A new molecular biology center of excellence was opened on 19th of September in Vilnius by Thermo Fisher Scientific. It already employs more than 400 people, 88 of which are members of research and development staff and 36 are Doctors of Science, delfi.lt reported on 19 September.
The new center will provide molecular, protein and cell biology products to help meet the growing need for life sciences in Eastern Europe and will bring new opportunities in global markets.
The staff of the research and development center put all its effort into creating new and developing existing biotechnological products. The unit is intended to expand rapidly: it is estimated that within a year this unit will employ more than a hundred specialists.
The total area of the building is 10, 000 square meters. It has cost 41.1 million LTL and was built over one year.
An employee of Thermo Fisher Scientific from Germany, who worked 20 years for the company, said that during his career he has never seen such a large and progressive company’s building – not even in the U.S., Denmark, Germany or Austria.
Algimantas Markauskas, head of Vilnius’ center, said that the current situation of the IT market will not repeat in the field of biotechnology. “To find good specialists is not easy, no matter what the field is. But we have well educated youth in universities. Our policy is not to sit and wait for someone to come to us, we go to the universities, find students, who can become specialists at Thermo Fisher Scientific and work with them.”
Head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Education Ginataras Steponavičius, who participated in the opening of the center, added that Thermo Fisher Scientific together with Vilnius’ University executes an excellent initiative of Mobile Bioclass. “This shows the right attitude that we should not be [concentrating] only on the higher education but also on schools. We need to prepare kids, make them interested in science careers while they are still in school. I think in the long run it will give results.”
Translated by Ernestas Bogdanov
Edited by Tara Edelen
