As the term of office of the Director of the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) comes to an end, the Council of the VU LSC has launched an international open competition for the position of Director.

The VU LSC Electoral Board is waiting for applications  until 10 February 2022. More information for the applicants is available here.

The mission of the VU LSC is to carry out high-level international research, studies and technological development in the life sciences, including biotechnology, genome technology, molecular biology and biochemistry.

The Director will be responsible for implementing the VU LSC strategy, developing links with leading international centres and the biotechnology industry, and overseeing finance, research activities and degree programmes. The Director is accountable and responsible to the Rector of Vilnius University and the VU LSC Council. The term of office of the Director of the VU LSC is 5 years.

The competition is open to a person of good repute, with a PhD degree, academic and managerial experience, and who has not yet reached the statutory retirement age on the first day of the Director's term of office.

The VU LSC Council will announce meeting for the presentation of the applicants to the Council and the VU LSC community no later than 1 March 2022.

Dear Colleagues,

The beautiful Season’s Holidays are here again! For our community, this year was full of creative enthusiasm and great scientific accomplishments.

They show that the Life Sciences Center is a place where new ideas, scientific knowledge and innovations are continuously generated, and the creative community cherishing mutual respect and academic solidarity is thriving. This year witnessed another successful step in implementing the Vision of our Center – to join the ranks of the best Life Sciences centers in Europe.

I sincerely wish you all the most beautiful Holidays, and the greatest success and good health in the coming New Year!

Gintaras Valinčius
VU LSC Director

Go Vilnius and Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) have established a scholarship in the name of biochemist Professor Virginijus Šikšnys, which is awarded to students of the third (doctoral) cycle of studies for internationally recognized outstanding results of their scientific activities.

Lithuania is becoming a country where scientists will not only further develop the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool discovered by Professor Virginijus Šikšnys, but also specialise in its application in many areas of life and medical sciences. Prof. Edith Heard, Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), visited VU LSC today and discussed the wider application of gene editing, the opportunities for our scientists and students, and ways to attract international scientists. 

For the past couple of years, as the warm season arrived and another wave of the COVID-19 pandemic ended, everyone expected it to be over soon. But so far, the pandemic has not been curbed due to insufficient herd immunity to the coronavirus. While scientists are convinced that the pandemic will eventually end.

This year's Baltic Assembly Science Prize for outstanding achievements in the field of biomedical sciences - the discovery of the gene editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 - has been awarded to Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys.

For excellent scientific results, active science promotion and organisational activities in the autumn semester of 2021-2022, VU LSC has awarded one-time nominal scholarship to 6 students and 5 PhD students.

The VU Life Sciences Centre was visited by the President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prof. Dr. Eva Zažímalová.

On 10 November, Thermo Fisher Scientific will host its traditional annual event, the Thermo Fisher Day of Science for 11th year. This year it will be held virtually with the latest scientific presentations from a virtual audience and, most important, with an opportunity to interact, ask questions and share ideas.

The VU Life Sciences Centre was a host to the International Advisory Board, a group of world-renowned scientists whose recommendations will help world-class research gain greater international recognition.

A group of businessmen has visited Vilnius University Life Sciences Center. They were interested in possibilities to co-operate making researches in the field of life sciences.

The Lithuanian Union of Young Scientists has announced the winners of the ‘Best Dissertation 2020’ competition. The winners include two former VU GMC PhD students - Kristina Šnipaitienė and Tomas Šneideris. Congratulations!

Prof. Dr. Rūta Navakauskienė and Dr. Veronika Borutinskaitė, researchers at the Institute of Biochemistry, VU Life Sciences Center, together with their colleagues from VILNIUS TECH University, Prof. Dalius Navakauskas and Dr. Dalius Matuzevičius, have published a monograph ‘Epigenetics and Proteomics in Leukaemia - A Synergy of Experimental Biology and Computational Informatics’.