The protein engineering company Biomatter Designs, founded by the alumni of Vilnius University (VU), has raised €500,000 in seed funding led by Practica Capital, accompanied by 70V and angel investors. The raised capital will be used to further develop the company's protein design technology and product pipeline.

The Project “Evaluation of Legal, Policy and Economic Responses in Times of Crisis: Balancing Public Safety and Human Rights”, implemented between July-December 2020 by legal, public policy and economy experts of Mykolas Romeris University and supported by Lithuanian Council of Science funding (project No. S-COV-20-28) resulted in: (a) complex ex post evaluation of state measures related to halting the spread of COVID-19 in Lithuania during the first wave of the pandemic; (b) recommendations for dealing with future emergencies, including the model of crisis management; (c) publication of 12 scientific articles (available in Lithuanian only: https://repository.mruni.eu/handle/007/17050) and 5 articles that will be published as a special issue in international journals; (d) commentaries in the media and (e) public opinion pool.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has locked down everyone inside their home, are becoming more evident not only in terms of the number of direct cases of the disease, but also in other areas. The changed rhythm of life has significantly impacted psychological health and well-being, with a particularly strong impact of distance-learning on children. According to Roma Jusienė, a psychologist and professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University (VU), more than a third of the children has suffered a deterioration of their emotional state during the lockdown. Prof Jusienė discusses the results of a study on the distance education of children conducted with a team of psychologists, social workers and medical experts.

COVID-19 has forced us to think and re-think about the scope of higher education in new normal. Although, we are constantly introducing technological innovation in teaching-learning and have updated the modules of pedagogy, however, few questions need to be addressed further, such as: the access to higher education, technological gap & challenges, and some other issues related to reaching the other stakeholders in higher education and achieving the ultimate objective. Consequently, it has become necessary for the higher education institutes to conduct discussion/webinar where representatives from different stakeholders can analyze the present situation, share the best practices, and draw guidelines for the future befitting their socio-economic demography.

The Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology (MITA) invites startup teams to register for the second cycle of the TechHub pre-acceleration programme. During the programme, 25 startups will participate in a three-month training course, in which, with the help of innovation experts and personal mentors, they will develop their ideas, gain the necessary knowledge for further business development, get acquainted with investors and business angels, find new team members.

An interactive educational game “Flight Across the Atlantic” featuring the legendary flight of Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas was announced as one of the winners in the global digital innovation competition World Summit Awards (WSA). The product was created by the team of innovators from Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and Vytautas the Great War Museum.

Following the reorganisation of Šiauliai University (ŠU) by affiliating it to Vilnius University (VU) as of 1 January 2021, VU Šiauliai Academy will be established in Šiauliai. The new VU academic unit will be headed by Prof. Dr Renata Bilbokaitė, who until now has been the Vice-Rector for Studies at ŠU. VU Šiauliai Academy will also be one of the three main centres for training teachers in Lithuania (the other two centres are in Vilnius and Kaunas).

Khusravi Muhammadzoda, a native of Tajikistan, who started his nursing studies at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University this academic year, has been looking forward to his first exam session, which has just begun. The young man will take all his exams in Lithuanian, which he started to study independently.

Mr. Ignas Bielevičius, a graduate of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU), Faculty of Informatics, who graduated from his Bachelor’s studies in 2009, has established two nominal, annual scholarships of 500 EUR for students of VMU. The purpose of these scholarships is to financially encourage students for their good study results and active participation in scientific and / or social activities.

Dec. 18th, 2020, the Vilnius Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts (CCIC) presented Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) an award recognising achievements in 2020 in the category of higher education institutions.