Title  : INT 97-1 NSF/Europe Report No. 85 Science in Lithuania
Type   : International Document
NSF Org: SBE / INT
Date   : January 6, 1997
File   : int971


The National Science Foundation's offices in Tokyo and in Paris periodically
report on developments abroad that are related to the Foundation's mission.
These documents present facts for the use of NSF program managers and policy
makers; they are not statements of NSF policy.


NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
EUROPE OFFICE

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
2, avenue Gabriel
75382 Paris cedex 08, France
Tel: +33 (1) 43.12.21.08  - Fax: +33 (1) 43.12.29.04

Science in Lithuania

This report is based on a visit to Lithuania from 11 to 15 May 1996 by Dr.
Norbert M. Bikales, Head, National Science Foundation Europe Office.  This
visit was one of several to the Baltic States.  The reader is also referred to
NSF/Europe Report No. 82 which deals with a general description of science in
the three Baltic States, and Reports Nos. 83 and 84 which describe more
specifically science in Estonia and Latvia, respectively.  For further
information or comments, please contact the NSF Europe Office at the above
address or at nbikales@nsf.gov by e-mail.

General Background

Lithuania, the southernmost Baltic State with a population of about 3.7
million, has a long national history dating back to the 13th century.  After a
period of great territorial expansion, which reached for a time all the way to
the Black Sea, and episodes of union with Poland, Lithuania was absorbed by
the Russian Empire from 1795 until the end of the First World War.  Like the
other Baltic States, it then gained independence only to lose it again as a
result of the Second World War.  In 1991, after brief but bloody clashes with
the Soviet Army, Lithuania once again achieved its independence, with Vilnius
as its capital. [Kaunas had served as the capital in the period between the
two world wars, because Vilnius was then part of Poland.]

Separation from the Soviet Union brought with it dramatic changes.
Governmental institutions of every type were created from scratch and lodged
in Vilnius.  A new national currency, the litas, pegged at 4 Lts to the U.S.
dollar, was introduced in 1993 to replace the ruble.  Individual enterprise
started up again, as did some privatization of the economy.  But most
traumatic has been the effect on industry.  Severe disruptions occurred
because Lithuania is wholly dependent on outside sources for energy (which it
previously obtained from the Soviet Union), and which now have to be purchased
at world market prices.  Furthermore, many of the existing factories, notably
the very large electronics industry, had been built to serve primarily the
Soviet Union's military and other needs;  since these factories are now
without their principal market and are not technologically competitive with
Western or Asian producers, they stand essentially idle and have ceased to
provide much-needed!
!
employment.  Such wrenching changes brought about a precipitous drop in the
GDP, high inflation (29% last year), and even bank failures.  Lithuania is
still adjusting to this new reality, and hoping to stabilize its economy and
provide for a better future.  The economic dislocations also brought electoral
success to the former Communists who now control the government again, but new
elections to be held in October 1996 are widely expected to bring their
opponents to power.

There are more than 15,000 researchers and higher-education teachers in
Lithuania, of  whom nearly a third have a doctoral degree and about five
percent have a Dr. habil. degree.  About two-thirds work in institutions of
higher education; most of the remainder are employed by the research
institutes that flourished during the Soviet era.  As in the case of the other
Baltic States, these institutes have been taken from the control of the
Academy of Sciences, where they resided in Soviet times;  thus, 29 institutes
are now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science.  But
unlike Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania has not switched a large portion of its
science funding to a competitive, peer-reviewed grant system.  Instead, it is
still largely relying on central funding of institutes.

Norwegian Evaluation of Research

In 1995, the Research Council of Norway conducted a thorough, impartial
evaluation of Lithuanian research.  Like similar evaluations carried out by
other Nordic countries in Estonia and Latvia in 1992, its purpose was to help
Lithuanian authorities plan the future development of research.  The study
covered, in considerable detail, research groups both in institutes and
universities.  The findings and recommendations, contained in a two-volume
report, were issued just prior to my visit.  They are especially valuable
because they describe Lithuanian science as it is today, i.e., several years
after the initial cataclysmic dislocations that followed national
independence.

