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During the weekend-long summer school, the 30 attending students from 13 were able to not only listen to excellent talks from 6 different professionals in their fields but also interact with the lecturers as well. Furthermore, during the social evening in the Vilnius University botanical garnets students had time to make new connections in an unofficial setting.

 The conference itself was held in the historical campus of Vilnius University at the heart of Vilnius Oldtown. With 150 attendees from 27 different countries, two parallel presentation sessions were filled with people from early morning till late in the afternoon during all 4 days of the conference. Furthermore, we were lucky to have 3 excellent plenary lectures given by Prof. Mari-Ann Einarsrud, Prof. Harry L. Tuller, and Prof. Hana Uršič. Additionally, we have had 20 invited speakers who also gave amazing presentations on their research. Without the plenary and invited speakers, we had many more participants presenting their fascinating research and challenges as well as an amazing poster session with 48 poster presentations. 3 of the poster presenting students were awarded for best presentation chosen by a panel of participants. Overall, the never-ending scientific discourse could be heard via the questions during the presentations or even during the coffee breaks throughout the entire conference. 

The social events of the conference were also an integral part and were held in the heat of Vilnius Oldtown district. In particular, the gala dinner was held in the recently reconstructed Renaissance hall of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, which was the centuries-old heart of the political and cultural life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During the dinner, participants were able to enjoy Lithuanian delicacies like cepelinai, surrounded by traditional medieval architecture and symbols as well as listen to a beautiful harp performance or participate in a guided tour of the entirety of Grand Dukes palace and learn about Lithuanian history.

Lastly, I would like to hope that everyone enjoyed their stay and the conference, made new connections, or had the pleasure of renewing old ones at the same time. As well as to thank the organizing team and sponsors for making the conference happen.  In particular to Lina Mikoliūnaitė and Šarūnas Svirskas who did a lot of the hard work as well as Véronique Huart and Aurore Belot from the European Ceramic Society. And of course, all of the participants who attended and enjoyed the conference. And best of luck to the colleagues in Serbia organizing the next one in 2026!

Andrius Pakalniškis