Research and scientific publications of high international level by scientists of Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC) are not complete without doctoral students. The best of them are awarded scholarships named after the world-renowned Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, established together with the agency Go Vilnius. This year, the nominal scholarship was awarded to PhD students Laurita Klimkaitė and Kamilė Mikalauskaitė for exceptional results of scientific activity.
Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys is happy with the city's initiative to establish a scholarship, which helps both to retain young talents and to attract new ones. This scholarship is proof that VU LSC PhD students are gaining international recognition by creating research works specifically in Vilnius and thereby promoting the name of the university and the city.
"The capital of Lithuania is one of the places in the world where the future of life sciences is being created, and the work of Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys and his colleagues greatly contributes to this. It is very important to continue creation of opportunities for the talents of researchers in this field to spread in Vilnius and to encourage research and discoveries that are important for the whole world", says Dovilė Aleksandravičienė, head of Vilnius tourism and business development agency Go Vilnius. "The field of life sciences is a strong part of the Vilnius TechFusion ecosystem, which contributes to the international promotion of Vilnius and helps to present the city as open to business, talent and investors", she adds.
VU LSC Director Prof. Daumantas Matulis notes that this international nominal scholarship not only perfectly demonstrates the achievements of Lithuanian science, but also reveals the possibilities of young researchers.
Scientific works are extremely important
PhD student Laurita Klimkaitė says that the scholarship named after Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys is a truly exceptional award that all PhD students studying at VU LSC can apply for, so she filled out the documents without expecting much, but she is very happy that her and her colleagues' hard work was appreciated.
"I think the scholarship is intended for long-term work in the analysis of relevant and relatively new topics. In cooperation with doctors and physicists, we have studied several interesting properties of pathogenic bacteria. It is nice that the work and vision of the future in this field were appreciated!" says the VU LSC PhD student. In her doctoral work, L. Klimkaitė studies new bacteria that have emerged in hospitals in recent years as pathogens causing human infections. As a doctoral student, I am trying to find out how to distinguish between dangerous and harmless bacteria, what characteristics of these new pathogens determine their ability to cause infections, and how to fight these infections.
Another winner of the Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys scholarship, Kamilė Mikalauskaitė, says that she had hoped to win the scholarship, even though she knew that VU LSC has many promising and excellent young researchers working in various fields of science who deserve this evaluation. "Receiving a nominal scholarship made me happy, but at the same time it is a huge responsibility", says K. Mikalauskaitė.
"Probably the fact that together with my colleagues in the laboratory we managed to publish a number of publications on the subject of our research contributed greatly to winning the scholarship. I also think that my active participation in national and international conferences presenting the results of my research and finding new knowledge from experienced scientists from all over the world", - considers K. Mikalauskaitė, a PhD student at the VU LSC, what could have most determined the fact that she received a famous nominal scholarship.
K. Mikalauskaitė studies the characteristics of amyloid protein aggregation in the laboratory. This process is associated with the occurrence of certain neurodegenerative disorders, including the well-known Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Together with her colleagues, K. Mikalauskaitė is trying to understand the mechanisms of these diseases and to discover potential compounds that could stop the progression of these diseases.
The scholarship named after biochemist Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys, one of the global pioneers of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology, is awarded to students of the third cycle studies for internationally recognized exceptional results of scientific activity. This scholarship aims to encourage students to continue scientific research by expanding the boundaries of knowledge of life processes, applying scientific knowledge to create human well-being and preserve the sustainability of the environment.