Although tiny pieces of microplastics cannot be seen with the naked eye, scientists are finding them everywhere: in water bodies, in natural environments, in the soil, in foodstuffs and even in the human body. There is a particular concern that microplastics are being found in the blood.

The researchers from Lithuania and Cyprus claim that the energy payback period of using phase change materials, new technology in the construction industry, is the shortest in a colder climate. The optimal location for their usage is the interior on the northern side of the building. The study provides informed answers regarding the application of PCMs to improve buildings’ energy efficiency.

Jan. 23rd, 2023, the Mykolas Romeris University’s (MRU) Election Organizing Commission announced that there are two candidates that will take part in MRU Council elections.

Since the term of office of the Works Council of Vilnius University has expired, pursuant to the provisions and requirements laid down in the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the election of a new Vilnius University Works Council is being held.

The nomination of candidates for the Works Council will take place from 26 January 2023 to 13 February 2023 in accordance with the following:

every employee that has been working at Vilnius University for no less than three months may nominate one candidate by submitting a free-form request to the Works Council Electoral Commission to include that person on the candidate list;
only employees that have been working at Vilnius University for longer than six months shall be nominated;
one may nominate another employee or themselves. If the nomination is for another employee, a free-form consent agreement signed by the candidate shall be submitted alongside the request to include that person on the candidate list;
the request to include a person on the candidate list and, when another employee is nominated, their consent agreement shall be submitted to the Works Council Electoral Commission by sending scanned or photographed copies of these documents by e-mail to between 26 January 2023, 09:00 and 13 February 2023, 17:00.

The Works Council election will take place on 9 March 2023 by electronic vote. Every employee who has a right to vote will receive an electronic voting ballot in their VU mailbox. Employees who have not recently used their official Vilnius University e-mail address, have forgotten or have not updated their login credentials, or have other difficulties accessing their VU mailbox are recommended to urgently contact their unit’s IT specialists or their supervisors.

The 2023 Works Council election is organised by the Works Council Electoral Commission, which is formed pursuant to the Order of the Rector of Vilnius University. If you have any questions regarding the registration of candidates or other matters relating to the Works Council election, please submit them by e-mail to . All the information on the Works Council election is published on the Vilnius University website and on the Intranet under Works Council election 2023.

The Vilnius University Works Council will be composed of 11 members:

• ten members elected from the candidates nominated by the University’s academic and non-academic employees who have the right to vote. Every employee that has the electoral right may nominate one candidate (themselves or a fellow employee);
• one member from a candidate list proposed by the trade unions acting at the employer’s level. Trade unions hold the right to nominate no less than three candidates.

All members of academic or non-academic staff at Vilnius University, 18 and over, who have been working at Vilnius University no less than six months, are eligible for the status of Works Council member candidate, except for the employer or representatives of the employer under the law, the delegation of powers, and the founding documents (i.e. the Rector, the Pro-Rectors, the heads of the core academic units), and members of the Works Council Electoral Commission.

Candidates to the Works Council members may be nominated and voted for at the Works Council election by all Vilnius University employees who have been employed for no less than three months, except for the employer or representatives of the employer under the law, the delegation of powers, and the founding documents (i.e. the Rector, the Pro-Rectors, the heads of the core academic units).

The Works Council is an independent body which represents all employees, and its members are elected from among the employees of the organisation.

The main functions of the Works Council and its members are to take part in the informing and consulting procedures, pursuant to the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania. Informing encompasses the Works Council’s right, in cases specified and in accordance with the procedure set out in the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, to receive information on the work, social, and other conditions of the employees of the employer. Consulting means that, in cases specified in the Labour Code of the Republic of Lithuania, the Works Council has a right to submit its opinion and receive the reasoned opinion of the employer regarding the setting of work, social, and other conditions for the employees.

www.vu.lt

Not everyone can be proud of having over 600 years old books in their library. These books are especially valued and protected by the Library of Kaunas University of Technology. KTU library has about 350,000 books, while the TOP 5 interesting books include the oldest book in Kaunas libraries and the first Lithuanian textbook about artificial intelligence.

“Working in the Emergency Department is probably the most dynamic work in the medical sector,” said Paulius Uksas, one of the first emergency medical doctors in Lithuania. The doctor maintains that the situations when there is no time to sit down or take a comfort break, occur on a regular basis during the time on duty. This stressful work routine requires a lot of endurance, patience and physical strength, but as the doctor likes to joke, the shift will eventually end.

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns worldwide made people rely on social media communication much more than they would have done in ordinary circumstances. This shows, among other things, in the intensive production of memes, that is verbal-visual items, typically humorous, created and shared by users on various social media platforms and circulated on popular news websites. Engaging in memetic activity – as both posters and receivers – amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 allowed people not only to kill time and entertain themselves despite the grave circumstances but also to exchange their (serious) thoughts on the current socio-political situation. This further testifies to what we know about humour: its relief-giving and solidarity-building functions, as well as its potential to act as an interest-generating vessel that carries meanings to multiple receivers in the case of memes.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Vilnius University (VU) Institute of Psychology at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Department of Pediatric Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine has been studying the long-term effects of screens on the mental and physical health of Lithuanian children between the ages of 2 and 14. The study included over 900 children (their parents) and over 400 healthcare professionals. The results show that screen time is significantly associated with children’s and adolescents’ development, cognitive abilities, willingness to learn, and educational achievement.

Biodiversity is the totality of the most diverse plant and animal species. Current research shows that biodiversity on Earth is disappearing 100 to 1000 times faster than it used to be. Therefore, Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) researchers will implement the European-Union (EU) financed project "BIOTraCes,” which will aim to help local communities in dam removal sites to preserve biodiversity.

The Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Silesia invites students to enrol in the intensive VINCI Dive into Science – Interdisciplinary International Silesian Summer School, which will take place at the University of Silesia in Poland on 3–21 July.