New doctoral dissertation

April 22, 2026

VILNIUS TECH Library invites you to follow the published new dissertations. The dissertation „Modelling Urban Bicycle Traffic Flows with Consideration of Transport Infrastructure Safety“ („Miesto dviračių eismo srautų modeliavimas atsižvelgiant į susisiekimo infrastruktūros saugumą“) prepared at VILNIUS TECH by Miglė Zabielaitė-Skirmantė. The dissertation was prepared in 2021–2026. Scientific consultant – Prof. Dr Marija Burinskienė.

The dissertation was defended at the public meeting of the Dissertation Defence Council of the Scientific Field of Civil Engineering in the Aula Doctoralis Meeting Hall of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University at 10 a.m. on 22 April 2026.

The dissertation examines the impact of bicycle infrastructure solutions on subjective traffic safety and the possibilities of applying bicycle traffic flow forecasting methodologies on city streets. The main objects of the research are the impact of bicycle infrastructure solutions on the subjective sense of safety and the application of bicycle traffic flow forecasting methodologies on city streets. The dissertation aims to determine the accuracy of the aggregated behaviour model and sketch plan method in predicting bicycle traffic flows on city streets, using freely available data, and to determine the impact of different bicycle infrastructure solutions on predicted bicycle traffic flows in terms of subjective safety. The work addresses several main tasks: quantitatively assesses the impact of subjective safety on predicted bicycle traffic flows, and performs bicycle traffic flow forecasting using the aggregated behaviour model and the sketch plan method using freely available data. The dissertation consists of an introduction, three main chapters, general conclusions, lists of references and the author’s publications on the dissertation topic, and three appendices. The Introduction discusses the research problem and its relevance, defines the research object, outlines the dissertation’s aim and objectives, describes the research methodology, presents the scientific novelty and practical significance of the results, and introduces the defended statements. The section concludes with a list of the author’s publications and conference presentations related to the dissertation, as well as the structure of the work. The First Chapter reviews the principles of bicycle infrastructure planning, methods and databases for obtaining bicycle traffic flow data, analyses bicycle traffic flow forecasting methodologies, the data they employ and the accuracy. The Second Chapter describes the conducted theoretical studies, analyses the application of subjective safety in the Lithuanian context, provides its quantitative assessment, presents the results, and outlines the procedure of the experimental bicycle traffic flow forecasting study. The Third Chapter presents the results of experimental bicycle traffic flow studies conducted using aggregate behaviour and sketch planning methodologies, as well as their analyses and an evaluation of the accuracy of these methodologies. Seven scientific articles on the dissertation topic have been published: three in journals indexed in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science database, one in peer-reviewed international conference proceedings, and three in other national and international conference materials. Four presentations on the dissertation topic were given at Lithuanian conferences, and three at conferences abroad.

Doctoral dissertation readers can search via VILNIUS TECH Virtual Library.

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New doctoral dissertation
New doctoral dissertation
VILNIUS TECH Library invites you to follow the published new dissertations. The dissertation „Twin transition impact assessment model for agricultural performance in the context of sustainability“ prepared at VILNIUS TECH by Kristina Šermukšnytė-Alešiūnienė. The dissertation was prepared in 2020–2026. Scientific consultant – Dr Rasa Melnikienė. The dissertation was defended at the public meeting of the Dissertation Defence Council of the Scientific Field of Economics in the Aula Doctoralis Meeting Hall of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University at 10 a. m. on 22 September 2026. The twin transition in agriculture, combining the digital and green transitions, is one of the key directions of the European Union’s strategy for developing a more sustainable, resilient, and competitive agricultural sector. This dissertation addresses the problem of how to assess the impact of digital and green transitions on agricultural performance in the context of sustainability. The dissertation aims to develop and empirically substantiate the Twin Transition Impact Assessment Model. The model integrates three assessment levels: farm-level adoption and economic performance; the bioeconomy and value-chain level; and the national and regional context level. Structural asymmetries and enabling mechanisms are included as cross-cutting components. A mixed-methods research design was applied, combining scientific literature analysis, conceptual synthesis, case-study analysis, structured survey analysis, comparative assessment, correlation and regression analysis, sensitivity analysis, semi-structured interviews, document review, and the synthesis of empirical findings. The empirical basis consists of five interconnected studies covering small-farm digitalisation, digital technology adoption in sustainable agriculture and the bioeconomy, the twin transition in Lithuania and Romania, food supply-chain digitalisation, and structural asymmetries in Lithuania’s bioeconomy transition. The empirical results show that the twin transition improves agricultural performance when digital and green solutions are integrated across the farm, value chain, and regional and national levels. Digitalisation supports labour efficiency, planning, customer relations, investment decisions, loss reduction, traceability, product quality, and supply-chain visibility, while also contributing to resource efficiency, renewable energy use, water-use efficiency, emissions reduction, carbon sequestration, and climate resilience. The empirical evidence indicates that the effects of digital and green transitions depend on infrastructure, investment capacity, policy support, digital skills and institutional conditions. The results also show structural differences in transition outcomes: higher investment intensity does not automatically produce stronger economic results, and digital adoption may occur separately from ecological production orientation. On this basis, the dissertation concludes that digital and green transitions can strengthen agricultural performance and sustainability when they are integrated, context-specific and supported by enabling mechanisms. The proposed model provides a scientific and practical framework for assessing agricultural performance under the twin transition across farm-level, bioeconomy and agri-food value-chain, regional-national and structural dimensions. Doctoral dissertation readers can search via VILNIUS TECH Virtual Library.
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