The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences (Lietuvos Mokslų Akademija, LMA) elects the members of the Young Academy (LMAJA) at the end of the year. From 32 candidates, the LMA's science sections have elected ten Young Academicians on 3 December.
We are pleased to announce that among them is Dr. Rokas Kondrotas, a researcher at the FTMC Department of Characterisation of Materials Structure. Congratulations and best wishes for success in his new position!
Rokas became a member of the Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry Division of LMAJA.
His main research interests are in materials science and semiconductor physics for the development of thin chalcogenide layer technologies for lightweight and flexible solar cells and cells operating under internal illumination. Rokas is co-author of 34 papers, h-index 22 (Google Scholar database).
R. Kondrotas is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship winner and a member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association. He is a member of the international network of researchers working on chalcogenide solar cells under the COST programme and is actively involved in expert and project activities. He has been awarded a Young Scientist Fellowship by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and is currently the head of the FTMC Laboratory for Photoelectric Materials.
Our colleague is developing thin-film solar cells and looking for new directions to develop modern solar cells. "We're diving into new materials, researching them, looking at their properties," says Rokas.
(Dr. Rokas Kondrotas. Photo: FTMC)
"I am very happy to be a member of LMAJA, it is something I have been working towards. It is like jumping on a moving train, because next year I wouldn't have been able to apply because of the age limit (members of the Young Academy must be no older than 40 years old). It's great to be involved, to find out what LMAJA is doing, and it will be interesting to learn more about how Lithuanian science is developing at a political and systemic level. I am climbing a little higher up the career ladder.
I know that LMAJA organises events and promotes science, so I want to contribute to that. One of the challenges is also to attract more young people to science. One way to do this would be to go to schools more often, to try to get young people interested", says the FTMC scientist.
Established in 2018, the LMA Young Academy represents the interests of Lithuanian young scientists, provides an opinion on Lithuanian science policy issues, provides opportunities to pursue an academic career, to interact with young academies from other countries, to raise the prestige of science and the accessibility of science-based knowledge in society, to analyse the development of science in the academic environment, and to activate the mentoring of academics.
The LMAJA currently brings together about 50 young scientists, and in addition to R. Kondrotas, our Center is also represented in this organisation by Dr. Linas Minkevičius, a researcher at the Department of Optoelectronics.
Dr. Aldona Balčiūnaitė, a chemist at the FTMC Department of Catalysis, and. Dr. Mindaugas Gedvilas, a physicist at the Department of Laser Technologies, are alumni of LMAJA.
LMA and FTMC information