Assoc. Prof. Justas Kažys: ARQUS Twinning Project Encourages Students to Aim for Academic Heights and Expands the Scope of Scientific Interests

On 9–12 October 2023, the University of Granada hosted a physical twinning international joint workshop (ARQUS Twinning). It was attended by Assoc. Prof. Justas Kažys and eight of his students from the Institute of Geosciences of the Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences at Vilnius University. Prof. Kažys shared his impressions of the ARQUS Twinning exchange visit.

– What twinning activities have you been involved in? What was the main goal of them?

We participated in ARQUS Twinning activities in Granada with the primary aim of promoting university cooperation not only among teaching staff but also among graduate students – at both master’s and doctoral levels. Not only does this kind of cooperative activity include conferences, events, or specific projects, but it also allows students to get acquainted with another study programme closely related to the subjects they study at their home university. The main idea of this twinning workshop was to show that our colleagues at the University of Granada are engaged in similar research as we are at Vilnius University.

I went on the twinning experience with my graduate students. I encountered an interesting situation where we did not attend lectures but were instead shown around by both lecturers and doctoral students. We also attended a workshop where local PhD students briefly presented their research to our students. The level of their research certainly differed from that of our master’s studies, and it was evident. Still, in this case, I think we enriched our scientific experience to a great extent.

– What have you learned from participating in the twinning activities?

We understood that it was possible to cooperate and work together – we are not inferior despite being different. We became convinced that everything is possible. When we listened to what was being said, it wasn't as if we were surprised to hear it or that we hadn't heard of it before.

Vilnius University also often contributes to various projects and extends help; the only thing we could not compare with was the equipment available there. We do have a free access centre where one can work with certain devices; still, at the University of Granada, there are also outdoor devices that are designed specifically for air research, both in terms of chemical and physical composition. Thus, we're probably a little different in that respect; nevertheless, it was a very interesting experience.

In my opinion, students have really gained new insights and opportunities to learn. I am happy that they have expanded their knowledge in the field of climate change and atmospheric research; they have seen what ARQUS can offer them, especially if they decide to continue with their future scientific careers.

We spent four days in Granada, and the programme was very diverse. On the first day, we studied pollen in the Biological Air Quality Department (UCBA-UGR) of the Department of Botany of the Faculty of Science. I am currently teaching a course in biometeorology for our master's students in climate change studies, where pollen and its allergenic effects on humans and human health are one of the topics. So, we spent the day with biologists, examining pollen through microscopes.

On the second day, we went to the experimental field research station (Balsa Blanca Experimental Station, Níjar, Almería) located in a steppe habitat. It is almost a semi-desert. A wide variety of chemical and physical indicators of the atmosphere are measured there, and their focus is carbon dioxide flows. We had an educational tour there. Their doctoral students told us about pollen and general ecology.

The third day was devoted to physical and even chemical research of the atmosphere. We met with members of the Atmospheric Physics Group working at the Andalusian Inter-University Institute for Earth System Research (IISTA-CEAMA) and listened to the presentations of doctoral students.

On the fourth day, we discussed opportunities for cooperation and engaged in a cultural programme. We definitely saw more than we expected when planning our trip to Granada. I was personally also very interested to see some devices I only knew about in theory – I had not seen them before.

– How will you use this knowledge in future studies and in continuous cooperation with your partners?

Without a doubt, this trip enriched my knowledge, too. I learned a lot about the research and projects implemented by the scientists of Granada, which were presented to us. Since I teach about living organisms and the atmosphere, it definitely served as an encouragement for me to update something, too.

We cooperate with an aerobiology laboratory in Šiauliai, and we will make a point of trying to visit it either with the current or future master's students. It is not that we must go to Granada to see the equipment used to monitor pollen – it is just as good in Šiauliai. I’m sure Prof. Dr Ingrida Šaulienė would welcome us as we cooperate as colleagues. There are scientific links between the research carried out by Šiauliai Academy, our Institute of Geosciences, and the University of Granada.

Pollen is just one of the topics of cooperation. There is a lot of talk about refurbishing urban landscaping, the concept of green cities, and the ways to implement it all. There are many areas in which we can cooperate apart from the complex physical and chemical studies, and our students seem eager to do so.

I also know that our foreign colleagues are planning to come to Lithuania because the World Aerobiology 2024 congress will be held in Vilnius next year. So we will have another opportunity to meet again and exchange ideas. Our approaches vary, but we still have many things in common regarding various, albeit small, joint activities and interests.

– What obstacles have you encountered when participating in the twinning partnership? How did you overcome them?

It all went rather smoothly; it took us only a short time to reach an agreement with the University of Granada regarding our trip. In addition, we received support from colleagues at our university. They kindly helped – it was a lot of fun. The problem was that the Twinning applications took a long time to be processed, and it was not entirely clear when we could or should leave. This administrative issue was a bit of a nuisance.

The human factor also came into play. My colleague from Granada, who first agreed to accept us, had health problems, so we faced some uncertainty because we did not know if she could still help us. Nonetheless, everything worked out very well.

I want to thank our administration for helping students with travel and accommodation. All these issues were sorted out very quickly.

There were eight master's students travelling with me, although the optimal number of students for these exchanges is five or six. Thus, I am very glad that all eight students from our course willingly agreed to go on this trip, and we all had the opportunity to participate.

- Would you recommend other students and faculty to participate in twinning activities? Why?

Yes, of course, as I also visit a number of other universities and have participated in Erasmus exchanges; this both boosts the number of acquaintances in the field of research and allows me to involve students in it.

It is definitely worth going because it also involves new experiences. In addition, students broaden their horizons and learn about other upcoming ARQUS activities they plan to engage in, such as the activities offered to the doctorate students in this alliance. My students returned from this trip highly motivated because they participated in scientific educational activities and experienced a different culture. For some, it was the first time they had gone to visit a study programme abroad.

I understood that several of my postgraduate students have some serious scientific interests – perhaps they even plan to embark on a scientific career in this area in the future. Thus, it was beneficial for them to go abroad. They were able to chat with other doctoral students who kindly and sincerely mentored us. We talked with them about various topics – from very specific scientific fields to broad global current affairs.