The evaluators found areas of high competence on an international level in
several cases, but also pointed out shortcomings.  Among their many thoughtful
recommendations, the following are especially noteworthy: 1) to establish a
research council to distribute a sizable fraction of the research funds
according to merit; 2) to merge university faculties and institutes except
where institutes respond to important social or economic national goals;  3)
to give university teachers more time and resources for research; 4) to
broaden the research interests of individuals to make them more adaptable; 5)
to increase international contacts and cooperation by greater use of English,
publication in international journals, increased travel, and use of foreign
experts in peer review;  6)  to upgrade scientific equipment, libraries, and
computer facilities;  and 7) to give universities and institutes a high degree
of freedom.  In my view, all of these are worthy goals that should be endorse!
!
d.

Funding of Science

In 1995, higher education and research were allocated 6.96 % of the State
budget of Lithuania, or 1.18% of the GDP, of which higher education received
the bulk (75%).  Research institutes were granted only 60 million Lts (ca. 15
million dollars), or 0.21% of the GDP.  These subsidies provided by the
government barely cover salaries and some maintenance.  An important
consideration is the high cost of energy which places a great burden on
institutes, for example for the operation of instruments and for heating the
notoriously energy-inefficient buildings dating to the Soviet era.  Industry,
being itself in dire straits, is unable to support much research either in its
own quarters or in institutes.

Because of these financial constraints, and to assure their survival,
institutes now engage in various activities to make money, regardless of
whether they are science-related (e.g., manufacture and sale of equipment,
contract research, rental of space to start-up companies, or even making men's
socks as is done, reportedly, by automation engineers in one institute.)  This
has led some conservatives to voice the belief that the institutes are now
"too free" and that some control must again be exercised by the Academy or
some other organ.  It is unlikely that this issue will be resolved while the
current hardships prevail, and probably must await a return to more normal
circumstances.

Institutes are beginning to redirect their research to contribute to the
solution of national problems and to help in the recovery of Lithuania's
economy.  A very positive aspect is that some institutes have developed strong
international collaborations which are important not only to maintain
scientific excellence, but also to provide much-needed financial assistance.

Science Institutions

The Lithuanian government supports 15 institutions of higher education -
including Vilnius University, Vilnius Technical University, Kaunas University
of Technology, and 3 other universities - as well as 29 research institutes
and various other entities, such as the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, the
Science Council, and the Science and Studies Foundation.  These institutions
are administered under laws passed by the Seimas (Parliament) after
independence.

The Ministry of Education and Science was created one year ago;  previously,
its function was carried out by the Ministry of Higher Education and Culture.
The Ministry, under the direction of Prof. Vladislavas Domarkas who had been
the Rector of the Kaunas University of Technology before assuming his present
position, has responsibility for all educational and scientific activities in
the country.  The Ministry's Department of Science and Higher Education
directed by the Deputy Minister, Dr. Jonas Puod_ius, provides funds to both
universities and research institutes and supervises the training of
scientists.

The Ministry is taking seriously the recommendations of the Research Council
of Norway.  It is seeking to integrate former Academy institutes into
universities (provided the quality is comparable in both places), to
consolidate activities (an example cited was that 6 universities and 2
institutes have departments of mathematics), and to expand greatly
international collaboration through partnerships both to benefit science and
to raise enough funds to cover about 50% of the minimum expenses for
institutes.  Implementation of these steps has not yet gotten very far.  A new
concept being discussed is a national program to associate various
institutions to work on common projects; such an idea is also now being
developed in Italy (see NSF/Europe Report No. 80).

The Science Council of Lithuania was constituted four years ago to give expert
advice to the government on the organization, directions, and funding of
science programs and to review scientific institutions.  It carries out
studies and analyses, and orients the science system toward national goals.
The Council also establishes standards for scientists and evaluates diplomas.
In this connection, it conducted the recertification process known as
"nostrification" (see NSF/Europe Report No.82) of the 8000 degrees granted
prior to independence and confirmed all but 40.  Of the Council's membership
of 36, the Seimas names 12, and 24 are elected for terms of six years by
scientists in the following eight branches: linguistics and history,
humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medical sciences, exact
sciences, and technical sciences.  The chairman, currently Prof. Leonas
Kad_iulis who is a specialist in agricultural sciences, and the other officers
are then elected by the C!
!
ouncil.  Heads of institutions are not eligible for election.

