Hello everybody,

My name is Petr Botek and I am a PhD student from Czech Republic. I came to LAMMC from the city of Brno, the second largest city in Czechia.

I came to LAMMC’s Institute of Horticulture, Department of Plant Physiology on the recommendation of my supervisor Tomas, who came to visit LAMMC couple months before my stay. Tomas was impressed by the possibilities of research in my field that are available on the Babtai premises. My PhD research is, to be brief, focused on lighting spectrum and its potential in plant production.

Before the departure from my home, I proposed ideas of my possible research activities to be performed in Lithuania to the department head Dr Giedrė Samuolienė. After on-site consultancy with Dr Akvilė Viršilė and Giedrė, it was decided on one of the proposed experiments.

The conducted project has been on the topic of UV-A light effect on root exudate secretion in closed-loop hydroponics, which got finished just in time before my departure. With the help of the whole department, I managed to perform five treatments on two lettuce varieties, taking home a lot of samples to be analysed. Thankfully, LAMMC team has offered to help with the root exudate instrumental analysis. I also got an inspirational insight into ongoing projects of the department.Apart from the work life itself, I got to meet other PhD student of LAMMC and see the beauties of Lithuania, with my favourites being the bay of Kaunas lagoon, Smiltynė beach in Klaipėda, Devils Museum in Kaunas and the bar “Good” in Laisvės Av.

I believe our international institutional relationship got strengthened and further cooperation is on its way. I am also looking forward to coming back to observe the bloom of Kaunas, the European city of culture, a place full of life and nice people.