Congratulations to the Authors of the Best Contributions at FizTeCh 2025!

On October 21–22, the FTMC Conference for Doctoral Students and Young Scientists FizTeCh 2025 took place, bringing together around 100 participants representing FTMC, Vilnius University, and other institutions. Congratulations to the winners – the authors of the best oral and poster presentations!

Best oral presentations (in alphabetical order):

• Karolis Daugevičius – Star Cluster Size Evolution in the Andromeda Galaxy (FTMC Department of Fundamental Research)
• Ilya Navitski – Heavy Metal Sensing Capabilities of MXenes and Potential Applications in Protein Detection (FTMC Department of Electrochemical Material Science)
• Ioanna-Angeliki Petsi – Two-Photon Polymerization of Low-Density Micro-Targets and Assembly into Rigid Holders for Inertial Confinement Fusion Studies (Vilnius University Laser Research Center and University of Patras, Faculty of Physics)
• Sonata Pleskytė – Impact of the Physical Properties of LDPE Mulch Films on Photocatalytic Degradation Efficiency Under UV Irradiation (FTMC Department of Environmental Research)
• Justina Stonytė – Electrochemical Pathways to Archaeological Fungal Detection: Integrating B-Vitamin Derived Polymer Sensors, Stable Isotopes, and Yeast Genomics (FTMC Department of Nanoengineering)
• Aivaras Špokas – Extending Bismide Emitter Applications from Medicine to Telecommunication (FTMC Department of Optoelectronics)
• Austėja Trečiokaitė – High-Throughput Spatio-Temporal Optical Coherence Tomography (FTMC Department of Optoelectronics)
• Justina Žemgulytė – Cylindrical Resonant Antennas for Radio Wave Energy Harvesting (FTMC Department of Physical Technologies)

The best oral presentations were selected by session moderators and Dr Rasa Pauliukaitė, researcher at the FTMC Department of Nanoengineering.

Best poster presentations (in alphabetical order):

• Kamilė Kasperavičiūtė – Improving Membrane Coating Approaches to Promote Cell Adhesion in Two-Channel Microphysiological Systems (FTMC Department of Functional Materials and Electronics)
• Raiane Rodrigues da Silva – Pea Albumin Modification by Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) (FTMC Department of Functional Materials and Electronics)
• Dmytro Shyshkin – Enhanced Performance of Gold Nanoparticles Modified Nickel-Iron for Sodium Borohydride Oxidation (FTMC Department of Catalysis)
• Ugnė Šilingaitė – Improving the Resolution of Terahertz Images Using Neural Networks (FTMC Department of Optoelectronics)
• Justina Vaičaitytė – Modeling a Quantum Dimer with Coupled Classical Harmonic Oscillators (FTMC Department of Molecular Compounds Physics)

In this category, one winner was chosen by the poster session participants themselves, each having one vote. The remaining four winners were selected by a committee of FTMC scientists, with each member allowed two votes.

(Members of the FizTeCh 2025 poster presentation committee: Dr Andrea Zelioli, Dr Lena Golubewa, Dr Renata Butkutė, Dr Vytautas Jakštas, Dr Yaraslau Padrez, and Dr Vincentas Mindaugas Mačiulis. Photo: FTMC)

The Association of Research and Technology Organizations RTO Lithuania also selected its own laureates. Its members – FTMC, Lithuanian Energy Institute (LEI), and Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry (LAMMC) – promote interdisciplinary research, and the following winners were recognized for exactly that:

• Justina Stonytė – Electrochemical Pathways to Archaeological Fungal Detection: Integrating B-Vitamin Derived Polymer Sensors, Stable Isotopes, and Yeast Genomics (FTMC Department of Nanoengineering)
• Pamela Rivera – Bismuth-Doped Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes for Simultaneous Detection of Zn²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cd²⁺ (FTMC Department of Nanoengineering)
• Mantvydas Usvaltas – Affinity Evaluation of Polyclonal Human Antibodies to Antigen from a Repurposed Vaccine Using an Optical Method (FTMC Department of Nanotechnology)

RTO Award for Inter-Institutional Ambassadorship:

• Gediminas Skarbalius – CFD Modeling and Optimization of Forced-Air Cooling in Indoor LiFePO₄ Battery Energy Storage (LEI Laboratory of Heat-Equipment Research and Testing)

RTO special acknowledgments to the young researchers for their potential and enthusiasm:

• Deividas Rūškys – Formation of H, C, Si, La Ion Targets to Use in the Negative Cs-Sputtering Ion Source Hiconex (Vilnius University, Faculty of Physics)
• Justas Žuvelis – Impact of AlGaAs Barrier Composition and Profile on the Emission of InGaAs Quantum Wells (FTMC Department of Optoelectronics)

Congratulations to all laureates, and sincere thanks to every conference participant!

You can find their presentations in the FizTeCh 2025 Book of Abstracts.

Photo gallery:

Info: FTMC