The Science Council has set up 8 panels to study the recent Norwegian
recommendations.  It is currently examining the policies for funding
university studies and may recommend the imposition of tuition.

Closely allied with the Science Council is the Science and Studies Foundation
chaired by Prof. Laimutis Telksnys, a specialist in informatics and
communications, who is also Vice-Chairman of the Council.  The Foundation is
Lithuania's closest equivalent to the NSF.  Its modest 1996 budget of 6
million Lts (1.5 million dollars) represents only 10% of the research budget
for the institutes. The Foundation receives more than 300 proposals a year and
funds about a quarter of these after peer review.  Administrative expenses are
kept to a minimum: the three-person staff works under the supervision of an
unpaid 15-member board.  Peer review is carried out by two Lithuanian experts
per proposal according to a format in which various criteria are weighted for
importance.  One quarter of the funds are given as one-year grants (typically
20,000 Lts) to enable the Foundation to make a greater number of awards,
especially for young scientists.  Recommendations by the staff are subject to
!
!
approval by the board of the Foundation.  Last year, the Foundation
initiated grants on practical subjects that are cofunded by industry.

Multi-institutional grants are now being emphasized.  Half of the Foundation's
budget goes to 8 national programs, examples of which are a study of the Stone
Age in Lithuania (Institute of Geology), a database of genetic information on
plants in Lithuania (Institute of Agriculture), and meteorology (Kaunas
University of Technology).  The Foundation also provides some funds for
Lithuania's share of EUREKA, COPERNICUS, and TEMPUS European Commission
projects.

The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, whose President is Prof. Benediktas
Juotka, is now solely an honorary body consisting of 50 full and 60
corresponding members who are elected for life, and 50 expert members who
serve for five years.  The Academy's main function is to give advice on
scientific matters and to promote the health of science in Lithuania through
various activities, including international cooperation. Its four divisions
are Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences; Biological and Medical
Sciences; Social Sciences and Humanities; and Agricultural Sciences.

The Lithuanian Scientific Society was established in the heady days leading to
and following independence to be a voice for the scientific community that is
not controlled by the official bodies.  Currently directed by Drs. Stepas
Janušonis, Vincas B_da of the Institute of Ecology, and Vygintas Gontis of the
International Executive Service Corps (who was an intern at NSF in 1994), it
sees its main goal as ensuring that the reforms of Lithuanian science render
it both strong and democratic.  The Society publishes a semimonthly
periodical, Mokslo Lietuva (Scientific Lithuanian), which provides independent
assessments of issues affecting scientists and acts as an unofficial conduit
for information.  A recent issue, published as a result of my visit, deals
with possible collaboration with American scientists through the NSF programs.
The Society also sponsors a LSS Science Foundation which makes small grants to
scientists from funds it has collected.

The Lithuanian Scientific Society would like to expand its home page on the
Internet, http://uj.pfi.lt/lms/lmshp.htm, to provide better information on
international grant opportunities, procedures, and deadlines, as well as
meetings of special interest.  Because this information would be presented in
English, it could serve the other Baltic countries as well.  From my
observation, this would be a useful contribution to help Baltic scientists
overcome their still-continuing isolation. Funds are being sought for this
project.

Technology Transfer.  The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is active
in setting up a framework for the marketing of Lithuania's most promising
technological developments.  With the aid of American consultants, the Danish
Cooperation Center, and others, it is conducting demonstration projects and
supporting technology transfer.  The UNDP, together with the Ministry of
Education and Science and the Lithuanian Joint-Stock Innovation Bank, has
founded a nonprofit Lithuanian Innovation Centre which is to provide services
for technology transfer, stimulate the development of new technologies,
support the incubation of high-technology enterprises, and provide information
on technological developments.  In this connection, it should be pointed out
that the NSF helped to set up LITNET, which joined the Internet in 1994. The
USAID, with a budget in Lithuania of 7 million dollars in 1996, also works on
some technologically related issues, such as the environment and energy.

