About VNS
From a student meeting to an international signal.
The series began in Kaunas in 2006 and evolved through growing participation, wider disciplines, international lecturers, and new conference formats.
The beginning
The present conference series evolved from the student conference “Where nature meets science,” organized in Kaunas in 2006. It was initially dedicated to Lithuanian researchers, but interest from abroad quickly changed its scale.
Becoming international
In 2007 it became the international conference “The Vital Nature Sign 2007.” The archived history records 39 papers from 12 Lithuanian scientific institutions and three foreign institutions. In 2008, participation expanded to 45 presentations from 19 Lithuanian and eight foreign institutions.
More disciplines, deeper exchange
The 2009 conference emphasized both fundamental and experimental research and introduced a separate separation-science section. Sixty-five participants represented 18 Lithuanian and nine foreign institutions. In 2010, sections also included pharmaceutical and chemical technology, biotechnology, bio-assay, biochemistry, energy, and environmental science.
International lecturers and collaboration
By 2011, 152 participants had registered from 17 Lithuanian and 12 foreign institutions. The 2011 and 2012 meetings received support from the Lithuanian Research Council, enabling invited scholars from institutions in Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Finland to lecture, chair sessions, and join discussions.
Adapting without losing continuity
During the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 conference was postponed and then delivered online in October. Online editions continued through 2025. In 2026, the twentieth conference was held in hybrid format in Akademija and online.
The digital archive currently preserves abstract books for every year from 2017 through 2026, alongside the surviving programmes and invitations.