The Winners of the Science Communication Competition “Scientific Sprint” Were Chosen

Celebrating the 445th anniversary of Vilnius University (VU), the “Scientific Sprint” science communication competition was held for the third time. The first place was won by the team “GiS” from the VU Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, represented by Prof. Giedrė Beconytė and Samanta Klusytė. Their presentation was on the topic “Spatial data for good governance - from vision to solution”. The winners were awarded a prize worth 1000 euros, sponsored by the competition partner “Thermo Fisher Scientific”.

According to this year’s competition winner, Prof. G. Beconytė, participating in the “Scientific Sprint” was a delightful experience: “It was worth participating just to see how interesting the presentations of other participants are. By the way, it is twice as enjoyable to win at your Alma Mater’s event than in any other.”

S. Klusytė revealed that her participation in the event was motivated by the desire to make the most of the time spent at VU: “Personally, the fact that I only have a few months left at VU and the six-year journey will be over motivated me to participate in the competition. I highly value all this time and cherish the people I’ve met here, so I wanted to make the most of it and participate in VU-organised events.“

Both Professor G. Beconytė and student S. Klusytė encourage VU researchers to participate in the “Scientific Sprint” science communication competition. “One of the charming ideas of this competition is the teacher and student team. It’s an interesting, fun, and unconventional experience to prepare together not for exams but for a science communication competition where there is a lot of freedom for ideas that wouldn’t fit well in other formats,” says competition winner S. Klusytė.

Prof. G. Beconytė emphasises the importance of sharing knowledge: “I would encourage students and teachers to participate just to check if what is being done might be interesting to someone. Moreover, we have both the duty to share knowledge and the desire to share the joy of good research. I have no doubt that most scientists have that and can participate excellently in this event.”

The spectrum of presentation topics this year was vast. Research on microgravity environment for growing ritonavir crystals, the benefits of bee venom, artificial intelligence, metaphors in education, and more were presented. This year, Jokūbas Kojelis, an eleventh-grader from Vilnius lyceum, participated in the “Scientific Sprint” competition, presenting a new perspective on traditional medicine with lecturer Audrone Meldžiukiene from the VU Life Sciences Center.

This year, thirteen teams composed of a teacher and a student competed in the competition. The teams had three minutes to present their research or scientific ideas. Participants were evaluated on the relevance of their presentation, scientific accuracy, clarity of the message, and the ability to talk about science in an engaging manner.

The performances were evaluated by a commission consisting of Assoc. Prof. Andrejus Suchomlinovas from the VU Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Anthropology, Augustė Nomeikaitė, a doctoral student at the Faculty of Philosophy, last year’s winner of the “Scientific Sprint” together with Dr. Odeta Geležėlyte, Elizabet Beržanskytė, journalist and editor of the “Science and IT” section of LRT.lt portal, and Artem Akatovas, Senior Production Manager at “Thermo Fisher Scientific”, the competition’s partner for the third year.

Second place was taken by the team “Neurofilai” from the VU Faculty of Medicine, represented by Prof. Rūta Mameniškienė and Kristijonas Puteikis, who presented on the topic “Who’s Afraid of the Black Cat? Neurological Patients’ Prayers and Superstitions.” Third place was awarded to the team “SHARE: Lithuania” from the VU Faculty of Philosophy, represented by Assoc. Prof. Antanas Kairys and Giedrius Rupšys, with their presentation on the topic “Did They Live Happily Ever After?”. Special prizes were awarded to the second and third-place winners.