Some Major Research Centers

Time limitations permitted visits to only a few research centers in Vilnius.
Several other centers in Vilnius and other parts of Lithuania would also have
merited a visit.

Institute of Biotechnology.  This major institute was founded in 1975 as the
All-Union Institute of Enzymology by the USSR Ministry of Medical and
Biological Industry, and housed in a new building on the outskirts of Vilnius.
It employed 850 persons in 1990 when it assumed its present name.  Reduced in
size to 450 employees, it underwent a dramatic transformation in 1994: about
100 persons joined the new company Fermentas which produces and sells enzymes,
and another 125 left to form Biofa which produces such biopharmaceuticals as
human growth hormone. These companies, with sales of 2 million dollars and
largely owned by their employees, occupy nicely refurbished quarters in the
Institute's buildings and utilize the Institute's research capabilities.  At
the present time the staff of the Institute, directed by Prof. Arvydas
Janulaitis, consists of 125 persons of whom 70 are scientists, including 32
who hold doctoral degrees.

The Institute obtains its funds from a variety of sources.  Of the 2.3 million
Lts (0.58 million dollars) received in 1995, 42.3% came from State funds and
another 2.4% from the Science and Studies Foundation. Contracts provided
36.9%, the International Science Foundation 7.9%, the Howard Hughes Medical
Institute 6.1%, and the European Commission 4.4%. Thus, over 18% of the
Institute's budget originates from internationally peer-reviewed sources.

The Institute is divided into six laboratories and one group dealing with
research on protein-nucleic acid interactions, protein structure and
interactions, prokaryote and eukaryote gene engineering, DNA replication and
modification, immunology, and isotopic handling.  The principal directions of
its work are the investigation of highly purified proteins and other natural
compounds for the development of processes that lead to products in medicine,
agriculture, and research; research in genetic engineering and the development
of producers of biologically active substances; and molecular genetic
investigations of restriction and restriction modification enzymes. The
Institute manages to combine good basic science with  applied objectives that
are already helping the Lithuanian economy.

The Institute has made an effort to foster international cooperation.  Staff
members are encouraged to spend time in Western laboratories of high caliber
(in the U.S., at Cold Spring Harbor and New England Biolabs with R. Roberts,
at Cornell University with M. O'Donnell; in France, at the INRA-CNRS Centre de
Biotechnology and the INSERM Blood Transfusion Institute; in Germany, at the
Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried with R. Huber).  An impressive number
of active research collaborations exist, including with the Department of
Molecular Microbiology at Washington University (D. Berg), the ETH Institute
of Molecular Biology and Biophysics in Switzerland, the Institute of Virology
of Humboldt University in Germany (jointly with Prof. E. Grens of Riga), etc.
The Norwegian experts gave this Institute very high marks, which conforms to
my own favorable impression.

Quantum Electronics and Laser Research Center at the University of Vilnius.
This center of about thirty persons with doctoral or higher degrees is located
on a modern campus on the outskirts of Vilnius.  It is part of the
University's Faculty of Physics.  Directed by Prof. Algis Piskarskas, a
well-known specialist in lasers who won the Lithuanian National Prize in
Science two years ago, it has as its goal the development of femtosecond
optical parametric generators that are broadly tunable.  It does research on
new highly nonlinear optical materials, and has published twenty papers on
parametric oscillation over the past two years.  Applications of laser physics
include ultrafast processes in the life sciences and the environment,
nonlinear optics, relaxation dynamics in organic and biological substances,
and laser photosensitization in cancer therapy.

Prof. Piskarskas is a strong believer in the value of international
cooperation, which he maintains with a large number of specialists and
institutions in other countries: Profs. Robert Byer of Stanford University
with whom he is writing a book, Jean-Claude Diels of the University of New
Mexico, Orazio Svelto of the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, and laboratories
in Lund, Bayreuth, Florence, and other places.

