The Vilnius University (VU) Foundation's Postdoctoral Fellowship Competition, aimed at attracting early-career researchers with recognized international experience and helping them establish themselves, was won this year by four talented researchers from different VU departments.
The winners of this year's competition were solemnly presented at the traditional event marking the beginning of the new academic year: Dr. Justina Davolytė (VU Faculty of Philosophy), Dr. Rokas Grigaitis (VU Life Sciences Center), Dr. Mantas Gaidys (VU Faculty of Physics), and Dr. Žilvinas Švedkauskas (VU Institute of International Relations and Political Science).
The budget for this year's competition was 85 thousand euros. All competition laureates will receive a promotional VU Foundation funding of 13 to 24 thousand euros in addition to the researcher salary paid by the VU departments.
Dr. Justina Davolytė (VU Faculty of Philosophy). Having obtained her doctoral degree at the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) in 2025, the researcher is currently working as a postdoctoral trainee and assistant at the VU Institute of Psychology. Her research focus is educational psychology. The researcher established international cooperation back in 2019, when she went to Finland under the "Erasmus+" exchange program. Later, her international experience only expanded: as a representative of one of the schools participating in the "Erasmus+" project "ULCA", which spanned five European countries, she coordinated the project's implementation in her school, and is currently preparing scientific publications in close collaboration not only with Finnish but also with Estonian (Tallinn) and Danish (Aarhus) university researchers. She actively presents the results of her research, which examines children's learning success and emotional well-being, at international conferences (e.g., in Lisbon, Brighton). Currently, the researcher is implementing the project "Strengthening mathematics learning in secondary school: the role of achievement-related emotions".
Dr. Rokas Grigaitis (VU Life Sciences Center). He successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in 2021, after which he interned at the University of Vienna (Austria). During his five years abroad, Dr. R. Grigaitis, together with co-authors, presented the results of his research at numerous international conferences and published them in high-level scientific journals. Currently, he is a trainee researcher at the VU Life Sciences Center's EMBL Partnership Institute, successfully applying the knowledge accumulated abroad in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and cell biology in his research.
Dr. Mantas Gaidys (VU Faculty of Physics). The researcher, who defended his doctoral dissertation in the field of laser technologies at the VU Faculty of Physics in 2024, is currently conducting postdoctoral research in the scientific group led by VU Prof. Mangirdas Malinauskas. He began accumulating international experience in Italy, where he contributed to the establishment of a new laser laboratory at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Currently, Dr. M. Gaidys closely cooperates with the Greek research center FORTH and the University of Geneva. In addition, the researcher actively works with global business: he discussed the potential of laser coloring technologies with the Swiss "The Swatch Group", and signed a long-term R&D and consulting contract with the US company "Atums Works". A reviewer for the international journal "Optics Express" and a mentor for foreign students, he is the author of many publications and has repeatedly won best presentation awards for his presentations at conferences (e.g., LPM2023, LPM2024).
Dr. Žilvinas Švedkauskas (VU IIRPS). Having defended his doctoral dissertation and completed his doctoral studies at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen (Germany), he currently works as a researcher at the VU IIRPS and is preparing a monograph. The researcher's academic path is highly global: he completed part of his studies in Morocco and in a joint program with the American University in Cairo (Egypt). He has given guest lectures and conducted trainings in Germany, Poland, Estonia, Spain, and even Ethiopia, and acts as a national expert for the US organization "Freedom House" and the Swedish V-DEM Institute. Dr. Ž. Švedkauskas not only researches digital transformation and the expansion of authoritarianism, but also heads the organization "OSMOS Global Partnerships", whose project "Digital Explorers" practically promotes the mobility of digital talents between the Baltic states and Nigeria, Kenya, Armenia, and Iraq.
Within the framework of the postdoctoral competition organized since 2020, additional funding has already been allocated to 17 talented researchers. The total amount of support agreements signed with promising foreign and Lithuanian researchers who won the competition reaches almost 400 thousand euros. The competition is 100% funded by targeted support and the return on investments from the endowment fund, which was established through the efforts of donors.
Founded, supported, and maintained by VU alumni, the Foundation currently manages an investment portfolio of over 25 million euros. The Foundation has already allocated 2.5 million euros to finance various VU projects, research, and scholarships.