At the end of the coming year, in the campus of Klaipėda University(KU), near the business incubator, a new contemporary building of scientific laboratories will arise. The opening of the construction on June 17 was attended by Republic of Lithuania Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, Vice- Minister of Education and Science Svetlana Kauzonienė, Chancellor of the Government Alminas Mačiulis and Vice-Chancellor Rimantas Vaitkus, Mayor of Klaipėda Vytautas Grubliauskas, Rector of KU Eimutis Juzeliūnas, Deputy Managing Director of the Irdaiva Company that performs the construction Vytas Lopinys, and KU social partners and community members. The beginning of the construction was symbolically commemorated by the ceremony of burying a capsule with a letter to future generations. The Prime Minister wished for the place to become a beacon of maritime sciences, and for Lithuania, to become a maritime state not only in geographic, but also in economic terms.

In the second stage of implementation of the project Development of the Marine Valley Nucleus and Renewal of Study Infrastructure (JŪRA), KU seeks to expand the general and technological infrastructure for scientific research, experimental development, and innovation.The building of scientific laboratories with the area of 5, 913 m² will boast contemporary equipment, necessary for conducting biomedical, physical, and technological scientific research. The value of the building is over 10 mln euros. To quote project manager Zita Rasuolė Gasiūnaitė, different kinds of research in aquatic environment and living organisms will be carried out there that will disclose the problems of the aquatic ecosystems state and the trends of their change, fuel properties and the opportunities of using biofuel will be analysed, composite and construction materials with exclusive properties will be created, environmental pollution-reducing technologies will be developed, etc.

The building will house four laboratories of the KU Open Access Centre for Marine Research: those of Marine Ecosystems, Marine Chemistry, Water Transport Technologies, and Marine Structures Reliability. Currently they are temporarily located in the Klaipėda Science and Technology Park. Internationally acclaimed highly qualified researchers of the Lithuanian maritimes sector will work in the laboratories.

The building will be equipped with exclusive automation, low voltage, ventilation, heating collector, and air conditioning systems, as well as a “green” roof, on which the sources of renewable energy will be installed. In the building, a 150-seat conference space for trainings, seminars, and other events is planned, as well as an advanced reading room and rest rooms.

“As the laboratories will use sophisticated research equipment, the specialists of the Irdaiva Company face an important task: to equip all the premises in such a way as to create the most favourable conditions for the researchers, posing no threat for the health and security of the people working there”, said Deputy Managing Director of the Irdaiva Company Vytas Lopinys. The works will be completed before 2 November 2017.