During June and July, Urtė Neniškytė laboratory hosted three students from the Lithuanian diaspora who participated in the "Bring Together Lithuania" (BTLT) and "Lithuanian International Student Services" (LISS) programs.
Congratulations to Dr. Solveiga Samulėnaitė on winning 3rd place at the “STREAM IT” International Science Communication Competition in Budapest!
On June 9, at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences the award ceremony for the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Future Biomedicine Fund prize for young scientists took place. Dr. Solveiga Samulėnaitė was awarded the prize (life sciences branch) for her work, "The Role of Gut Microbiota in the Development of Eating Disorders."
On May 22-23, Rusnė Uzielaitė and other representatives of Vilnius University Life Sciences Center invited “Comic Con Baltics” visitors for a closer look at scientific activities.
On May 22, Stanislovas Rapolionis Gymnasium in Eišiškės hosted “Career Show” – an event giving the oportunity to first-handedly learn about different professions and career opportunities.
On May 14, an international symposium “EnviroMood Vilnius 2026” was held at the Life Sciences Center, featuring talks from the partners of the EnviroMood consortium funded by ERA-NET NEURON and the Research Council of Lithuania. Dr. med. Stefan Vestring, Prof. Igor Branchi, Prof. Eero Castrén, Asst. Prof. Ksenia Meyza, Prof. Shira Knafo and Prof. Urtė Neniškytė presented their research on the interaction between environment–brain–plasticity and its impact on mental health.
International EnviroMood symposium will take place on the 14th of May at the Life Sciences Center, Auditorium R401.
On April 24-26, the Neuronus & Young PTBUN 2026 conference was held in Krakow, bringing together neuroscientists from all over the world. This year, a particularly large number of studies focusing on the effects of behaviour and psychedelics on brain activity were presented.
For the implementation of a timely technology project in the field of life sciences, a one-time €1000 Linea Libera scholarship has been awarded to UNL PhD student Eimina Dirvelytė-Valauskė. In her research, Eimina aims to apply gene-editing tools and delivery strategies to the development of a therapy for Sanfilippo syndrome, a childhood neurodegenerative disease.
We are happy and proud to share that our PhD student Ieva Šiugždaitė has been awarded a LSC scholarship for her active contributions to science communication and public engagement. This recognition reflects not only her consistent work in research, but also her commitment to making science more accessible, engaging, and understandable, while helping connect the academic community with the broader public.
UNL PhD student Igoris Nagula, together with his student Gabija Valentaitė, won the science communication competition “Mokslo sprintas”, where they presented the talk “What Does the Electrical Language of Neurons Reveal About the Development of Brain Networks?” in just three minutes.
At the COINS 2026 Conference, UNL research assistant Rusnė Uzielaitė received the best pitch presentation prize for her presentation “In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity Assessment of Titanium Carbide MXenes”, which was based on her Master’s thesis being prepared at the Innovative Medicine Center.
Prof. Urtė Neniškytė, a researcher at the Vilnius University Life Sciences Center (VU LSC), has been appointed European Research Council (ERC) Ambassador in Lithuania. By joining the international “Ambassadors for the ERC” network, she will contribute to strengthening connections between ERC grantees, national research communities, and policy stakeholders — while advocating for the importance of fundamental, curiosity-driven research in shaping Europe’s future.
Professor Urtė Neniškytė has been elected to the Board of the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence (FKNE) – a prestigious European neuroscience network bringing together leading researchers across the continent.
The European Journal of Neuroscience (EJN) introduced Dr. Urtė Neniškytė, who was featured in the EJN series Profiles of Women in Science.
Dr. Ugnė Kuliešiūtė received the Early Career Researcher Award from the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Ugne has recently returned from an internship at GLYCOS in Zagreb, Croatia. There, she established the methodologies for the investigation of the human glycome. For the next two years, she will apply these techniques to investigate how the sugary coat of neurons defines their activity and network formation in the human brain.
