Open Dual Lectures: on living in the city and digital business
How to ensure that cities support the residents’ well-being and remain resilient to various challenges? How to effectively adapt business models for the digital sphere – following the example of Apple, Google and other successful companies? These questions will be discussed in two lectures organised by the international Transform4Europe Alliance. The lectures will be held on the 4th and 25th of May in Kaunas and will be streamed online.
The lectures are organised in the Open Dual Lectures format: this is an already traditional format of the alliance’s lectures, where insights on the same topic are shared by a scientist and a practician: one of them is from Lithuania, the other one is from the alliance’s partner country. This is a great opportunity to not only look at the topic from the perspectives of science and business and receive useful insights, but also to put one’s finger on the pulse of the world.
Resilient Cities: Connecting Wellbeing, Infrastructure & Cities
The lecture will be held on Thursday 4 May, 5 p.m. (Lithuania time, EEST) at the Vytautas Magnus University Leonidas Donskis Library (23 V. Putvinskio g.) and online. It will be held by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė from the VMU Dept. of Sociology and researcher, artist, writer from Dublin Ed Carroll (BD, MA, PhD). Moderator: Mykolė Lukošienė.
How are human well-being and access to city public infrastructure integrated into cities that need to become resilient to social-demographic and economic challenges? Local authorities, communities and businesses need knowledge, tools and indicators to develop “livable” urban spaces to promote well-being for the urban dweller effectively. What does it mean to live in “livable” cities for diverse urban groups, such as local communities, working parents, elders, youth, and minorities? What type of public services can they receive, and what are the needs of urban dwellers? How to connect the pragmatism of urban development and public infrastructure with well-being indicators? The discussion invites urban scholars and practitioners to share their experiences.
More information about the lecturers
Of digital business models, networks and gatekeepers – from analogous to digital business models
The lecture will be held on Thursday 25 May, 5 p.m. (Lithuania time, EEST) at the Tourism Information Centre (36 Laisvės al., Kaunas) and online. Its lecturers will be Benedikt Schnellbächer, junior professor at the Faculty of Human and Business Sciences at Saarland University, and Tadas Žiemys, VMU graduate and co-founder of Dogo App company. Moderator: VMU Prof. Dr. Daiva Vitkutė-Adžgauskienė.
Whether it’s Google, Amazon or Apple, the business models of successful companies are more and more characterized by their digital nature. The talk introduces the concepts of business models, networks and gatekeeping with examples from the field and how they apply in the digital realm.
Partners of the event: Kaunas 2022 and Kaunas TIC.
More information about the lecturers
The conference “Freedom to Create” Programme Announced
On Friday, 28 April, Vytautas Magnus University will host the student conference “Freedom to Create”, which was successfully launched last year. In 2022, the conference was dedicated to the centennial of the University of Lithuania, and this year it will address the international Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations.
The conference programme will include nearly 40 presentations in Lithuanian and English, an artistic performance “Lyg testamentas” (Like a Testament) by Declamationes, a performance “Mūsų teatro pasaulis” (Our Theatre World) by VMU Theatre Dance and Theatre students, as well as an interesting and meaningful time spent surrounded by like-minded people.
“Security and empowerment of communities, sustainable consumption and sustainability, reduction of exclusion, well-being, and the fight against climate change – these are global challenges that will encourage our students to recognise the advantage of studies based on the principles of artes liberales in tackling complex problems. After all, such challenges can only be overcome through creativity, multifaceted approaches, and a broader view and assessment of the situation. And this is exactly what we strive for by providing students with individualised study options,” says Vilma Bijeikienė, VMU Vice-Rector for Communication.
As in the previous year, the conference will be held at the VMU Multifunctional Centre for Research and Studies (V. Putvinskio g. 23, Kaunas).
Moments from the 2022 “Freedom to Create” conference.
StudentPulse Surveys will be Launched at the University
Vytautas Magnus University is constantly looking for ways to improve the student experience at the university. It is very important to listen to students’ opinion and find out what factors determine successful studies, to respond to the evaluations in a timely manner, and to find solutions to change processes and create an attractive and comfortable environment.
The University has signed a cooperation agreement with the developers of the StudentPulse platform. A new student survey to measure the pulse and mood of student life will be launched in April. According to the developers of this innovative platform, it is a tool that allows quickly collect students’ feedback and, by quickly analysing the data, to take important decisions that can ensure both the quality of studies and the well-being and experience of students at the University. Frequent surveys, quick feedback, and active involvement of faculty representatives responsible for organising and implementing study processes can improve the study environment. The ability to consistently monitor the results of the surveys, to gather students’ suggestions and to better understand what students’ needs and aspirations are most important will help everyone to assess how and what could be improved in the student life of the university, in each faculty or academy.
