The HELIOS Summer School 2026 took place on 24–28 August 2026 at Hotel Gabija in Palanga, Lithuania. Organised by Kaunas University of Technology, it brought together participants from all partners of the consortium — Lviv Polytechnic National University, the University of Glasgow, Riga Technical University and Intelligentsia Consultants — and was deliberately co-located with the 28th International Conference-School “Advanced Materials and Technologies” (AMT 2026), so that participants could attend a full international conference in the same week.
The school was chaired by Dr Dmytro Volyniuk (KTU), who opened proceedings on 24 August.
Day one: where the science stands
The opening session was a full review of Work Package 1, following the emitter from molecular design through to a working device:
Lyudmyla Kanibolotska (University of Glasgow) — results on the design and synthesis of organic compounds with tunable white emission, selected through combined theoretical and experimental approaches
Oleksandr Kanibolotskyy (University of Glasgow) — future plans for that design and synthesis work
Dmytro Volyniuk (Kaunas University of Technology) — characterisation and optimisation of emission spectra and quantum yields of the synthesised compounds in the solid state, and identification of the most promising candidates for single-molecule white emitters
Khrystyna Ivaniuk (Lviv Polytechnic National University) — development and fabrication of a demonstrator device based on single-molecule white emitters, and its evaluation for colour rendering, power efficiency and lifetime
Iryna Yaremchuk (LPNU), the project coordinator, then reported on the status of the training exchanges running across Work Packages 2 to 6.
The early-career researchers take the floor
A substantial part of day one was given over to the young researchers who had carried out those exchanges — the heart of what a Twinning project is meant to achieve:
Liliia Deva (LPNU) — thermal, electrochemical and photophysical properties of a novel pyrazine-based donor–acceptor luminophore for white OLED applications
Nataliia Kuzyk (LPNU) — results from training exchanges on the fabrication of single-component white, deep-blue, green and red OLEDs based on derivatives of phenanthroimidazole and fluorene, with and without a phenylene bridge
Serhii Melnykov (LPNU) — results on down-converting electroluminescent devices based on single-molecule white 3,5-dicyanopyridine–phenothiazine emitters
The day closed with an invited presentation by Oleksandr Bezvikonnyi (Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia) on crystalline emitting layers exhibiting emission facilitated by triplet states for white OLEDs — a project funded by the Latvian Council of Science.
Day three: building capacity beyond the laboratory
The second working session, on 26 August, addressed the part of HELIOS that is not about chemistry at all. Kaspars Traskovskis (Riga Technical University) presented the work of RTU’s Laboratory of Synthesis of Organic Photonic Materials, opening a route to closer collaboration between the partners.
Giles Brandon (Intelligentsia Consultants) then reported on research management and administration skills development under Work Packages 6 and 7, and delivered training on two major European funding instruments — the MSCA Staff Exchange scheme and EIC Pathfinder Open. Crucially, the training did not stop at explanation: a further hour was set aside to plan concrete proposals to those schemes. Strengthening LPNU’s capacity to win and manage European research funding is one of the five formal objectives of HELIOS, and this session addressed it directly.
The day ended with a working dinner for all Summer School participants.
A conference inside a summer school
Days two, four and the morning of day five were given over to the AMT 2026 programme — lectures on organic optoelectronics, quantum technologies, plasmonics, advanced microscopy and energy materials, delivered by speakers from the UK, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Taiwan. For the early-career members of the HELIOS team this meant an international conference, a poster competition and a project school in a single trip.
It paid off in the most visible way possible: Nataliia Kuzyk won the AMT 2026 Best Poster Award, voted by the conference participants.
The Summer School closed at midday on 28 August with final remarks from the organisers.
Why it matters
HELIOS is a Horizon Europe Twinning project (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02-02), and its objectives run well beyond publications: knowledge exchange between LPNU and its partners, career development for early-stage researchers, stronger administrative capacity for European programmes, and greater visibility for everyone involved. A week that combined work package reviews, presentations by three early-career researchers, laboratory-level partner exchange, grant-writing training and a full international conference advanced every one of those at once.
This project has received funding from Horizon Europe, the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation (2021–2027), under grant agreement No 101155017 (call HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02-02).
The HELIOS Summer School 2026 took place on 24–28 August 2026 at Hotel Gabija in Palanga, Lithuania. Organised by Kaunas University of Technology, it brought together participants from all partners of the consortium — Lviv Polytechnic National University, the University of Glasgow, Riga Technical University and Intelligentsia Consultants — and was deliberately co-located with the 28th International Conference-School “Advanced Materials and Technologies” (AMT 2026), so that participants could attend a full international conference in the same week.
The school was chaired by Dr Dmytro Volyniuk (KTU), who opened proceedings on 24 August.
Day one: where the science stands
The opening session was a full review of Work Package 1, following the emitter from molecular design through to a working device:
Iryna Yaremchuk (LPNU), the project coordinator, then reported on the status of the training exchanges running across Work Packages 2 to 6.
The early-career researchers take the floor
A substantial part of day one was given over to the young researchers who had carried out those exchanges — the heart of what a Twinning project is meant to achieve:
The day closed with an invited presentation by Oleksandr Bezvikonnyi (Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia) on crystalline emitting layers exhibiting emission facilitated by triplet states for white OLEDs — a project funded by the Latvian Council of Science.
Day three: building capacity beyond the laboratory
The second working session, on 26 August, addressed the part of HELIOS that is not about chemistry at all. Kaspars Traskovskis (Riga Technical University) presented the work of RTU’s Laboratory of Synthesis of Organic Photonic Materials, opening a route to closer collaboration between the partners.
Giles Brandon (Intelligentsia Consultants) then reported on research management and administration skills development under Work Packages 6 and 7, and delivered training on two major European funding instruments — the MSCA Staff Exchange scheme and EIC Pathfinder Open. Crucially, the training did not stop at explanation: a further hour was set aside to plan concrete proposals to those schemes. Strengthening LPNU’s capacity to win and manage European research funding is one of the five formal objectives of HELIOS, and this session addressed it directly.
The day ended with a working dinner for all Summer School participants.
A conference inside a summer school
Days two, four and the morning of day five were given over to the AMT 2026 programme — lectures on organic optoelectronics, quantum technologies, plasmonics, advanced microscopy and energy materials, delivered by speakers from the UK, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Belgium and Taiwan. For the early-career members of the HELIOS team this meant an international conference, a poster competition and a project school in a single trip.
It paid off in the most visible way possible: Nataliia Kuzyk won the AMT 2026 Best Poster Award, voted by the conference participants.
The Summer School closed at midday on 28 August with final remarks from the organisers.
Why it matters
HELIOS is a Horizon Europe Twinning project (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02-02), and its objectives run well beyond publications: knowledge exchange between LPNU and its partners, career development for early-stage researchers, stronger administrative capacity for European programmes, and greater visibility for everyone involved. A week that combined work package reviews, presentations by three early-career researchers, laboratory-level partner exchange, grant-writing training and a full international conference advanced every one of those at once.
This project has received funding from Horizon Europe, the European Union’s framework programme for research and innovation (2021–2027), under grant agreement No 101155017 (call HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02-02).
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