Virtual Conference Open Readings 2021 to Bring Together World-Class Scientists
On 16-19 March, young researchers from the Faculty of Physics and the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology of Vilnius University will gather for the 64th International Conference for Students of Physics and Natural Sciences Open Readings 2021, which this year will take place on the Zoom platform and be broadcast on YouTube channel. Around 500 participants from over 10 countries have registered for the conference.
NASA representative to give a presentation
Like every year, scientists from Lithuania and abroad will join the conference. Students and young researchers will have the opportunity not only to present their work, but also to listen to well-known scientists.
One of the guest speakers is the Vice-President of the Australian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Chennupati Jagadish, who was awarded a UNESCO medal for contributions to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies. There will also be presentations by Dr. Eglė Čekanavičiūtė, a researcher from NASA Ames Research Center who explores the effects of being in space on the human body and neuroscientist Dr. Urtė Neniškytė whose field of research is neuron interactions with immune cells in the brain. Prof. Daniele Faccio, head of the Extreme Light group from the University of Glasgow, and Dr. Mihir Pendharkar, who has already earned several awards for his work in the field of semiconductors- superconductors are among the presenters. Participants will also hear presentations from Prof. Tomas Tamulevičius of the Applied Optics and Photonics research group of Kaunas University of Technology and Prof. Klaus–Dieter Kreuer from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Stuttgart.
Conference events for schoolchildren
This year, school students will hear from four lecturers specializing in the research of diverse worlds from micro-organisms to galaxies. School students who have completed experiments related to natural sciences will be able to present their findings at the conference and be in the shoes of real researchers. It is hoped that by stimulating their ambitions and curiosity in this way, young people will be encouraged to choose natural sciences as their field of study.
Day 2 of the conference will feature a discussion on life after studies. Simona Liukaitytė-Suszczynska, optical systems engineer, who has contributed to the development of SuperCAM, one of the cameras of the Mars’ Perseverance rover, Renata Butkutė from the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology of Vilnius University who works with optoelectronics technologies, and Paulius Saudargas, a former engineer of the Molecular Derivatives Physics Laboratory, who worked with light sensitive protein research methods, and currently a politician, will share stories of their career paths. The discussion will be moderated by journalist, researcher and TV presenter Goda Raibytė.
The Open Readings conference is organized by young researchers from the Faculty of Physics and the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology of Vilnius University members of SPIE Student Chapter of Vilnius University, OSA Student Chapter of Vilnius University and the European Physical Society Young Minds Section of Vilnius.
More information about the conference is available here.