Funding from the Vilnius University (VU) Science Promotion Fund has been awarded to three research projects being carried out by researchers at the VU Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences (FCHG). Each project has been allocated 18,000 euros.

Funding was awarded to:

Assist. Dr. Indrė Misiūnaitė-Vaškevičienė, junior specialist at VU FCHG – for the project "Direct Radical Trifluoromethylation of (Hetero)arenes with Trifluoroacetic Acid Using Organic Photocatalysts." (Lith. Tiesioginis (hetero)arenų radikalinis trifluorometilinimas trifluoroacto rūgštimi naudojant organinius fotokatalizatorius“).

Jonas Žurauskas, PhD student at VU FCHG – for the project "Methyl on Demand: A Visible-Light Photoredox C(sp2)–H Methylation Platform for Late-Stage Diversification of Pharmaceutical Compounds." (Lith. „Magiškasis metilas pagal poreikį“: matomosios šviesos fotoredokso C(sp2)–H metilinimo platforma vėlyvosios stadijos farmacinių junginių įvairinimui“).

Kostas Gružas (PhD student at the VU FCHG Institute of Geosciences) and team – Martynas Kumetaitis (Master's student at the VU Faculty of Economics and Business Administration), Paulius Julius Mickys, Augustas Reikertas, Nikita Stecenko, and Monika Šapalaitė (Master's students of Cartography at VU FCHG) – for the project "Developing a Territorial Assessment Method for Balancing Natural Environmental Value and Economic Development." (Lith. „Gamtinės aplinkos vertės ir ūkinės veiklos plėtros pusiausvyros teritorinio vertinimo metodo sukūrimas“).

The team would like to thank Prof. Dr. Giedrė Beconytė and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrius Balčiūnas for their help in preparing the application, as well as for sharing their experience and ideas.

The VU Science Promotion Fund provides funding for researcher mobility, publication of articles in open-access journals, and the implementation of scientific ideas.