News 1 November 2026
Eglė Butkevičienė presents a survey on LRT.lt: four in ten would agree to take part in a research project
An article published on the national broadcaster's news portal LRT.lt on 23 October asks whether residents of Lithuania would like to contribute to research themselves. The results of a representative survey are discussed by Prof. Dr. Eglė Butkevičienė, a founding member of the Lithuanian Citizen Science Association, professor of sociology at KTU and lead of the RECONECT and Science4Everyone projects.
Key figures
- 41% of residents would agree to take part in a research project.
- 59% followed science news and 52% read research articles.
- 10% have taken part in citizen science projects.
- Among those willing to take part, 39% think society is prepared to withstand crises. Among those unwilling, 26% do.
Prof. Butkevičienė sees untapped potential for citizen science in these figures, but points out that willingness is not yet involvement. People need to know about the opportunities, understand how they can contribute and see the point of taking part, so much depends on what research institutions offer them. She also stresses that the link between openness to science and views on crises does not show a cause: a broader civic orientation may explain both.
The survey data are publicly available in the LiDA archive. KTU and its partners will take this further in the Horizon Europe project Science4Everyone.
How this fits with other data
This figure differs from another survey: according to INFODEMIJA, 18.5% of residents would like to take part in research and another 19.0% are undecided. The questions were worded differently, so the figures cannot be compared directly. Both surveys show that a sizeable share of people have not made up their minds.
More RECONECT data and recommendations: the KTU event slides.