Four VU Researchers Awarded with Prestigious European Commission grants

Four Vilnius University (VU) researchers have been awarded prestigious European Commission (EC) grants in research funding programmes. Dr Jorunė Sakalauskaitė, a researcher at Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre, has won the European Horizon competition for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA PF). Her study "The Molecular Suite of Shell Bio- & ArCHaeochromes - BACH" was supervised by Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys.

"Outcomes of Plant Invasions in Deadwood Fungi and Insect Communities - ENTWINE" (supervisor Dr Virginija Podėnienė), a project of Dr Maria Fernanda Torres Jimenez, another researcher at Vilnius University Life Sciences Centre, will be funded under the European Research Area (ERA) traineeship scheme. This competition automatically includes projects that have been evaluated as excellent in the overall MSCA PF competition but not funded due to budgetary constraints.

Two Ukrainian researchers will also be able to continue their projects at Vilnius University: Dr Kateryna Latysh at the Faculty of Law (project "Digital Forensic, Open Data Source and Artificial Intelligence as Tools of International Security", scientific supervisor Doc. Gabrielė Juodkaitė-Granskienė, a judge of the Supreme Court of Lithuania) and Dr Oksana Bersirova at the Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences (project "Electrochemical Synthesis of Multifunctional (Magnetic and Electrocatalytic) Films of Nanostructured Rhenium Superalloys Deposits - EMERALD", scientific supervisor Prof. Henrikas Cesiulis). They have won the support under the Fellowship Programme MSCA4Ukraine.

Supported by the EC under this programme, Ukrainian PhD students and researchers who are unable to study and work in their home country because of the war are provided with an opportunity to continue their studies and work in the EU Member States and associated countries. This year, 124 researchers from Ukraine have been supported under the Fellowship Programme MSCA4Ukrain.

In total, the EC will support 1,235 projects by the most talented young researchers.