In the spring semester of 2023, StudentPulse surveys will be opened to students in the first and second years of their Bachelor and integrated programmes, as well as to students in the first year of their Master’s degree programmes. Short surveys consisting of a few questions will be administered in line with the key stages of the study process and the rhythm of university life. The surveys will be anonymous.
We invite students to actively express their views, so that representatives of faculties or academies could feel the pulse of student life and improve together, by communicating and creating a comfortable environment for the development of successful studies!
How I experienced Lithuania?
Dear students,
Faculty of Social Sciences’ community invites you to an event for international students “How I experienced Lithuania?”. We want to know you better, find out about your experiences and introduce ourselves, present the country’s traditions, cuisine and involve you in interactive activities.
Event details:
Date: 18 April.
Time: 2 p.m. (duration of the event 1,5 hour).
Venue: Jonava st. 66, first floor foyer.
Please register to the event:
www.smf.vdu.lt/forstudents
Prof. Jorge González del Pozo to Hold Lectures at VMU
On 27–31 March, Professor Dr. Jorge González del Pozo from the University of Michigan-Dearborn (USA) will be visiting the VMU Dept. of Sociology under the Erasmus+ programme and will hold public lectures.
Jorge González del Pozo is a full professor of Spanish at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he has worked since 2007, teaching Spanish Literature, Film, Culture, and Language. He has published work on Spanish contemporary literary criticism, Spanish film and history of Spanish film. He has published and coordinated an edited volume about Pedro Almodóvar’s films published by La Nueva Literatura Hispánica in 2013. He also has coordinated and published many edited books, such as a study on Spanish films of the 80s and a highly acclaimed panoramic compilation on foreign travelers through Castile and its representation Castilla. He is currently working on a manuscript about Spanish identity through its food and gastronomy and on an edited collection of Transatlantic Hispanic films analyzing the crossroads of home, sexuality, and politics.
At Vytautas Magnus University, the guest will hold three public lectures on 28 and 30 March. On Tuesday 28 March, 9 a.m., at VMU Multifunctional Research and Studies Centre (23 V. Putvinskio g., Room 313), Prof. Dr. Jorge González del Pozo will hold a lecture titled Pedro Almodóvar: A Unique Style as Auteur and Filmography. In his more than 40 years of career, Pedro Almodóvar has gone from enfant terrible to mogul of international film. This presentation analyzes the main characteristics of his film style as an auteur and also explores the global and commercial vision that his movies and his production company project nowadays.
On Thursday 30 March, 11.15 a.m., at VMU Faculty of Social Sciences (66 Jonavos g., Room 108), the professor will hold a lecture titled Spanish Identity Through its Food and Gastronomy. The cuisine is at the heart of the Spanish identity because, since wheat, oil, and vine, it has been present in the essence of individuals and in the soul of society. Thus, food represents the country in its versatility and constant adaptation, beyond stale and anchored approaches pushed during the pre-democratic national imaginary, demonstrating how Spanish gastronomy symbolizes a society of its time, open to incessant international influences with a global projection, that forces constantly to reflect, rethink and reimagine what Spain is through its culinary culture.
On the same day, 30 March, 5 p.m., at VMU Faculty of Social Sciences (66 Jonavos g., Room 108), the guest will also hold a lecture titled Socially Committed Film in Spain. Spanish film has a long tradition of generating socially committed films that denounce and alarm about critical issues such as prostitution, unemployment, immigration, domestic violence, class struggle, or migration, to name a few. As an industry and spectacle, cinema is a vehicle to represent national conflicts through cultural manifestations.
Additional Competition for International Studies and Internships
VMU International Cooperation Department invites all university students to use the opportunities to go abroad for study exchange or internship.
Additional competition for Erasmus+ studies (in EU/EEA countries). You can apply for the competition until March 27th, 2023.
Ongoing competitions for internships:
Erasmus+ internships (EU/EEA countries). Applications can be submitted until the last day of each month.
Matlab and Data Analysis Class offer for PhD students
VMU doctoral students are invited to attend the Matlab and Data Analysis Class, which is organised by one of the Transform4Europe alliance’s partners: Saarland University in Germany. The class, which has received a lot of positive feedback, aims to introduce students to the data analysis software Matlab. In order to work with it, students are not required to have programming knowledge. The only prerequisite is basic computer skills. Online registration is open until 31 March.
Matlab is:
- A calculator for interactive calculations
- A programming language that also provides complex functions with one command
- A tool for simple and complicated calculations with large amounts of data
- A platform to summarize and automate different steps of the data evaluation (e.g. read in data, summarize, statistically evaluate, create graphics and save)
- A Swiss Army Knife for data analysis and simulations
Course contents:
- Interactive calculations with Matlab
- Automation for repeated tasks, e.g. the similar analysis of several data sets
- Fundamentals of programming: functions, loops, if statements
- Graphical representation of data/simulations/results
- Basic statistics with Matlab
- Import of data from files
Course dates:
- Tuesday, June 13;
- Thursday, June 15;
- Tuesday, June 20;
- Thursday, June 22.
