In four years, Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) will apply to become a university of applied sciences, so the scientific potential of the higher education institution is being consistently strengthened. This year, new researchers joined the Kauno kolegija HEI, who will contribute to the development and expansion of this field.

One of these researchers is Dr Ligita Zailskaitė-Jakštė, a scientist and lecturer, Erasmus+ project manager, and a member of the Board of the Lithuanian Communication Association.

The desire to write inspired to share about science beyond lectures

Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė, who joined the research team of the Faculty of Business at Kauno kolegija HEI this year, has years of work experience in the field of communication, and her research interests involve AI impact on consumer engagement behaviour, brand management, human-computer interaction, project management, and marketing communication.

As a visiting lecturer, Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė read lectures at the UniTrento (Italy), the University of Ferrara (Italy), the Pontifical University of John Paul (Poland), the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), and others.

‘My doctoral dissertation was “Consumers engagement behaviour in social media communication impact on brand equity” because, from the beginning of my research, I tried to connect what interests me: communication, social media, and consumer behaviour. When I started writing my dissertation on social media as a marketing communication channel and the impact of user-generated content, it was new, but at the same time it became a challenge,’ shares Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė.

To introduce her activities to a wider audience and talk about science, the researcher does this in her newsletter “Glamour and Science Communication”, which appears on LinkedIn.

‘Since I have been working in the field of communication for some time and I feel a desire to write, I want to use my knowledge of English, and simply talk about science, so I started writing a newsletter. I am glad that people are interested in the topic of science, they read and get engaged,’ says Dr. L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė.

The researcher, who joined the Kauno kolegija HEI community, reveals that as a member of the board of the Lithuanian Communication Association, she organises dinners in Kaunas, which bring together communication specialists. During the meetings, new members of the Association – Kaunas residents – are introduced, and news in the field of communication, and changes in work or personal life are shared. This autumn, the dinners were enriched with discussions that have already taken place in Kaunas Ninth Fort, at the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum.

These dinners were also attended by Lithuanian Communication Association members who work at Kauno kolegija HEI, such as Smiltė Juraitė and Saulius Tvirbutas: ‘So, I had to hear from them about working at Kauno kolegija HEI.’

Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė reveals that she joined Kauno kolegija HEI very organically. ‘When the job announcement appeared, a colleague sent me a link and encouraged me to participate. When I received an offer to work at the Kauno kolegija HEI, the lecturer coordinating the module, with whom I had previously worked, called me and offered to help me integrate smoothly. So, the people around me encouraged me to join Kauno kolegija HEI,” reveals Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė.

Aims for scientific work to create real value

The Kauno kolegija HEI researcher recalls that the work with students began with the inclusion of companies in the study process. ‘Since the students had to prepare an integrated coursework, we invited the Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum and “Kauno energija” and asked them to formulate challenges for the students’ works. We had the ambition to integrate challenge-based learning,’ shares Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė. ‘I think that bringing students closer to real problems and their solutions gives them a truly valuable experience.’

The researcher says she is pleased that companies were willing to get involved and participated in presentations of integrated coursework, and the groups that presented their work best were awarded with gifts from the Kaunas Ninth Fort Museum and “Kauno energija”.

Speaking about her future plans, Dr L. Zailskaitė-Jakštė reveals that she is currently focusing on scientific work: ‘I want my scientific output to be valuable not only because of the number of published articles – I want it to be truly applicable and help solve real challenges.’