High Scientific Competence Centers Launched at Vytautas Magnus University for Bioeconomy Development and GDP Growth

Creating economic prosperity without compromising future generations is only achievable by developing bioeconomy based on sustainability and circular economy principles. In Lithuania, Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA), which holds extensive experience and scientific potential in bioeconomy research, has taken the leadership role in promoting efficient use of biological resources. A significant new step in this direction is the establishment of two centers of high scientific competence: the Bioeconomy Excellence Centre (BioTec) and the Smart Forestry Excellence Centre. These centers aim to foster innovation, develop science-business partnerships, educate young scientists, enhance the university’s visibility, and strive for leadership in the Baltic region and across Europe.

Creating Added Value for Both the State and the Academy

The quality of research at VMU and other Lithuanian public universities is being enhanced through the “University Excellence Initiative” launched by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sport in 2023. In 2023, €4 million was allocated, last year more than €13 million, and by 2027, a total of €57.5 million is planned.

“Universities themselves, knowing best their strengths and priorities, could decide where to invest these state-provided funds. VMU has decided to divide these funds to strengthen social sciences and bioeconomy,” said VMU AA Chancellor Prof. Dr. Astrida Miceikienė.

According to Prof. Miceikienė, identifying priority areas was straightforward for an institution celebrating 100 years of scientific tradition. Agronomy and environmental engineering emerged as critical for both international leadership and domestic bioeconomy stimulation, prompting the establishment of the Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence at VMU Agriculture Academy.

“VMU AA researchers have also achieved remarkable success in forestry research, collaborating with leading European science centers. Hence, we are establishing another center—the Smart Forestry Excellence Centre—funded not by the ministry’s initiative but by winning international competition through the HORIZON-WIDERA-2022 program, dedicated to creating and developing the ‘FOREST 4.0’ excellence center,” Prof. Miceikienė explained.

According to Prof. Miceikienė, these centers attract top scientists capable of innovative research. Modern infrastructure, equipment acquisition, and research funding are essential to these goals.

Chancellor of VMU Agriculture Academy, Prof. Dr. Astrida Miceikienė

“The centers aim to attract young researchers focused long-term on bioeconomy and forestry, alongside international experts, since Lithuania, being a small country, cannot maintain top experts in all fields,” she stated. These excellence centers generate value for both the state and VMU AA by enhancing researchers’ capabilities, promoting innovation, increasing academic publications, and training more graduate students. Innovations created by researchers can be commercialized, ultimately boosting GDP through increased tax revenues.

Positive Social and Economic Impact

According to Prof. Dr. Zita Kriaučiūnienė, head of VMU AA’s Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence, the center has already yielded results by acquiring advanced scientific equipment and software. Tools like “SimaPro” software enable comprehensive lifecycle assessments for agricultural systems, aiding sustainable agricultural decisions. Other innovations, like “LI-COR” portable gas analyzers and precision nitrogen fertilizer application technologies, significantly improve research quality in agronomy and environmental engineering.

Research topics include soil and plant health, climate change mitigation, and sustainable agrotechnologies. These studies aim to positively impact society and the economy by promoting agricultural sustainability and resilience against climate change.

Prof. Dr. Zita Kriaučiūnienė, head of VMU AA’s Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence

Prof. Dr. Zita Kriaučiūnienė highlighted numerous publications in prestigious scientific journals, active international conference participation, and collaborative projects, including “Holistic Assessment of Agroecological Measures” (2025-2028) and innovations for sustainable wheat production using advanced sensors and spectroscopy.

“VMU AA Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence actively promotes technology commercialization. The next step involves encouraging innovative bioeconomy ventures capable of creating high-value products,” summarized Prof. Dr. Zita Kriaučiūnienė.

Smart Forestry Excellence Centre – For a Data-Driven Future of the Forestry Sector

Smart Forestry Excellence Centre for Innovative Bioeconomy Under the HORIZON-WIDERA-2022 program, VMU AA, alongside European partners, is developing the “FOREST 4.0” project—a competence center applying AI and IoT in forestry. The project aims to enhance Lithuania’s bioeconomy leadership in Europe by digitalizing forestry operations and supporting informed decision-making.

Prof. Dr. Gintautas Mozgeris from the Department of Forestry and Ecology emphasizes that tools developed will provide comprehensive data on forest ecosystems, enable risk forecasting, and promote balanced resource management. The project also plans to implement greenhouse gas emission monitoring technologies to support carbon farming practices, ensuring effective management and carbon credit verification.

