This summer, VU Kaunas Faculty is hosting 5 student summer internship projects funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT) for €20 000. Four of the projects are being carried out at the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies while one project is being curated by the Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics. The total amount of funding for a summer internship is €4 000, which includes a €1000/month scholarship for the student. The projects are implemented for 2 months from 1 July to 30 August.
This initiative aims to encourage students to engage in active research activities and to develop their scientific competence. The main results are expected to be review articles and conference presentations.
As Donatas Misiūnas, the VU KnF Specialist for the projects, says, Kaunas Faculty researchers regularly involve motivated students of all study levels and courses in projects and research.
During the summer internship, the students use the University library and international databases, as well as the equipment and software of the Kaunas Faculty laboratories. Important research on a wide range of cultural, social and technological issues is being carried out.
“More and more students are determined to swap summer holidays for professional and personal development, competing for internships,” says D. Misiūnas happily. According to him, summer internship projects are particularly valuable because, during a relatively short but intensive period, students acquire new knowledge, skills and competences which they need for further studies, research and future professional activities. The project helps the students put theoretical knowledge into practice, increase their independence and confidence in their research skills.
“It is important to note that the students also strengthen their communication skills while preparing to present their research results in a persuasive way, improve their technology skills with data analysis software and multimedia processing, and acquire practical research skills such as data collection or questionnaires,” explains the Faculty specialist.
Projects carried out at VU KNF during the summer of 2024
The project Soft Power Narratives: The Use of Linguistics and Multimodality in Film (P-SV-24-169) is conducted by Augustė Jurgilaitė, the third-year student of the Bachelor’s study programme English and Another Foreign Language (Swedish), curated by the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies. The supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr Živilė Nemickienė.
“I have chosen 3 films from different cultures to analyse: “Requiem for a Dream” for American culture, the Spanish film “The Platform” for European culture and “Parasite” for Asian culture. Currently, I have analysed 2 of the 3 selected films and I can say that the soft power (which I had not heard of before) is evident in them. What fascinates me is that the soft power is very subtle and sometimes unnoticeable to an individual, but it nevertheless has an impact on consciousness. Through this work, I started to notice and reflect on these subtle hints and how they can affect both me and other people,” says Augustė.
The project Studies of Lithuanian Interwar Periodicals: The Diversity of Women's Literary Criticism and Its Relationship with Humanistic Literary Criticism (P-SV-24-76) is carried out by Emilija Gedgaudaitė, the third-year student of the Bachelor’s study programme Lithuanian Philology and Promotion, curated by the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies. The supervisor: Prof. Dr Gabija Bankauskaitė.
“I am glad for an opportunity to look back at a very significant period in Lithuanian culture. Interwar literary criticism truly shows us what a complex, but at the same time winding in its varieties path Lithuanian literature is. The research helps me to get to know the authors from a different point of view: instead of a range of works, I have the opportunity to see what literature means to Lithuanian authors,” says Emilija.
The project Subtitle Positioning and Visual Perception: A Comparative Analysis of the Reading Experience of Deaf and Hearing Viewer (P-SV-24-258) is being implemented by Rugilė Žvirblytė, the third-year student of the Bachelor’s study programme Audiovisual Translation, curated by the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies. The supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr Jurgita Astrauskienė.
“Together with the supervisor of the project, Jurgita Astrauskienė, we are trying to find out what SDH (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing) are most suitable for the deaf and hard of hearing viewers. I work intensively in the oculography laboratory, where it takes about 20 minutes to examine one respondent. Participants watch excerpts from the science fiction film "Vesper", filmed in Lithuania, through an oculograph. The excerpts are prepared with different types of SDH and focus on questions relevant to the research. The respondent then completes the questionnaire and we compare the data obtained,” tells Rugilė.
The project Reception of Visual-Verbal Play in Dubbed Animation: A Pilot Viewer Study (P-SV-24-78) is carried out by Vaida Furmanavičiūtė, the third-year student of the Bachelor’s study programme Audiovisual Translation, curated by the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies. The supervisor: Prof. Dr Danguolė Satkauskaitė.
“The visual-verbal play occurs when words interact with an image on the screen, but both of them have different meanings, thus producing a humorous effect. These cases pose significant challenges for translators and are therefore sometimes not reflected in the translation. Our study consists of two parts: an oculographic examination and a semi-structured interview. Participants will be divided into two groups: one group will be shown excerpts in the original language and the participants of another group will see the same excerpts in Lithuanian. This will allow us to see whether the translation strategies used have achieved the same audience response as in the original language. I hope that the results of our research will be useful and that they will contribute at least a little to future research on audiovisual translation with new insights,” says Vaida.
The project Analysis and Prevention of Cyber Vulnerabilities Among Working-Age Internet Users (P-SV-24-325) is carried out by Yehor Poliarskyi, the second-year student of the Bachelor’s study programme Information Systems and Cyber Security, curated by the Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics. The supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr Renata Danielienė.
“The main goal of my research is to create targeted cyber security recommendations for Lithuanian residents by analysing survey questionnaires on cyber incidents experienced by participants and the preventive measures used together with experts’ suggestions. Currently, the most difficult part for me has been to conduct the survey with at least 200 participants, because a lot of people are on vacation during the summer and do not want to engage in such activities. With the help of Student’s Representation and my colleagues and classmates I completed this phase of my research successfully. Now I start communicating with the experts. After that, I will be ready to prepare final recommendations and defend my project,“ tells Yehor.
Participate next summer!
Students can take part in the Student Summer Internship projects, where they carry out research during their summer holidays on an individual programme, under the guidance of a research supervisor. Duration – 2 months (July - August). Projects are open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students, except for those in their final year of study at the time of application. The weighted average of the student's grades in the last semester of all the subjects studied must be 8.0 or higher.
At the end of the summer internship, the students will participate in a conference organised by the Research Council of Lithuania, where they will present the results of the carried out research either in oral or poster presentations.
https://lmt.lrv.lt/lt/veiklos-sritys/mokslo-finansavimas/karjeros-mobilumo-sklaidai-skatinimo-priemones/studentu-tyrimai-vasaros-metu/