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The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania issued a patent to the Nature Research Centre, patent No 6458, issue date 25.09.2017. The patent is granted for a newly invented method to detect mould contamination in grain. This innovation is based on the principle of bionics, i.e. how insects detect moulds according to smell which appears when moulds start degrading grain. The "insect invention" increases sensitivity about 1000-fold(!), compared with the standard method where mould contamination in grain is detected according to mycotoxins. To date, this is a Lithuania patent, which is obligatory seeking an international patent (an application for a European patent has already been filed). The authors of the patent are researchers of the Laboratory of Chemical and Behavioural Ecology in cooperation with a mycologist from the Laboratory of Biodegradation Research. Research was done within the framework of a scientific team project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania.

The Nature Research Centre announces a competition for a Senior Researcher position at the Laboratory of Mammal Ecology for a term of the project 'The Structure of Small Mammal Parasite Communities and Intestinal Microbiota and Their Regulation' ('Smulkiųjų žinduolių parazitų bendrijų ir žarnyno mikrobiotos struktūra bei jų reguliacija' ('BENDRIJOS', 18.08.2017 agreement No S-MIP-17-86 with the Research Council of Lithuania) until 30.09.2020 (1 position, 30 hours per month). Priority is given to candidate's experience in ecological, parasitological, molecular and phylogenetic investigations, ability to analyse parasitological material and molecular data, microscopy skills, ability to identify parasites and apply phylogenetic software. Nature of work: leadership of the research project, processing of study material, parasitological and molecular investigations, publishing research results, delivery of reports.

The Nature Research Centre announces a competition for a Senior Researcher position at the Laboratory of Chemical and Behavioural Ecology (1 position, 1 FTE). Priority is given to candidate's experience in chemoecological investigations of insects and plants, ability to collect and analyse volatile organic compounds by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, to identify such compounds; skills in using mass spectral libraries. Nature of work: laboratory investigations and fieldwork, chemical analysis of volatile metabolites produced by organisms.