14th International Scientific Conference “The Vital Nature Sign 2020”

This year’s 14th traditional interdisciplinary International Scientific Conference “The Vital Nature Sign 2020” due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic moved from May to  October 15-16, 2020 and took place remotely.

Conference organizers: Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and Nordic Society for Separation Sciences (NoSSS).

The scope of the conference covers relevant topics of modern life sciences and their perspectives.

The conference was attended by more than 100 representatives of the academic community and young researchers (doctoral students, masters, bachelors) from various national (Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius University, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and Klaipeda University Marine Research Center, Biotechnology Institute, Lithuanian Agrarian and Forestry Sciences Center) and abroad (Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland; Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland; Medical University of Bialystok, Poland; Institute for Environmental Solutions, Priekulu county, Latvia; University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo; Institute of Chemical Biology, Athens, Greece; Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, National Taiwan University, Taiwan).

The conference agenda included 12 presentations in plenary and 46 electronic poster presentations. Traditionally, the conference brings together many fields and disciplines.

The conference was opened by the Dean of VMU Faculty of Natural Sciences Prof. Dr. Saulius Mickevičius and the chairman of the conference academician Prof. Habil. Dr. Audrius Sigitas Maruška.

At the beginning of the conference in memoriam of the world-class scientist Prof. Habil. Dr. Klaus K. Unger (1936 – 2020) a review of his work in the field of separation sciences was presented by Prof. A. Maruška, who carried out his postdoctoral research work in Prof. Unger‘s lab during the period Dec. 1991- May 1993. Prof. K. Unger was active in the research field from high performance liquid chromatography sorbents and catalysts development, synthesis, method miniaturization to new drug development and profiling, automated proteomics and peptidomics analytical instrument platform development, including sample preparation and search for biomarkers. Prof. K. Unger participated at the 4th Nordic Separation Science Society (NoSSS) International Conference organized by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas in August 26-29, 2007, the report presented the latest achievements and methodologies of separation sciences and application perspectives. Special attention Prof. K. Unger dedicated to the bioanalysis science developed here in the Baltic States and Scandinavia. In 2009, he was awarded the honorary title of Outstanding Scientist by the Nordic Separation Science Society. He has visited Lithuania several times, conducted intensive courses for VMU Faculty of Natural Sciences students on the topic of chromatographic analysis, and actively supported the establishment of Instrumental Analysis Laboratories at VMU. He has published more than 330 scientific publications, was the editor or author of three scientific monographs, the contributor of 15 scientific monographs, and his works have been cited by other authors over 15,000 times. The exceptional quality of his works is reflected in the fact that 64 scientific works are cited at least 64 times (Hirsch index h 64). In Lithuania, a very rare scientist exceeds the index h 30. In 1979, his scientific monograph (K.K. Unger, Porous silica, its properties and use in column liquid chromatography, Elsevier, Amsterdam) became an essential scientific work in the development of high performance liquid chromatography, which is involved in about 80 percent of all modern methods of analysis.

Experts and young researchers in the fields of biotechnology, biophysics, physics, virology, agriculture and forestry, environment and ecology, food chemistry and technology, medicine and pharmacy, biology and botany, chemistry, biochemistry and chemical analysis delivered presentations and discussions at the conference. Abstracts are published in the e-book.

The traditional annual 14th International Scientific Conference “The Vital Nature Sign” has a scientific and practical significance, brings together national and foreign scientists and specialists and young researchers in various fields of science. The conference makes new contacts and partners for future projects, shares new scientific ideas and achievements that are based on research to improve wildlife health.

Conference participants have the opportunity to publish papers based on the conference presentations in scientific journals: Chemija, Lithuanian Journal of Physics, Biologija, Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry and Environmental Research, Engineering and Management.

At the end of the conference, discussions took place, during which it was decided: to organize the 15th anniversary International Scientific Conference “The Vital Nature Sign 2021” in Kaunas, Vytautas Magnus University on May 13-14, 2021.