Environmental Engineering

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Research Topic Summary.

This dissertation will explore how biophilic design principles—integrating natural elements, green infrastructure, and ecosystem services—can contribute to the sustainable renewal and preservation of cultural heritage sites. These areas increasingly face challenges posed by climate change, pollution, and urbanisation, making it essential to develop environmentally friendly solutions that improve microclimate, enhance biodiversity, and strengthen resilience to extreme events. The research aims to create a new planning model that aligns heritage conservation requirements with the opportunities offered by biophilic design. This approach will help enhance the quality of cultural landscapes, improve human well-being, and support the development of future cities where cultural heritage and nature coexist harmoniously.

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Research Topic Summary.

This dissertation addresses the need to verify the biodegradability of biodegradable food packaging available on the market under real conditions, using two main end-of-life methods: aerobic composting and anaerobic digestion. This is relevant because, with the implementation of stricter environmental regulations aimed at a circular economy and with the increasing number of "eco-friendly" claims on packaging, manufacturers need to provide harmonized, comparable data on packaging waste management scenarios under different conditions. The dissertation aims to quantitatively assess and compare biodegradability under controlled aerobic and anaerobic conditions, linking material composition to degradation kinetics and environmental impact. The tasks include the selection of typical food-grade packaging currently available on the market and the determination of their physical and chemical properties and additive characteristics. The results are expected to show which types of packaging achieve better biodegradation during composting than during decomposition and under what conditions. The dissertation will provide recommendations to designers and manufacturers on the selection of materials and the production of packaging of biological origin.

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Research Topic Summary.

Autotrophic bacteria are capable of fixing carbon dioxide (CO2) contributing to net-zero emissions and CO2 neutrality. In the absence of organic substrates, it can utilise CO2 and H2 as sole carbon and energy sources. Due to its ability to store large amounts of reduced carbon in the form of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), C. necator is considered a promising host organism for the sustainable production of value-added compounds from CO2. The PhD project will be aimed at application and engineering of C. necator to produce added value products. Combinatorial transcriptional engineering and genetically encoded transcription factor-based biosensors will be used for metabolism characterisation of such nutrients as carotenoids (eg. lycopene), B group vitamins (e.g. myo-inositol) and optimisation of synthetic metabolic pathways. Development and optimisation of the aerobic CO2 fermentation process for bioproduction will play important part in the project. The project will be carried out within the Bioprocess Research Centre. The successful candidate will join a highly motivated and well-funded team of research scientists dedicated to the exploitation of industrially important microorganisms. PhD study will allow for training in a unique multidisciplinary environment, incorporating systems and synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, gas fermentation, biochemical and biophysical analytical techniques.

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Research Topic Summary.

Fires play an important role in the environmental impact assessment process related to extreme situations. In Europe, this is related to frequent waste fires, forest fires during dry periods, and recently, the Russian-initiated military actions in Ukraine. When assessing the environmental impact of emissions caused by fires, there is a lack of an effective and systematic assessment methodology, although more than one scientific publication has been published on the topic of assessing emissions caused by fires. For example, in Lithuania, only a calculation methodology for uncontrolled burning of plastic and rubber is valid. Therefore, the aim of the planned scientific research is to significantly improve the existing and practically used methodologies for assessing the environmental impact of fires by creating an effective calculation algorithm. The main tasks of these studies would be to analyze existing data on emissions into the environment caused by uncontrolled combustion of various materials, select optimal values of emission factors, assess the impact of uncontrolled combustion on the nature of the combustion process residues based on literature sources and additional laboratory studies, and create an effective algorithm for assessing the impact of fires on the environment.

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Research Topic Summary.

The European Green Deal aims to transform the European Union’s economy into a sustainable one and to integrate sustainability principles across all policy areas, while also contributing to the implementation of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. However, there is still a lack of reliable sustainability assessment methods for new, more sustainable technologies and materials. The aim of this doctoral project is to develop a life-cycle-based methodology for assessing the sustainability and safety of chemical substances and other materials. This will enable a better understanding of their environmental and human health impacts already in the early stages of product development. The project will contribute to the creation of safer and more sustainable materials and to the advancement of more responsible industrial development within the EU.

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Research Topic Summary.

Traditional recycled packaging materials have different chemical and structural properties that affect their degradation and fragmentation. Recycled plastics may contain oxidation products, impurities, or various additives that accelerate degradation, while composites often contain fibers or components that can alter the degradation process. Despite rapid material innovation driven by regulatory and environmental requirements, there is no comprehensive and mechanistically sound comparison of how these material classes form and release microplastics under real-world conditions. The separation of synthetic microplastics and fragments formed from them further complicates analytical assessment. The aim of the dissertation: To examine and compare the formation and release of microplastics from common recycling processes and typical packaging materials under simulated environmental and usage conditions. Expected results: Comparative data on the rate of microplastic release, particle morphology, and chemical composition in various packaging materials; scientific knowledge on how recycling components affect fragmentation; practical guidelines to help develop safer and more sustainable packaging in line with circular economy principles.

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Research Topic Summary.

The application of nanotechnology to environmental pollution abatement processes is the subject of ongoing scientific research. Nanomaterials are suitable for the treatment of polluted air and water dueto their high surface area, small particle size, high porosity and other praperties. The aim of this topic is to explore the application of nanomaterials and technologies for the treatment of specific contaminated media, with a view to scaling up the technology to prototype or production level. The research will make use of state-of-the-art research equipment available in open access centre facilities.

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Research Topic Summary.

During the study, advanced multicomponent (composite) photocatalysts will be developed for the removal of relevant water micropollutants using visible light-activated systems. Optimization of the photocatalyst composition and production process will ensure high durability and efficiency in the visible light spectrum. In addition, efforts will be made to enhance their stability in aqueous environments and to demonstrate their practical effectiveness in degrading organic contaminants. The developed composites will contribute to more sustainable and energy-efficient water purification technologies.