The Center is surviving the current financial crunch with grants obtained from
various sources, most notably from the International Science Foundation -
whose help came at a crucial time, contracts such as one from Rockwell
International to study laser excitation of sodium vapor in the mesosphere (90
km altitude), and by the construction and sale of lasers and scientific
instrumentation.  This strong laboratory seems to have the ability and
confidence to face the future with equanimity.

Institute of Physics.  This large, former Academy institute is located in the
heart of Vilnius near several other such institutes.  It is directed by Prof.
Leonas Valk_nas who also heads the Institute's Molecular Compounds Physics
Laboratory.  The Institute's staff, now about half of what it had been in
Soviet times, still numbers 176, of whom 61 have a doctoral degree.  Its
principal specialty is "light harvesting," or the application of optical and
spectroscopic methods to a variety of problems, for which it is quite well
equipped both intellectually and with lasers and a variety of instruments.

In 1995, the Institute of Physics reorganized its structure and concentrated
its activities.  The new research directions are environmental physics and
chemistry (processes in the atmosphere and hydrosphere, atmospheric pollution,
and radiological monitoring); molecular biophysics and chemical physics
(dynamic processes of excitons and electrons in proteins, polymers, and
organized molecular structures); nuclear and optical spectroscopy, including
methods development; and nonlinear and adaptive optics, laser construction,
and stellar systems physics.  The Institute sees its new role as contributing
to the solution of major national issues, such as ecological and
nuclear-energy problems.  Its staff teaches at Vilnius University and conducts
a joint theoretical physics program with Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas.
It also maintains a student-training laboratory for teaching environmental
physics, nuclear physics, nonlinear optics, and spectroscopy.

The Institute has diversified its source of funding so that, of the 45
projects currently under way, 20 are supported by international funds.  It
lists collaborations with universities or institutes in Belarus, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States (Argonne
National Laboratory, Arizona State University, Colorado State University, EPA,
New York University).

Semiconductor Physics Institute.  This former Academy institute, founded in
1967 and located in a large building in Vilnius adjacent to the Institute of
Physics, was closely linked to the then-substantial electronics industry in
Lithuania.  Even as recently as 1990, it employed over 600 persons including
123 with doctoral or higher degrees!  With the virtual disappearance of that
industry, the Institute now stands as a reminder of its past role but without
a clear link to the present or the future.  The total staff is down to about
half, but the doctoral-level staff is still at about 100.  Its 1995 budget
came largely from direct subsidies by the Ministry of Education and Science
(76%).  Local industry contributed only 7.7% of the budget and competitive
grants from the Lithuanian Research and Higher Education Fund amounted to only
2.1%.  The European Community and Western industry provided the remainder.


The Institute, directed by Prof. Steponas Ašmontas, is organized into 14
laboratories, each consisting of about 9-12 persons.  The research topics
cover a broad spectrum: epitaxial technology (MBE and MOCVD techniques,
quantum wells, superlattices), high-Tc superconductors (films, laser ablation,
strip manufacturing, high-speed switching), semiconductor analysis (x-rays,
microscopy, SIMS, AEM, depth profiling), optoelectronics (ultrafast
techniques, picosecond switches, etc.), semiconductor optics (ellipsometry and
modulation spectroscopy), inhomogeneous semiconductor structures (InP and
GaAs), microwaves (diagnostics, devices for high pulses, etc.), plasma
phenomena (interactions with phonons, electrons, and excitons; gratings,
nonlinearities, stimulated emission of photons by phonons), fluctuation
phenomena (hot-electron and high-frequency noise), theoretical solid-state
physics (electron dynamics in quantum 2d structures, simulation of devices,
nonlinear dynamics and chaos)! ! , functional electronics (devices for
medicine and ecology), sensors and devices (gas and chemical sensors,
transducers, etc.), and microelectronics.

The Semiconductor Physics Institute has an experienced professional staff and
extensive facilities, including a Class C clean-room; cutting, polishing, and
silicon-wafer production equipment; x-ray and photolithography facilities;
high-vacuum chambers, etc.  However, most of this equipment dates from the
Soviet era and is in limited use both because of the bankruptcy of the Latvian
electronics industry and the high cost of its operation.

