The 75th Anniversary Conference of the Student Research Network
The 75th Anniversary Conference of the Student Research Network (SRN) took place on 15–19 May 2023 at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University. Students and scientists from different research groups of the faculty presented their research papers, sharing the results of interesting clinical cases and analyses. The week-long event culminated in a plenary session where the first place winners of the 22 sections of the SRN were invited to present their papers.
The event started with an opening ceremony, during which the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Dalius Jatužis, and the Vice Dean of Science and Innovation, Dr. Karolis Ažukaitis, gave the welcoming address. Scientists of the faculty congratulated the winners of the sections and their leaders, thanked all those who had participated and contributed to the organisation and dissemination of the event. “Our work is based on scientific evidence, but it can also be incorrect, so we need to be able to look at it critically. Scientific activity is one way to develop our critical thinking.” Dr. Ažukaitis shared his thoughts on the importance of the SRN in encouraging all those who are thinking of pursuing a scientific career, as well as those who are interested in science and innovation, to continue to take part in scientific activities.
As in previous years, the SRN event attracted student contributions on a wide range of topics. Most of them were submitted by student research groups from Psychiatry (scientific supervisor, Prof. Dr. Alvydas Navickas) and Obstetrics and Gynaecology (scientific supervisor, Assist. Dr. Diana Bužinskienė). At the plenary session, Tadas Alčauskas, a medical student of VU MF and winner of three first prizes, presented his research on the winning projects –initial resuscitation training in schools, the trends in antibiotic prescription in children with acute upper respiratory tract infections, and the differences in antibody dynamics after receiving the full COVID-19 vaccination schedule and booster regime. Lilian Jenny Babette Schneider, an international third year medical student, participated for the first time in the conference and won a prize for her research on golden staphylococcus. Everyone attending the conference also had the opportunity to listen to such topical presentations as those by students from the Nephrology, Dermatovenerology and Rheumatology section Greta Joskaudaitė and Greta Zaburaitė on patients’ attitudes towards sun protection before and after malignant lesion detection, students from the joint section of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Benedikt Bakhmetjev and Artur Airapetian on the impact of war on people’s mental health, and student, Robertas Basijokas, on the analysis of health risk factors in social networks, to name a few. Throughout the conference, numerous questions were posed to the speakers, with many discussions taking place, and attendants sharing their ideas and proposals.
The organisers of the SRN conference – Dr. Simona Kildienė, Science Specialist of the Science and Innovation Department of Faculty of Medicine, and Indrė Dagilienė, Innovation Specialist, were pleased that the SRN, which has been in existence for 75 years, has attracted more and more interest from students every year. According to Dr. Kildienė, after choosing the challenging medical profession and the challenging medical studies that lead up to it, to then choose the path of scientific research is to create twice as much value and makes a significant contribution to the future progress of society. The aim of the conference, she explained, has always been to build a progressive university, to form strong scientific teams, and to integrate students, some of whom may be young scientists of the future, into work and research in various fields of medical science, together with suitably qualified and experienced researchers at the medical faculty of Vilnius University.
The prize-winner, Mr. Alčauskas, also shared his impressions of attending the SRN conference: “It was great to see that a large part of the conference consisted of presentations of biomedical research or phases of research. In this way, you share not only medical news, but also the experience of applying different methodologies, discussing their advantages and disadvantages, and trying to see what you could add to your own research, or what problems you might face when planning new ones. An interesting part of the conference was also the historical composition of the SRN – while attending the 75th conference; it seems that more than one of us was trying to imagine what the activities of this part of the Faculty of Medcine must have looked like three quarters of a century ago. I found the exhibition a great curiosity satisfier.”
SRN is a free membership body of the Faculty of Medicine, uniting students and researchers of the faculty’s undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate studies, as well as all those who are interested and willing to participate in the faculty’s scientific activities.
Every year, over 300 bachelor, master and postgraduate students participate in the SRN conference, 300-400 different research papers are presented, and then published in the SRN publication of conference theses. This year’s SRN theses’ publication is available here.
Together with their lecturers, students have founded a total of 48 SRN groups, of which 34 are active this year in different departments of the VU MF. The list of active clubs can be viewed here.