Rector Congratulates VMU on New Academic Year
Vytautas Magnus University’s Rector Prof. Juozas Augutis congratulates the university community, the students and the employees, with the beginning of the new academic year.
Dear community,
The recent period has been filled with tension and changes for the university and its people. However, one tradition never changes: the celebration of the new academic year.
September 1st is an occasion to distance ourselves from daily professional worries and to immerse joyfully into the festivities whose main participants, students and lecturers, mark the day of knowledge and science. Knowledge and science are what unites the academic community, the university, and us.
I invite everyone to be optimistic, trust yourselves, attend the celebration together with VMU colleagues and students, and share not only the knowledge of science but also the positive spirit all through the year.
Let’s begin together, on September 1st.
Rector
Apply Now: Baltic Summer University
This summer Vytautas Magnus University is hosting the Baltic Summer University (BSU): a variety of courses to boost professional skills, learn some Lithuanian and other languages, experience different cultures and meet new people. Registration is still open to all courses except in natural sciences and the Summer Internship Programme.
Baltic Summer University at VMU, which opens in July, will offer a variety of summer courses depending on the students’ interests and needs: up-and-coming musicians will be taught by award winning masters and will perform at the closing ceremony of BSU; those willing to understand why the Baltics are the best summer destination and learn about their culture, art, society, politics and economy should choose the Summer School for Baltic Studies. This year, BSU will have guest lecturers from Latvia and Estonia. Next year it will expand its activities to other Baltic countries and move around them for a more immersive experience.
“Vytautas Magnus University has almost 20 years of experience working in the field of Baltic Studies, sharing its experience in world-renowned networks and collaboration projects, as well as attracting people to learn about Lithuanian language and culture at the University’s oldest summer school. Being confident about our excellence in the field of Baltic Studies, we have come up with the idea to convene professionals from other disciplines to Baltic Summer University and its specialized predecessor, Summer School of Natural Sciences”, the VMU Vice-Rector for International Relations Prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė explained.
52nd ESReDA Seminar on Critical Infrastructures: Enhancing Preparedness & Resilience for the security of citizens and services supply continuity
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On the 30th – 31st May 2017, ESReDA (European Safety, Reliability & Data Association) in collaboration with Lithuanian Energy Institute and Vytautas Magnus University (Department of Mathematics and Statistics) organized the 52nd ESReDA Seminar on Critical Infrastructures: Enhancing Preparedness & Resilience for the security of citizens and services supply continuity (Kaunas, Lithuania).
ESReDA is an international non-profit association grouping 35 member organizations, comprising companies from different industries, research organizations and universities working within the safety and reliability field. ESReDA aims to promote the development and exchange of data, information and knowledge through the promotion of Project Groups (PG) on subjects related to Reliability, Safety and Data Analysis. The dissemination of the knowledge is made by organizing seminars twice a year and publishing the most important results of the Project Groups. (http://www.esreda.org/)
Critical Infrastructures Preparedness (CIP) and Resilience is a major societal security issue in modern society. Critical Infrastructures (CIs) provide vital services to modern societies. Some CIs’ disruptions may endanger the security of the citizen, the safety of the strategic assets and even the governance continuity. In order to report on the most recent developments in the field of the CIP & resilience Modelling, Simulation & Analysis (MS&A) and the availability of the relevant data, ESReDA held its 52nd Seminar on the following thematic: “Critical Infrastructures: Enhancing Preparedness & Resilience for the security of citizens and services supply continuity”.
18 technical papers were presented covering five topics (5 sessions):
- Emergency & Risk Management;
- CIP & Safety Issues;
- CIP & System Safety Engineering;
- MS&A – Natural threats & CI’s Resilience;
- MS&A – Preparedness, Vulnerability & Resilience.
Speakers shared their scientific knowledge and experience issued from areas of Critical Infrastructures Preparedness and Resilience. Different sectors were covered, such as: energy, transport, communication, civil protection, maritime-ports and nuclear reactors.
The technical programme included plenary presentations by leading academics, scientists and risk managers. Speakers shared their scientific knowledge and experience, stimulating our thoughts and getting across methodologies and applications in different areas of Critical Infrastructures Preparedness and Resilience. Plenary presentations were given by:
- Darius Labanauskas, Head of National Security and Crisis Management Unit
(Office of the Government, Lithuania), - Artūras Petkus, Head of Strategic Analysis Division, NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence (Lithuania),
- Jurga Lazauskienė, Head of division of Bedrock Geology, Lithuanian Geological Survey, under the Ministry of Environment (Lithuania).
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Besides, a specific Round Table Discussion on Cyber Security was organised – invited speakers shared their experience in the field leaded by the fruitful discussions:
- Vytautas Butrimas, Subject Matter Expert, Research and Lessons Learned Department, NATO Energy Security Center of Excellence (Lithuania),
- Marius Celskis, Information Security Manager, the Lithuania Electricity Transmission System Operator LITGRID AB (Lithuania).
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47 participants from 11 EU countries (Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania and United Kingdom) contributed through their presentations, discussions and expertise in establishing the state-of-the-art in the field. The seminar proceedings and the presentations will be available on ESReDA website in compliance with ESReDA politics of free dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge (http://www.esreda.org/).
Contact
General Secretary of ESReDA
Doc. Inga Žutautaitė, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Vytautas Magnus University
inga.zutautaite@vdu.lt
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VMU is Leading University in Region by Internationality
In the latest QS World University Rankings 2018, Vytautas Magnus University was ranked among the top 3 per cent universities of the world. VMU once again proved to be the leading university in Lithuania by its internationality and was ranked by QS as one of four best universities in the country.
VMU was ranked “401+” in all six categories of the QS ranking: academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per faculty, faculty students, international faculty, and international students. Compared to last year, the university’s results were improved in five categories.
“Out of about 26,000 universities currently in the world, we performed among the top 3 per cent. This is a significant achievement for Lithuanian universities, as the GDP portion for education is just 1.3 per cent; for comparison, it is 2.2 per cent in Estonia. International rating experts say that all countries with universities in the top 1,000 can be proud of their higher education schools. Over the recent years in Lithuania, VMU and three other universities have belonged to this group of “the best”. QS ranking confirms yet again that VMU–as a classical, wide-spanning liberal arts university–is visible and recognized globally. As the most international university of Lithuania and the region, we will continue to cooperate in various areas with our partners and remain active participants in global processes”, Prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė, VMU Vice-Rector for International Relations, said.
