Dedication to Professor Jūras Banys

This year, on 30 December, is the 60th anniversary of the outstanding physicist, Vilnius University professor, academician, president of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Jūras Banys. J. Banys graduated with honours from the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University in 1985, defended his doctoral thesis in 1990. In 1989–1990, he worked at a professor Mike Glazer’s laboratory at the University of Oxford (UK), studying the structural properties of ferroelectric crystals using X-ray diffraction methods. In 1993–1995, after receiving Alexander von Humboldt scholarship, he worked at the University of Leipzig, where he studied the local dynamics of phase transitions using electron paramagnetic spectroscopy. After returning to his Alma Mater, J. Banys took charge of the Laboratory of Microwave Spectroscopy, turning it into a modern centre for the study of the dielectric properties of ferroelectric materials. Over the years, he assembled here a group of highly qualified scientists who perform scientific experiments using unique materials developed in well-known foreign and Lithuanian laboratories. In 2000, J. Banys successfully defended his habilitation thesis, and in 2003 the title of Vilnius University professor was awarded to him.