News

It would be difficult to name a prize that rivals the Nobel Prize in prestige. When the laureates are announced every December, journalists and audiences around the world suddenly turn their attention to that small group of people whose discoveries and achievements have earned them a place in history. Yet Nobel laureates often seem distant and out of reach to the rest of society. The Lindau Meetings, now in their 75th year, have done much to close that gap. Each year, the project brings together Nobel laureates and promising young scientists from around the world. This year, one of those young scientists was Justas Lekavičius, an alumnus of Vilnius University’s (VU) Faculty of Physics. 

The seminar will take place on 22 July at 14:00 val. at NFTMC B435 "Aquarium". 

The lecture will be delivered by Prof. Oleg Chalykh (University of Leeds, UK).

Vilnius University (VU) Faculty of Physics PhD student Eulàlia Puig Vilardell, who is pursuing a joint doctorate between VU and the University of Tartu, completed a research internship at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. During her stay, she visited the research group of Professor Saulius Juodkazis, Head of Nanotechnology Research Facility and VU adjunct research professor. This specialised facility is a world-class research institution, where she built international connections and investigated how a very advanced class of materials – high-entropy alloys (HEAs) – respond to extremely fast femtosecond laser pulses.

Rasa Miliukaitė, a doctoral researcher at Vilnius University (VU), received the award for best poster presentation at the summer school organised by the European Society for Photobiology. She presented her biophysics PhD project, Mitigation of Quantum Dots Effects on Autotrophs, conducted at the VU Laser Research Centre (supervisor Dr Agnė Kalnaitytė-Vengelienė).

The Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics Center at the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University (VU) is participating in the development of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector technology at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). VU physicists contributing to the upgrade of the inner tracker are the only ones in Lithuania refining the assembly of the electronic components of the TEPX (Tracker Endcap Pixel) modules, verifying and testing their durability and performance.

The fourth session of the Arqus Research Security webinar series will take place on Wednesday 8 July, from 11:30 to 12:30 CEST on Microsoft Teams. Researchers and research administration professionals working with research governance, compliance and international collaboration are invited to join.

Scientists from the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University (VU) have developed a sensor capable of accurately detecting radiation, identifying its sources, and determining their intensity and precise location. The device, developed by physicists at the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology, Photoelectric Phenomena Research Group, is designed to measure radiation doses. It can detect doses ranging from very small to very large ones, including those typical of industrial environments or nuclear emergencies, from a few gray to megagray.

The Danielius, Piskarskas, Juozapavičius, and Sirutkaitis families have donated €1 million to the Vilnius University (VU) Foundation. The philanthropic fund’s managed portfolio has grown to €25 million.

Congratulations to PhD student Gediminas Usevičius on winning the International EPR Society’s Best Paper Award. Together with an international team, he developed a promising new spectroscopic device – a superconducting microwave microresonator.

An international team of scientists, including physicists from Vilnius University (VU), has been selected to develop next-generation quantum simulators. Using multicomponent ultracold atoms, the team will build highly controllable quantum simulators – systems designed to create and study complex quantum materials that are difficult to model with conventional computers.

Dovilė & Elijus Burgis, the Piskarskas family, Ina & Darius Zubas, and Reda & Alvydas Žabolis are donating €0.9 million to the Vilnius University (VU) Endowment Fund.

In the latest QS World University Rankings 2027, Vilnius University (VU) ranks 465th globally, maintaining its position as the highest-ranked higher education institution in Lithuania.

On 16 June, the graduation ceremony of the VU Faculty of Physics took place at the Church of St. Johns. 97 students completed their Bachelor’s studies and 67 students – Master’s studies in the physical, engineering and technological sciences.

Vilnius University (VU) Faculty of Physics Institute of Chemical Physics PhD student Arunjyoti Baidya and Prof. Darius Abramavičius are working on a “PhotoCAM” (Photosynthetic Antennas in a Computational Microscope) project to better understand photosynthesis. Using theoretical and computational methods, the researchers aim to identify the most efficient ways to capture light energy and control energy production.

On the evening of June 11, guests enjoyed guided tours of the Faculty of Physics’ photography exhibition Spectrum of Stories. Prof. Vytautas Balevičius, together with representatives of Physicists’ Day (FiDi) and the Vilnius University Students’ Representation at the Faculty of Physics – Eglė Kulionytė and Vėjas Urbonas – shared a rich collection of stories that brought context and depth to the moments captured in the photographs.

It is with profound sadness that we mourn the passing of Professor Michael Shur, Honorary Doctor of Vilnius University, foreign member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (USA), and a distinguished physicist whose contributions to semiconductor physics and electronics have shaped the field for decades. Professor Shur passed away on 6 June 2026, at the age of 84.

Vilnius University (VU) offers international students applying to Bachelor and Master study programmes not only the opportunity to study at one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the region, but also to receive state funding for their studies. One student who has experienced this first-hand is Sean Christopher Fitzpatrick, an Irish student enrolled in the ‘Politics of Global Challenges’ study programme. For Sean, receiving a state-funded study place made a tangible difference to his time in Lithuania by easing some of the financial pressure and providing greater security while studying abroad.

The Arqus Alliance invites the academic community to the fifth and final webinar in this year’s English-Medium Instruction (EMI) Seminar Series, organised by Maynooth University.

Scientists and entrepreneurs, brothers Augustinas, Kristijonas, and Dominykas Vizbaras, have donated €0.5 million to the Vilnius University (VU) Endowment Fund. This philanthropic contribution will increase the VU Foundation‘s unrestricted capital, whose investment returns are used to fund talented early-career researchers at VU.

Researchers from the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University have developed a theoretical model that allows atoms to be “pre-programmed” by light alone to reshape laser beams that carry both a twist and a polarisation. The study by master’s student Dharma Prasetya Permana, alongside Dr Mažena Mackoit-Sinkevičienė, Dr Julius Ruseckas, and Dr Hamid Reza Hamedi from the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy, opens a magnet-free route to controlling structured light for quantum technologies. The research was recently published in the prestigious journal “Physical Review A”.