According to the Association of Lithuanian Banks, phishers caused damage of more than EUR 4.5 million to the Lithuanian population during the past year. This was done by using fraudulent e-mails and messages to tempt people to invest in financial schemes. Meanwhile, a report issued by Risk Based Security revealed that there were over 37 billion records compromised in 2020, representing a 141% increase compared to the number in 2019.

Dr Peiman Alipour Sarvari. ERA Chair project Industry 4.0 impact on management practices and economics (IN4ACT) researcher, KTU School of Economics and Business.

The first image of the black hole in galaxy M87 that appeared almost two years ago awakened the curiosity even of those who had little interest in astronomy. The object, located in a vast expanse of space that is hard to imagine, is reminiscent of a red-eye with a black pupil and is just one of the numerous supermassive black holes in the Universe. This was explained by Kastytis Zubovas, an associated professor at the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University (VU) and an astrophysicist, in the podcast Science without Preaching (“Mokslas be pamokslų“). The scientist, whose field of research is black holes, explains how this exotic matter appears, disappears, and whether it can pose risk to humanity.

EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe, which unites 956 rare disease organizations from 73 countries, that are working together to improve the lives of the 30 million people living with a rare disease, has been awarding the Black Pearl Award for almost a decade. For the achievements in the creation and development of the European Reference Networks, this year the Black Pearl Statue was awarded to Dr Birutė Tumienė, a researcher from the Department of Human and Medical Genetics of the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine.

On February 27, the students of Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre (VU LSC) are organizing the International Conference of Life Sciences THE COINS 2021.

Mykolas Romeris University (MRU), in accordance with the most innovative global universities, has approved the 2021-2023 sustainable activities strategy.

Last week, the National Culture and Art Prizes were awarded to the dignitaries of Lithuanian culture and art. Among the winners is architect Gintaras Balčytis, Associate Professor at Kaunas University of Technology Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture. Balčytis was awarded for the architecture, which is open for the city and people.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global health crisis. This was announced on 30 January 2020 by the World Health Organization, which stated that the outbreak was a public health crisis of international importance. The crisis also caused fears of an impending economic downturn. The situation has been analysed by national governments, international organizations and scientists.

The world’s largest laboratory for particle physics, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), provides new opportunities for Lithuanian students to lead in interdisciplinary teams and to access unique technologies and resources. With the recent signing of a new cooperation agreement between CERN and Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), KTU students will be able to participate in the Challenge-Based Innovation programme organised by CERN’s IdeaSquare unit.

The Alliance4Life life science alliance, which unites 10 European research institutions including Vilnius University, received EUR 2 million in funding this year for implementation of the A4L_ACTIONS Horizon 2020 project.