In the spring of 2020, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) named Lithuania as the fourth country dealing most effectively with a crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when the second wave of the pandemic struck in the autumn, Lithuania met it with relatively mild measures, and at the end of the year it established itself among the world countries with the highest number of the infected.

Following the affiliation of Šiauliai University by Vilnius University to take place on 1 January 2021, VU Šiauliai Academy (VU ŠA) will emerge in Šiauliai. This scientific union will not only open new opportunities for students and researchers but will also provide access to science and education in northern Lithuania and help to solve an issue relevant to the entire country related to training pedagogues. VU Vice-Rector for Studies Dr Valdas Jaskūnas talks about the new pedagogy centre, studies at VU ŠA and new study methods.

The Civil Society and Sustainability Research Group at KTU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, established in 2018, conducts interdisciplinary research into threats and challenges for a sustainable and secure society and provides research-based solutions for strengthening civil society.

On Friday, December 18 in the annual meeting of The Lithuanian University Rectors’ Conference (LURC) Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Rector Eugenijus Valatka was re-elected as a President of the Conference for the second year in a row.

“We should not only be mindful of the intricacies of other cultures, but we should also look within and identify our own cultural biases”, says Dr Runa Chakraborty Paunksnis, Head of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) India Cooperation Development Centre. According to her, culturally, India is very pluralistic and therefore students coming from different parts of India are not likely to face the same challenges.

A group of researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Institute of Materials Science created new graphene and silicon Schottky contact-based infrared radiation sensors that are more effective than the infrared sensors currently used in the market.

FinTech means technology-enabled financial innovation. European Commission emphasizes that there is a strong need to improve the competitiveness of European FinTech companies, creating a common regulatory approach across all countries. This could foster innovative solutions in banks and FinTech companies, together with the application of big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technologies.

Application of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound in combination with microbubbles might enhance the delivery of chemotherapy medication used for treating cancers. In their study, a team of Lithuanian researchers from three universities – KTU, LSMU and VMU – claim that the rate of microbubble survival time is the best indicator for determining the efficiency of sonoporation, i.e. ultrasound-induced laceration of the cancer cell membrane.

QS World University Rankings announced the newest edition of QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia (QS EECA) Rankings. Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) has improved its rank and is among the 50 best universities in emerging Europe and Central Asia. Also, KTU is the 1st in the region according to Staff with a PhD criterion.

After analysing the data from 226 large manufacturing companies from the European Union, a team of researchers from Lithuania, Poland and Sweden have drawn a conclusion that organisations almost do not mention circular economy principles in their environmental reporting. In their reports, the organisations mostly refer to the effective use of primary flows and minimising waste. However, the other principles related to product lifecycle extending and useful application of materials are not sufficiently disclosed, according to a recent study lead by researchers of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Lithuania.