ATHENA opportunity: Google Career Scholarships for VILNIUS TECH students

We are pleased to present the new VILNIUS TECH electronic publication „Vilnius: nuo laukinių miškų iki Rojaus sodo“ („Vilnius: From Wild Forests to the Garden of Eden“), edited by Associate Professor Giedrė Ingrida Laukaitytė-Malžinskienė of the Department of Urban Design. The publication showcases the outcomes of the autumn semester project carried out by third-year students in the Landscape Architecture programme at the VILNIUS TECH Faculty of Architecture. The project comprises a comprehensive analysis of a historic area of Vilnius and its surrounding context, the development of a territorial strategy, and individual proposals for the preservation and future use of the site. “The title of the project – Vilnius: From Wild Forests to the Garden of Eden – reflects the clear conceptual framework that guided our analytical work. We explored the notion of wildness in Vilnius in relation to the city’s spiritual and cultural development. As future landscape architects, we examined how natural landscape elements, urban transformation, and political processes have shaped the evolution of Vilnius’s cultural landscape. Saviour’s Hill, the Garden of Eden, Rojaus Street, Blind Alley, Schwarz Tavern, the School for Noble Girls, K. Brzostowski’s golden heart, mysterious wells, the communities of the Jesuits, Missionaries, and Visitandine Order, the 1863 Uprising, Russification, Sovietisation, and other historical factors have all influenced the territory we investigated. The study area is located between Rasų, Subačiaus, Vitebsko, and Drujos streets. It includes the present-day grounds of the Visitandine Monastery and Church, the adjacent hospice, the grounds of the American School (occupying the site of former historic gardens), Vilnius Correctional Facility (also located within the former historic gardens), and the historical territory of the former Garden of Eden, which currently remains open and undeveloped. Each student develops and presents an individual interpretation of their own ‘Paradise’, while the collective outcome of the group project lies in identifying the historical constants of the site and revealing the strengths and future potential of this currently underused territory. The project involved analysing the historical development of the site, changes in topography, and vegetation patterns. Drawing on historical maps, texts, and works of art, we traced the relationships between historic buildings and former gardens, documented both surviving and lost heritage elements, explored patterns of life across different historical periods, and examined visual connections, compositional axes, existing and former urban structures, as well as concepts of ecclesiastical heritage — all of which are presented in this publication,” writes Associate Professor Giedrė I. Laukaitytė-Malžinskienė in the introductory section of the publication. Electronic book (in Lithuanian)  >>>  

VILNIUS TECH Library invites you to follow the published new dissertations. The dissertation „Research and application of biofiltration materials in the purification of biogas from hydrogen sulfide“ prepared at VILNIUS TECH by Kamyab Mohammadi. The dissertation was prepared in 2022–2026. Scientific consultant – Assoc. Prof. Dr Rasa Vaiškūnaitė. The dissertation was defended at the public meeting of the Dissertation Defense Council of the Scientific Field of Environmental Engineering in the Aula Doctoralis Meeting Hall of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University at 10 a.m. on 15 June 2026. This dissertation analyzes the removal of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) from biogas via biofiltration. The study addresses one of the major challenges in biogas utilization, effective H₂S removal, since this compound is toxic and corrosive, and significantly reduces the operational efficiency and service life of biogas energy systems. The main object of the research is biofiltration materials intended for hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas: biochar produced from sewage sludge, cellular lightweight concrete (CLC) waste, and polyurethane foam (PUF). The doctoral dissertation aims to increase the efficiency of hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas and to enhance the operational stability of the biofilter by applying physically and chemically modified as well as unmodified waste-derived materials within the biofiltration process. The dissertation consists of an introduction, a literature review, chapters on methodology and results, general conclusions and recommendations, and lists of references and the author’s publications related to the dissertation topic. The Introduction presents the research problem and its relevance, describes the research object, formulates the aim and objectives, outlines the research methodology, scientific novelty, and practical significance of the results, and states the defended propositions. The First Chapter reviews biotechnologies for hydrogen sulfide removal from biogas, with particular emphasis on biofiltration mechanisms, the properties of biofilter packing materials, and the key factors determining process efficiency. The Second Chapter describes the experimental methodologies used to select biofiltration materials, determine their physicochemical and adsorption properties, inoculate and cultivate microorganisms, evaluate hydrogen sulfide removal efficiency, and the mathematically model the biofiltration process. The Third Chapter presents the results of theoretical and experimental investigations of innovative filtration materials, revealing the relationship between their properties and modification with microbial establishment, biofilm formation, and filter performance in hydrogen sulfide removal, and compares experimental results with mathematical modeling outcomes. Eight scientific papers related to the dissertation topic have been published: two in Web of Science-indexed journals with an impact factor, one in a Web of Science-indexed journal without an impact factor, four in other internationally indexed journals, and one in a conference proceedings volume indexed in the Scopus database. Seven presentations on the dissertation topic were given at national and international scientific conferences. Doctoral dissertation readers can search via VILNIUS TECH Virtual Library.