On 6 July, on the Statehood Day, President Gitanas Nausėda awarded nearly 80 Lithuanian and foreign citizens with state orders and medals.
Photos of the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania/ Robertas Dačkus
The President awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas to Dr. Arūnas Varanavičius, Chief Researcher of the Laser Research Centre of the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University (VU), for his services to Lithuanian science, innovative research, implementation of the achievements of basic and applied sciences in industry and promotion of Lithuania's name in the international scientific community.
Dr. Varanavičius' area of expertise is laser physics, specifically ultra-short pulse lasers. In 2004, he was awarded the Lithuanian Science Award and so far has supervised more than 20 student theses. He is also a member of the International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (ELI ERIC).