News 1 November 2026
VU open science competition: Geography Night wins the public engagement category
On 21 October, during International Open Access Week, the Vilnius University Library announced the winners of the third VU competition for significant contributions to open science. There were 30 applications this year, with one winner chosen in each of three categories.
Public engagement in science
This category went to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Giedrė Godienė of the VU Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences for Geography Night (Geografijos naktis). The initiative offers free, open events and citizen science activities, some of which involve the public in collecting, analysing and interpreting geographical data.
- 189 events have been held since 2019, with more than 11,000 participants.
- In 2026 there were 46 events in 24 places, with 3,141 participants.
- It brings together researchers, schools, science centres, museums, protected area institutions and local communities.
The commission also gave honourable mentions to the team of the Lithuanian Population and Rare Diseases Biobank and to Dr. Gintautas Bagdžiūnas, in both cases also for public engagement.
Other winners
The category "Openness and internationality in research" went to the team of the ERC project MILWAYS, led by Prof. Dr. Giedrė Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė Keen. The category "Impact of open science" went to a VU Centre of Excellence that is building open research data infrastructure.