The University of Vilnius (VU) is one of the oldest and most famous establishments of higher education in Eastern and Central Europe. It has 12 faculties, 7 institutes and 4 study & research centres. Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the Institute of Chemistry is among the most successful departments of the University in terms of research and scientific output.

The teaching of chemistry at the University was introduced in the 18th century Joseph Sartorius, a member of the Royal Academy of Torino, who had come from Italy, started lectures on chemistry in Latin to medical students. He is considered to be the founder of the Department of Chemistry at the University. Nowadays Institute of Chemistry comprises six departments: Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry (established in 1919), Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry (1944), Department of Organic Chemistry (1921), Department of Physical Chemistry (1922), Department of Polymer Chemistry (1922) and Department of Applied Chemistry (2012). The main research trends of the Institute are: electrochemical processes at the interphase solid electrode/electrolyte, development of analytical methods and instruments for the analysis of environmental and industrial objects and synthesis and investigation of inorganic, organic and polymeric compounds.

Team Leader

Prof. Aivaras Kareiva

Prof. Aivaras Kareiva is expert in the preparation and characterization of superconducting, optical and bioceramic materials bulk and thin films. He has published over 310 research articles in high level international journals. His Hirsch Index is 24. His articles were cited 2497 times. A. Kareiva visited many foreign universities (Helsinki University of Technology, Stockholm University, Harvard University, Rice University, Hasselt University, University of Saarland, University of Tuebingen, Masaryk University Brno, Tallinn University of Technology, University of Malta, Muenster University of Applied Sciences, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, University of Bern, Clausthal University of Technology, University of Cologne, University of Maribor, University of Geneva, Kyushu University, University of Venice, University of Strasbourg, Georgetown University and others). He supervised successfully 27 PhD students at Vilnius University, several postdocs and many foreign trainees. A. Kareiva participated or conducted several Research projects on optics and lasers with funding from NATO, the National Grant from Lithuania, the European Sixth Framework Programme, COST Action and Horizon 2020.