ABSTRACT
Lithuania is a small country on the Baltic coast with a population of 3.7 million, of whom 81 per cent are of Lithuanian descent, 8 per cent Russian, 7 per cent Polish and 3 per cent other. Lithuania became independent from the former Soviet Union in 1990. Rapid economic change, with the transition from a planned towards a market economy, has severely affected all sectors of society, including the research community. Since independence there have been frequent changes of government (ten in ten years).