The Institute is trying to adjust to the new, reduced circumstances.  It has
closed its pilot plant, and made a smaller version of it into a design and
technology department.  To obtain income from its now-excessively-large
building which requires much maintenance, it rents space to a Science and
Technology Park for small start-up companies.  It has developed an affiliation
with Vilnius Technical University covering the areas of semiconductor
engineering and experimental and applied physics, and accepts about a dozen
students a year.  Its staff is reaching out for greater contacts outside of
the Baltics, for example through European Community programs and with the U.S.
Naval Research Laboratory and the Space Power Institute at Auburn University.
The number of its publications in Western journals has increased sharply, from
19 in 1990 to 134 in 1995.  Last year, it organized an international symposium
on ultrafast phenomena in semiconductors which was attended by scientists fr!
! om 19 countries. The Institute's capabilities combined with a low salary
scale (a maximum of $250 per month for a top-level scientist, $150 for a
researcher with a doctorate, and $100 for technical staff) could make it an
attractive place for contract research for Western companies.

Outlook

Science in Lithuania has managed to survive the first great crisis brought
about by the country's break from the Soviet Union.  This was done by
maintaining more or less the status quo, the principal change being the
transfer of the large institutes from the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences to
the Ministry of Education and Science.  Neither the nature of the institutes
nor their method of financing has changed in a fundamental sense: the
institutes remain largely as they were before, albeit reduced in size and with
diminished funding.  Much time is spent on seeking funds, especially in the
West, to preserve the existing institutions.  A competitive grant system
exists in theory, but it provides only a modest proportion of the funds for
research.  The redirection has, therefore, been less profound than in the
other Baltic States.  In addition, applied research has suffered severely,
because it lacks connection to a thriving local industry.

Lithuanian science must now come to grips with an excruciatingly difficult
task: to reorganize its institutions to meet the country's future needs.
This, by necessity, requires a vision of the future and science's role in it.
It then demands the will and the means to make the necessary changes.  To an
outside observer, it does not appear that this process has gotten very far.
To cite one case, is it plausible that physics research be carried out, aside
from the universities, in three large, separate, independent institutes in
Vilnius alone?  The Institute of Physics, the Institute of Semiconductor
Physics, and the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy presumably
were each needed when the Soviet military made great demands and provided
substantial means.  But would a country of less than 4 million people not be
better served by a single, university-integrated institute that preserved and
nurtured the best of that science to make it a force on the national and even
i! ! nternational scene?  Another example is the way science is managed.
Should the top-down system of financing of institutes inherited from the
Soviet era not be replaced to a much greater extent by a Western-style
merit-driven grant system?

Sooner or later Lithuania will have to deal decisively, and wisely, with such
issues.  The expected change in the national government may well bring this
about.  In any case, it is to be hoped that the scientific community will have
an input into the process and participate in the decisions that will need to
be made.  Lithuanian science, for example in the biological sciences and
physics, has clear points of excellence that can help the country's economic
revival and make its mark on the international scene.  These areas are also
good candidates for collaborative research through the National Science
Foundation.

This report was prepared primarily for the use of NSF management and staff.
The opinions and conclusions presented are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect NSF policy.

References

Evaluation of Research in Lithuania, Volume 1: General Observations and
Recommendations prepared by the Advisory Board, and Summaries of Panel
Reports, 72 + xxx pp.;  Volume 2: Panel Reports, 495 pp. The Research Council
of Norway, Oslo, 1996.

State Higher Education and Research Institutions in Lithuania, Lithuanian
Information Institute, 1996, 60 pp.

Institute Profile 1995, Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius, 1995.

Semiconductor Physics Institute - 1995 Annual Reports, Vilnius, 1996, 129 pp.

Institute of Physics - 1995 Annual Report, Vilnius, 1996, 65 pp.

Science in an Open Society - Strategies and Structures, Materials of the
International Conference held in Vilnius, April 28-29, 1994, Open Society Fund
- Lithuania, Vilnius, 1995, 186 pp.
8