On 16–17 September 2025, a scientific seminar titled “Collaboration between the Scientific Community and the Railway Sector: Application of Research Results in Practice” was held at the Faculty of Transport Engineering of VILNIUS TECH. The event focused on cooperation between the European railway sector and the academic community, as well as the practical application of research results.

The seminar was organized in a hybrid format and brought together 56 participants from more than 20 universities and research institutions across 14 EU countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine. The scientific event was organized by Prof. Dr. Gintautas Bureika, Head of the Department of Mobile Machinery and Railway Transport at VILNIUS TECH.

The seminar was dedicated to two Horizon Europe projects – Academics4Rail and PhDs EU-Rail. These initiatives aim to build a network of railway researchers and an academic community for the European Railway Joint Undertaking (ERJU), as well as to develop a doctoral training network.

On the first day, the project coordinator, Dr. Armando Carrillo Zanuy, Secretary General of the EURNEX association, presented the 2024–2025 activity report and highlighted the main research themes. These included digitalization, wireless communication, infrastructure maintenance, driver assistance systems, gender equality, innovation implementation, accessibility for people with disabilities, urban rail logistics, and other areas essential for the development of the railway sector.

Dr. Armando Carrillo Zanuy emphasized that specialized technical seminars with members of the European Railway Joint Undertaking and representatives of the academic community foster significantly more effective collaboration in the implementation of railway innovations.

During the seminar, researchers together with doctoral students presented their research results, and active discussions were held with working group leaders and other participants. On the second day, participants visited the LTG “Cargo” and LTG “Link” depots, where they observed rolling stock repair facilities and LTG’s refurbished passenger coaches.

According to the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Olegas Prentkovskis, this event once again demonstrated the importance of close ties between science and practice in promoting new technologies and sustainable development of the railway sector at the European level.