Head of the Department of Forest Sciences, Faculty of Forestry and Ecology, VMU Agriculture Academy, Prof. Dr. Gintautas Mozgeris

“It is particularly important to avoid practices where greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters purchase carbon credits that do not actually result in emission reductions or increased absorption. Through the ‘Forest 4.0’ project, it is planned to establish a GHG emission monitoring tower capable of capturing real-time data on greenhouse gas emissions within a radius of over 100 kilometers. Additionally, mobile equipment will be utilized to monitor long-term GHG balances, enabling analysis of how GHG balances change in different conditions such as clear-cut areas, restored forest wetlands, and more. Expanded scientific research will validate effective carbon farming methods, simultaneously reducing the risks and societal impacts associated with the increasingly prevalent practice of ‘greenwashing,’” summarized Prof. Dr. G. Mozgeris.

Ultimately, VMU AA’s advanced research initiatives in bioeconomy and forestry promise significant social and economic benefits, including increased national GDP and sustainable growth.

Workshop on the FIFISH V6 Expert drone application options

Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BioTec) invites teachers, researchers, PhD candidates and students to attend a presentation and training session on the FIFISH V6 Expert underwater drone, which will showcase the capabilities of the equipment and its application in research.

The equipment is designed for comprehensive research on water bodies and their ecosystems. It can be used to take water and bottom soil samples, to inspect underwater hydraulic structures, to assess their condition, and to record and accurately measure damages. The equipment includes innovative Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. During the workshop the representative from ROV-Tech will present the Blue Robotics USV (Uncrewed Surface Vessel), an autonomous vessel designed for surveying bodies of water.

Date: November 20th 2024, 10:30-13:00

Duration: 3 hours

REGISTRATION

This workshop is one of the activities of the project “Development of the Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BioTec)”. The project is partially funded by a grant (Project ‘Development of the Bioeconomy Research Center of Excellence’ (BioTEC) No. S-A-UEI-23-14) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic of Lithuania under the Program ‘University Excellence Initiative’.

Workshop on the “Yara” sensor application options

Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BioTec) invites teachers, researchers, PhD candidates and students to attend a presentation and training session on the Yara sensor, which will showcase the capabilities of this equipment and its application options in scientific research.

Date: November 6th 2024, 11:00-13:00

Place: Rapsų str. 7, Noreikiškės, Kaunas district (VMU AA Experimental Station, Kernza Experiment (VIKING))

Duration: 3 ac. hours

REGISTRATION

The experiment is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania, international research and development project “Kernza introduction opportunities in the Nordic-Baltic region” (VIKING) (No TM-23-3).

Visit of VMU AA researcher at the “OpenLivingLab Days” event

Jovita Balandaitė, Junior researcher at the Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BioTec), participated in the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) “OpenLivingLab Days” in Timișoara, Romania, on September 24th to 27th.

The event highlighted the benefits of developing living labs, their relevance for addressing pressing societal challenges, the importance of such labs for policy making and the management of innovative ecosystems. It focused on how living labs help business and society to adapt to new technologies, discussing possible business models, operational aspects, etc.

We discussed how living labs and society can work together to achieve meaningful systemic change. During the event, speakers and participants shared best practices, explored opportunities for collaboration, and held interactive and research sessions and workshops.

SEMINAR Innovative research in agriculture and environmental engineering for the bioeconomy development

The Bioeconomy Research Center of Excellence (BioTEC) of the Academy of Agriculture of the Vytautas Magnus University invites teachers, researchers, doctoral students and students to participate in the seminar: Innovative research in agriculture and environmental engineering for the bioeconomy development.

Date: 2024 May 9 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

REGISTRATION

THE PROGRAM

Join the pre-seminar remotely HERE

Junior researcher Dr. Muhammad Ayaz at The Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BioTEC) – Invited speaker at the 20th International Congress of the Soil Science Society

Junior researcher Dr. Muhammad Ayaz, representing the Development of The Bioeconomy Research Centre of Excellence (BIOTEC) of Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy, was honored as an invited speaker at the 20^th International Congress of the Soil Science Society, hosted by the Soil Science Society of Pakistan on 20–22 February, 2024.

The congress centered on the theme “Soil Health, a Key to Food Security.”

Dr. Ayaz delivered a presentation titled “Analysis of Biochar in the Nemoral Climatic Zone: Applications of Mineral Nitrogen Fertilizers for Improving Soil Sustainability and Crop Production.”

This visit is one of the activities of the project “Development of the Bioeconomy Research Center of Excellence (BioTEC)”. The project is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Lithuania, contract No. S-A-UEI-23-14 (2023-12-27) under the program ‘University Excellence Initiative’.

