importance of international cooperation and the role of early-career scientists in advancing biological research.

In the beginning of June, I was invited to give a presentation at the colloquium series of the Department of Botany of the University of Innsbruck. This small city, which is the capitol of Tirol, is wedged between the high mountains of the Austrian Alps and gives a perfect mixture of nature and culture. Innsbruck is a Medieval city with many tourist visitors both during summer and winter and has two universities with many foreign students.

My host, Laurent Marquer, is a palynologist and a group leader at the Department of Botany since 2020. As a palynologist and paleoecologist, he focuses on dynamic vegetation modelling and climate-based modelling. For a new project in the region of Tirol, different paleo-proxies for temperature will be used to better estimate the role of climate in the historical vegetation changes in the region. Subfossil beetle remains, which are my specialty, can be identified to species level and used for temperature reconstructions as well. Based on the temperature niches of climate-sensitive species, the Mutual Climatic Range method is used to establish the summer and winter temperature ranges for beetle species assemblages that were found in the sediment. With this method, that I’m currently testing for a couple of sites in the eastern Baltic region, I hope to be involved in future projects of the University of Innsbruck.

This summer, Dr Darya Dankina, a paleontologist at NRC Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, was invited to represent and chair the Microvertebrate Group, which was re-established after a long break and which belongs to The Micropalaeontological Society (TMS) of the United Kingdom: https://www.tmsoc.org/groups/microvertebrate/).

By leading this group, Darja will seek to bring together an international community of scientists to investigate the following issues:

• microscopic remains of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic fishes, such as scales, teeth, otoliths (ear stones), fragments of fins, vertebrae and other small bony elements;
• conodonts – primitive, earthworm-like marine vertebrates that became extinct around 201 million years ago, at the end of the Triassic period;
• small Mesozoic mammals that lived around 200-70 million years ago.

In the near future, Darja plans to organise webinars, workshops and conference sessions on microvertebrate research.

On 3–6 June, Dr Daiva Burokienė, a scientist from NRC Laboratory of Plant Pathology, participated in the 14th Conference of the European Foundation for Plant Pathology (EFPP), which was held in Uppsala, Sweden. More information is available at https://www.efpp2025.com/.
The conference was attended by over 250 participants from 25 different countries. 14 invited guests presented oral presentations, 48 scientists presented oral presentations, and 129 scientists presented poster presentations on 9 main topics: molecular plant-microbe interactions; population biology and genetics; biocontrol, microbiomes and biostimulants; epidemiology and ecology of plant diseases; crop and tree improvement; precision pathology, digitalization and AI tools; plant health in One Health; invasive and emerging plant diseases; and developments in plant pathology teaching.

Dr D. Burokienė presented the latest results of research “Cyanobacterial bioextracts as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens” (authors: D. Čepukoit, J. Koreivienė, D. Burokienė) obtained during the implementation of the “HABpest” project (RCL funded project No. P-MIP-24-699).