General physics teaching laboratory

The Interfaculty General Physics Teaching Laboratory was established in 1974 for students from the Medicine, Natural Sciences and Chemistry Faculties. Its aim was to give these students experimental skills working with modern equipment, to provide knowledge about physics measurement methods, the processing and presentation of experimental results, presentation assessment and measurement errors. In this facility, physics laboratory work is carried out by students from the above-mentioned faculties and studying in the following study programmes: medicine, dentistry, public health; biology, molecular biology, biophysics, geology, hydrogeology and engineering geology, geography, meteorology and hydrology, chemistry and biochemistry. Laboratory works are therefore focused on the specifics of the relevant curricula. The laboratory is equipped with contemporary laboratory equipment, state of the art devices, instruments and computers.

More than fifty practical laboratory exercises can be performed drawn from different fields of physics: mechanics, acoustics, molecular physics and thermodynamics, electromagnetism, optics and quantum physics, and medical electronics. Particular attention is paid to those physics topics that deal with physical processes in living organisms. There are often a number of tasks related to physics methods and devices used today in testing in the areas of medicine, biology, chemistry etc. (eg, tests of hearing sensitivity, modelling and correction of eye defects, measurement of blood pressure, etc.). Some of the work is carried out through computer simulation, and some experiments can be performed in parallel using both traditional equipment and computer modelling in a virtual environment. The use of a virtual environment can increase the variety of physical processes examined and extend the range of the tasks.

Physics Faculty teachers, together with the Laboratory staff, have published a two-part textbook, “Physics for medical and natural science students”, which provides complete theoretical and methodological descriptions for the laboratory works. In 2006, this textbook was awarded 1st prize in the Ministry of Education and Science Lithuanian higher education textbooks contest. The laboratory has acquired a library of specialized literature, which is constantly updated with additional laboratory work descriptions and methodological material in Lithuanian and English. The Joint Physics Teaching Laboratory organizes physics workshops and demonstrations and sightseeing excursions for gymnasium and high-school students, college and professional school students, high school and higher education teachers.

GENERAL PHYSICS TEACHING LABORATORY

ROOM 521, SAULĖTEKIO AVE. 9, BLDG. III, VILNIUS

TEL.: 852193097