Researchers Grand Prix 2023 / © Personal archive
On October 18th of this year, the final event of Researchers Grand Prix 2023 took place in Vilnius. This is the second time this science popularization competition has been organized, where young Lithuanian scientists compete to present their dissertation research in an engaging manner within 4 minutes.
This time, among the competition finalists were representatives from Vilnius University’s Faculty of Medicine (VU MF): the second-place winner, doctoral student Rūta Morkūnienė, and doctoral student Povilas Kavaliauskas, a junior research associate at the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Epidemiology Laboratory.
“I am thrilled with the invaluable experience gained from the Researchers Grand Prix competition! It was a growth journey that allowed me to relax on stage, feel the audience, express myself fluently, believe in every word, and trust only in myself. I want to thank the organizers of the Researchers Grand Prix for this experience, especially Zaneta Freyer, the masterminds behind it, my mentors Dovilė Lipnickė and Andrius Ivanovas, and the jury members Urtė Neniškytė, Tomas Balžekas, and Domantas Razauskas for their warm feedback. Thank you to everyone who came to show their support! Being among the Top 3 performers and having the opportunity for Rotary Academy mentoring are significant recognitions and incentives to continue striving for excellence,” Dr. Rūta Morkūnienė shared her impressions after the event. In the competition’s final, R. Morkūnienė secured the second place by presenting her dissertation on the topic ‘The Growth of Premature Lithuanian Newborns from Birth to the End of School Age and Their Physical and General Health Conditions (a Longitudinal Study).’
Povilas Kavaliauskas presented his dissertation on the topic: ‘Professional Stress, Professional Burnout, and Suicide Risk in Medical Personnel.’ “It is known worldwide that medical professionals experience high levels of stress, including a higher incidence of suicide and mental health issues compared to the general population. Seeing that this topic had not been thoroughly studied and described in our country, we decided to assess the current situation. The study consists of two parts: in the first part, we assessed the suicide risk of medical professionals and will perform a detailed evaluation of the causes of deaths. In the second part, we conducted a comprehensive assessment of mental health, interviewing over 1600 different medical professionals, including doctors, residents, nurses, and others,” Povilas Kavaliauskas explained the topic of his dissertation. According to him, a complex scientific topic can be presented in an engaging, clear, and simple way. “Although I had participated in many conferences and presented papers in both Lithuanian and English, it was the Grand Prix competition that taught me the most about how to present my chosen topic in an engaging way, what to do to truly engage the audience, make it relatable to them, and most importantly, make it easily understandable,” shared P. Kavaliauskas his impressions after the event.
It’s worth noting that the Researchers Grand Prix competition has received two national awards: the Global Lithuania Leaders nomination and the award of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
The Researchers Grand Prix jury consisted of the following members: neuroscientist Assoc. Prof. Dr. Urtė Neniškytė, Lithuanian songwriter and performer, radio show host, and AGATA board chairman Domantas Razauskas, and 15min CEO Tomas Balžekas.