Teaching aid, research paper competitions and awarding nominations of VMU AA employees are announced

We invite the employees of the VMU Agriculture Agriculture to participate in the competition of teaching aid and research papers, sharing with the community the significant work done and celebrating the achievements.

The winners will be awarded at the festive commemoration of the Day of the Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence, which will take place in the Hall of VMU Agriculture Academy central building (Studentų str. 11, Akademija, Kaunas distr.) on March 12. 1 p.m.

TEACHING AID COMPETITION REGULATIONS

TA competition is organized to initiate the sharing of experience in the development and use of advanced teaching methods and TAs among the teachers among the teachers at the VMU Agriculture Academy; to accelerate the development and use of TAs and innovative teaching techniques; to encourage the teachers to develop and improve TAs and apply them effectively in their teaching activities.

The competition is open to employees at the VMU Agriculture Academy and their teams who have developed new TAs and applied them in teaching the students at the VMU Agriculture
Academy.

Entries can be submitted under the following headings:

Teaching publications (textbooks, course books, lecture notes, descriptions of laboratory work and exercises, other teaching publications (> 50 pages), published in print or electronic form);
Visual aids (instruments, tools, laboratory and display benches, mockups, models,
collections of objects studied, videos, poster sets, and other tools);
Methods of organizing studies and other TAs (integrated provision of supporting teaching aids for the study subject, implementation of distance learning, implementation of other innovative study methods, etc.).

The application shall be accompanied by an extract of the minutes of the academic unit Council or a committee authorized by it, along with a recommendation, and a copy of the TA (or its location) and a description of it.

The TA description shall specify the following:

Name of TA;
Author(s)’ details (name, surname, faculty, institute, department, position, title, academic title and scientific degree, telephone number, email address);
Purpose of the TA (study programme, study subject, topics within the study subject structure);
Relevance (need, previous development of similar tools, etc.);
Methodological compatibility with independent studies (possibilities for active learning and innovative study methods using the TA);
Innovation (innovation in the presentation of course material) and scientific approach (use of the latest scientific information and tools, possibilities for student involvement in research);
Visual quality of the knowledge presented and quality of the publication design (intensity of use of visual elements, strong aspects of the publication design);
Other benefits.

Candidates’ documents for the competition shall be submitted to the coordinator for the administration of studies in the Administrative Group of the VMU Agriculture Academy dr. Rasa Čingienė (by email rasa.cingiene@vdu.lt or at VMU AA central building room 237) by 15 February.

A maximum of 3 prizes will be awarded per heading. Prizes are awarded to first-place winners, and certificates of appreciation are awarded to second and third-place winners. The prize fund shall be allocated by the Chancellor of the VMU Agriculture Academy.

Contact for more information: dr. Rasa Čingienė rasa.cingiene@vdu.lt, VMU AA central building room 237.

RESEARCH PAPER COMPETITION REGULATIONS

RP competition is organized to encourage the teachers, researchers, and PhD students at the VMU Agriculture Academy, to conduct research and disseminate the results thereof, to contribute to the enhancement of the scientific, social and economic environment of Vytautas Magnus University and of the whole country; to select, promote, and reward the best researchers and research groups at the VMU Agriculture Academy.

The competition is open to teachers, researchers, and PhD students of the VMU Agriculture Academy.

Entries can be submitted under the following headings:

research group category (it is recommended that the number of authors of a submitted research paper should not exceed 4 and that each publication should be authored by at least two authors from the research group participating in the competition);
international researcher’s category (a researcher working on a research project in collaboration with researchers from other countries);
category of the young researcher, doctoral student, or their team (applicants must be aged 35 or younger, hold a PhD granted no earlier than 5 years ago, not including parental leave).

The RP competition is open to collections of scientific output on a common topic for the last 2 calendar years, which may include:

scientific monographs, parts of scientific monographs, scientific studies;
patented scientific output, registered plant and animal varieties;
scientific publications;
oral presentations at plenary sessions of scientific international conferences.

The RP shall be submitted to the competition together with the following:

Extract from the minutes of the Council of the academic unit or a committee authorized by it, with a recommendation, which shall include the title of the submitted RP, the author(s) and the creative contribution that shall be assessed in proportion to the number of authors or on the basis of a joint declaration signed by the authors;
A brief description (up to 1 page) of the research paper or collection of the output, indicating the title of the RP, the components of the submitted research paper or collection of the output, and highlighting the most important aspects of the RP that are relevant to the competition.
Information about the author(s) of the RP (name, surname, date of birth, position, scientific title and degree, scientific achievements, list of major scientific outputs signed by a library staff member, contribution index, telephone number, email address).

