Professor Artūras Dubickas, Academician and Head of the Department of Probability Theory and Number Theory at the Institute of Mathematics, part of the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at Vilnius University, has been awarded the Lithuanian Science Prize for his body of work “Problems on the Distribution of Algebraic Numbers and Their Applications” (2010–2024). The prizes were announced on 3 February, and laureates were honoured at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences on 5 March.
Academician Professor Artūras Dubickas awarded the Lithuanian Science Prize. Photo by Vytautas Karpauskas.
Professor Dubickas began his scientific career in 1990, the same year Lithuania restored its Independence. The beginnings of the internationally renowned and widely cited mathematician’s academic career thus coincide with a new chapter in the development of Lithuanian science in an independent state.
Professor Dubickas is distinguished by exceptional scientific productivity and thematic breadth. His articles have been published in prestigious journals such as Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, Advances in Mathematics, and the Canadian Journal of Mathematics.
His work focuses on the distribution of algebraic numbers, a fundamental topic in number theory with links to function approximation, algebraic combinatorics, graph theory, and other areas of mathematics.
Algebraic number theory, which began in the nineteenth century, now underpins not only pure mathematics but also coding theory, cryptography, signal transmission, and computational mathematics.
Encouraging a New View of Mathematics
At the ceremony, Professor Dubickas discussed the place of mathematics in society. He noted that public debate in Lithuania often flares only around examination results, and that school mathematics is far removed from the creative work encountered at the doctoral level: “Many people could perhaps become mathematicians, but they are so intimidated that they lose interest. At university, students often study mathematics that is a hundred or two hundred years old. Only when writing a dissertation do they encounter modern mathematics, where creativity is essential.”
He also addressed artificial intelligence, observing that while its use is growing in mathematics, AI still makes many errors and cannot yet match human mathematicians.
Recognising Excellence
The Lithuanian Science Prize honours significant fundamental and applied research of importance to Lithuania. This year, 27 submissions from universities and research institutes were reviewed by 29 commission members and 54 international and Lithuanian experts. Seven prizes were awarded, four of them to Vilnius University researchers.
This is Professor Dubickas’s second Lithuanian Science Prize, he previously received the award in 2006 for the body of works “The Distribution of Algebraic Numbers (1986–2005)”.
6 March 2026