The lectures will take place online on MS Teams from 3 PM until 7 PM (Lithuanian time, EEST time zone).
Participation in all four lectures is recommended because all provided material is important for further lessons. For this class, students are granted 1 ECTS credit point.
The first 10 students who register will be accepted to the courses. Online registration is open until 31 March. When registering, students are requested to use their university email.
VMU to Host Conference of Young Sociologists and Anthropologists
The Department of Sociology at Vytautas Magnus University and the Lithuanian Sociological Association would like to invite you to participate in the 9th annual National conference of young sociologists and anthropologists “Actual Research in Sociology and Anthropology: Problems and Contexts”. The conference will be held on April 21st, 2023, in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Vytautas Magnus University, Jonavos St. 66, Kaunas.
National conference of young sociologists and anthropologists is a traditional annual event that provides a platform for beginning researchers to present their bachelor, master, and doctoral research, share their discoveries, discuss future research and meet like-minded people.
This year’s conference theme is “Own-Alien-Other: building borders and crossing borders in the context of the current geopolitical situation”.
Our social life consists of constantly building borders and boundaries, and constantly crossing them. In the literal sense – as building walls and urgently guarding state borders against “illegal” migrants and in fear of war, but also as free crossing of these borders by us – as emigrants. Borders and boundaries also have a more metaphorical sense, meaning the constant determination and negotiation of where are the boundaries of our social, religious, ethnic group, and where the “stranger” or the “other” begins. But we must remember that borders are not just something negative – without borders, without the “stranger”, we would not be able to define ourselves – without defining these “others”, “we” would not exist.
The organizers of conference welcome all students and young researchers from a wide range of study disciplines – sociology, anthropology, and related disciplines such as political science, economy, communication, creative industries, psychology, social work, history, ethnography, and many others which use social research methods.
Submissions can propose theoretical and empirical presentations. Conference languages – Lithuanian and English. The participation in the conference is free of charge.
You are welcome to submit an abstract for the conference by email sk@vdu.lt until 3 April 2023.
Requirements for the abstract:
- Maximum 250 words, including the title, major idea and arguments of the presentation;
- Please, indicate the name and surname of the presenter, institution, position, and the stage of studies (if you are a student), contact information (email address).
There will be an opportunity to publish the scientific articles, based on the presentations, in the peer-review scientific journal “Culture and Society: Journal of Social Research”, published by the VMU Department of Sociology. If you plan to prepare such an article, please, indicate this in your abstract.
The conference email: sk@vdu.lt
Apply for Full-time Master’s Degree Studies Scholarships
Education Exchanges Support Foundation opened a call for applications for 100 Lithuanian state scholarships for full-time Master’s degree studies at Lithuanian higher education institutions for the year 2023.
Funding under the call will be provided to the citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus (Citizens of Belarus must hold a valid residence permit in Lithuania), China, Georgia, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Moldova, Ukraine, and foreigners of Lithuanian origin from non-EU and EFTA countries.
Types of Scholarships:
- A monthly scholarship (490 Eur) and a grant covering the study cost is offered to citizens of: Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, foreign citizens of Lithuanian origin, Moldova, Azerbaijan.
- A monthly scholarship (490 Eur) is offered to citizens of China, Israel, Japan, South Korea.
What to study?
Choose one of these VMU programmes and get 1 extra point to your application:
- Applied Informatics
- Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
- Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Analysis
- Educational Management
- Performing Arts
Or apply for any other programme from our list of programmes taught in English language.
Application procedure:
- Prepare all the required documents for admission at VMU
- Apply online for studies at VMU
- Get letter of acceptance
- Learn more about scholarhips requirements and application procedure
- Apply for the State scholarship
Scholarship application deadline is 22 May 2023. Hurry up and apply as soon as possible just to make sure that you will have time to prepare all the documents on time.
Have questions about admission to university? Feel free to contact us at studies@vdu.lt
Need more information about Scholarships? Please find it here or contact by email: master.scholarships@smpf.lt
We congratulate the VMU community on the 11th of March!
We congratulate the entire community of Vytautas Magnus University on the 11th of March – the Day of the Restoration of Independence of Lithuania!
This year, as we mark the 33rd anniversary of the restoration of our independence, let us celebrate our freedom: let us appreciate the determination and unity of the people who dared to resist the aggressor in 1990 and who decided to lead our country on the path of Western democracy.
Let us encourage and support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine whose struggle for freedom to live in an independent state remains ongoing.
May you take pride in your country, have high spirits, and feel freedom in your hearts!