The competition is not open to winners of the previous year’s RP competition.

Candidates’ documents for the competition shall be submitted to the Scientific Activity Coordinator dr. Algis Kvaraciejus (by email algis.kvaraciejus@vdu.lt or at VMU AA central building room 227) at the VMU Agriculture Academy by 15 February.

A maximum of 5 prizes will be awarded to the winners of the RP competition: a maximum of 3 prizes shall be awarded in the 1st category and 1 prize in the 2nd and 3rd categories each.

Contact for more information: dr. Algis Kvaraciejus, algis.kvaraciejus@vdu.lt VMU AA central building room 227.

THE SUBMISSION OF NOMINATIONS

The Nominations are an incentive tool to encourage the involvement of the employees and students of the VMU Agriculture Academy in further development of the quality of studies, research and scientific services, the creation of a motivating working environment, and fostering of culture and values.

Nominations are open to employees (or a group of employees) and students of the VMU Agriculture Academy who have an impeccable reputation. The employee or student who has violated the VMU Code of Academic Ethics and/or work discipline shall not be eligible for the Nomination.

Types of the VMU Agriculture Academy Nominations and the Nomination criteria:

Nomination “Scientific Achievement of the Year” is awarded to a member or group of members of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy for receiving significant national and/or international awards for research and experimental development (R&D) activities. One candidate is submitted by each academic and non-academic division.
Nomination “Project of the Year” is awarded to a member or group of members of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy for active project activities, the impact of the winning project on the region, country, and society at national and/or international level. One candidate is submitted by each academic and non-academic division.
Nomination “Researcher of the Year” is awarded to students and other members of the academic community at all levels of the VMU Agriculture Academy, except those holding a doctoral degree, for their active scientific research activities and results of scientific achievements. The Nomination may be awarded to the same member of the academic community once every three calendar years. One candidate is submitted by each academic division.
Nomination “Employee of the Year” is awarded to an employee of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy who is indirectly involved in activities related to studies and research, for significant initiatives for the development of the VMU Agriculture Academy, outstanding diligence and loyalty to the VMU Agriculture Academy. The Nomination may be awarded to the same member of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy once every three calendar years. The candidates are submitted by the administration, academic, and non-academic divisions of the VMU Agriculture Academy.
Nomination “Partnership of the Year” is awarded to a member of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy for the establishment, development, and expansion of close and significant cooperation with social and business partners, taking into account the importance of the cooperation, the support provided by the partner, or any other significant achievements at the VMU Agriculture Academy. The Nomination may be awarded to the same member of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy once every three calendar years. The candidates are submitted by the administration, academic, and non-academic divisions of the VMU Agriculture Academy.
Nomination “Teacher of the Year” is awarded to a member of the academic community of the VMU Agriculture Academy whose main job functions are related to the VMU Agriculture Academy, for the following results: students’ objective satisfaction with the taught subject, advanced pedagogical activity, work with the Erasmus+ students, resources used for the taught subjects, innovative approach in teaching, teacher’s activity and partnership with other study and research institutions, promotion of study programmes at the VMU Agriculture Academy among pupils and the public, and supervision of students’ research papers. The Nomination may be awarded to the same teacher once every three calendar years. One candidate is submitted by each Faculty.
Nomination “Student of the Year” is awarded to a first-, second- or third-cycle student at the VMU Agriculture Academy for significant achievements in learning, research, organizational or social activities. The same student may be nominated once during the entire study period. One candidate is submitted by each Faculty, taking into account the opinion of student representatives.
Nomination “Researcher’s International Mobility of the Year” is awarded to researchers at the VMU Agriculture Academy with and without a doctoral degree, to teachers, scientific workers, and doctoral students for their activity within the framework of international visits. The Nomination may be awarded to the same researcher once every three calendar years. One candidate is submitted by each academic and non-academic division.
Nomination “Student’s International Mobility of the Year” is awarded to a first- or second-cycle student at the VMU Agriculture Academy for active participation in international exchange (internships, short-term courses, studies). The same student may be awarded the Nomination once during the entire study period. One candidate is submitted by each Faculty.
Nomination “Ambassador of the Year” is awarded to a member or group of members of the community of the VMU Agriculture Academy for active promotion of study and research activities, events at national and/or international level. One candidate is submitted by each academic and non-academic division