On September 25, Mariam Kasradze, a doctoral student in Social Sciences and Applied Informatics at the VU Kaunas Faculty (field of Social Sciences, branch of Economics (S 004)), successfully defended her doctoral dissertation titled "Corporate Social Responsibility in the Energy Sector".

On September 22, Aistė Kukytė—a doctoral student at the Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics, VU Kaunas Faculty (field of Social Sciences, Management discipline (S 003))—successfully defended her doctoral dissertation titled "The Impact of Team Vitality on a Member's Intention to Leave the Organization."

We invite Lithuanians around the globe, as well as students, lecturers, and researchers from foreign higher education institutions, to immerse yourselves in the rich tapestry of Lithuania this winter. Our course offers a unique opportunity to learn Lithuanian, delve into the captivating culture and history of Lithuania and Kaunas, and connect with participants from around the world.

Program Details:

Course Level: Beginners (A1 level)

Course Dates: from 04-01-2027 to 02-02-2027

Application deadline: 22-10-2026

Location: Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University

What to Expect:

Engaging lectures tailored for beginners.

Fascinating excursions and trips.

Vibrant parties and cultural events.

Hands-on activities, including culinary experiences to savour and create Lithuanian delicacies.

Immersion in Lithuanian ethnic culture through music and dance with the folklore ensemble "Uosinta".

To encourage the students of Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University to actively participate in the Faculty's external communication campaigns, study programme publicity activities, and Faculty ambassadorship both in Lithuania and abroad, a Scholarship Competition for the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Ambassador’s Scholarship has been established.

The Scholarship will be financed from the investment return of the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Endowment Sub-Fund. The Scholarship is paid out in the autumn and spring semesters, and the Competition will be announced in September and January.

The Scholarship is one-off and amounts to at least 100 euros per student, but not more than 1000 euros per student. The exact size and number of Scholarships to be awarded will be determined at the time of the distribution of the Scholarships, based on the size of the Scholarship fund—the Sub-Fund's investment return.

 Who is eligible for the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Ambassador’s Scholarship?

Eligible for the Scholarship are all students of all Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes at the Kaunas Faculty who meet the following criteria:

• the students who have completed the previous semesters of study without debts and academic debts, and who have not been sanctioned during the course of their studies as provided in the Study Regulations of Vilnius University for violations of the University's legislation;
• the students who are actively involved in the Faculty’s external communication campaigns, study programme publicity activities, and Faculty ambassadorship;
• the students who carry out and organise other initiatives that are consistent with the values of the University and the Faculty, and contribute to the proper publicity and image of the Faculty and the University.

Application deadline for the autumn semester

We invite you to submit your application via the University's Study Information System by September 30, 2026. You need to submit the following documents:

1. a free-form request;
2. documents proving the ambassador's activities (certificates, confirmations, completed activity report of the applicant for the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Ambassador‘s Scholarship);
3. the recommendation of the Faculty's Public Relations Group regarding the inclusion of the Candidate in the list of applicants for the Scholarship (if you indicate in the activity report that a member of the Public Relations Group coordinated the relevant activity, a separate recommendation is not required).

Who will consider the applications?

By the order of the Dean of the Faculty, an Assessment Commission will be established. The Commission will consist of three representatives of the Faculty, one representative delegated by the University’s Students’ Representation and one representative of the social partners. The Chairperson of the Commission will be appointed by the Dean‘s order among the members of the Commission.

The Commission will decide on the recipients of the Scholarships by October 16, 2026. The results will be communicated to the applicants individually via email.

How will the amount of the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Ambassador’s Scholarship be determined?

After analysing the applications received, the Commission will select the proposed Scholarship recipients based on the following criteria:

• the number of activities carried out;
• the scale of the activities carried out (target audience reached);
• the duration of the activities (total time spent on the activities);
• the complexity of the activities carried out (organising, leading, initiating, executing (delivering)).

Taking into account the scope of the activities carried out by the candidates (number, scale and duration of activities carried out) and the overall average level of candidate involvement (complexity of activities carried out; this information is provided to the commission by the Public Relations Group), a quantitative threshold will be set, below which the candidate may not be eligible for a Scholarship. The Commission will decide on the number of Scholarships to be awarded and the amount of each Scholarship to be awarded to a specific candidate, taking into account the aforementioned financial limits (no less than 100 euros and no more than 1000 euros).

The same student may receive a Scholarship only once for the same achievements/activities.

For further information, please refer to the document on the Regulations for Awarding the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University Ambassador’s Scholarship to Students of Vilnius University.

We invite students to events that will help them integrate more easily into academic life. From August 28. #studentAUK events begin. Active, engaging, and full of discoveries await you. During these events, students will have the opportunity to get to know the faculty, lecturers, curators, fellow students, and learn more about lectures, electronic systems, and the advantages of being a student.

We invite you to join us for a 4-hour canoeing trip on the Verknė River, followed by a fun country-style dinner together.

The bus will be chartered for the trip and is scheduled to return to Kaunas by 21:00 PM on Saturday evening. You can also use your own transport to travel, but consult concerning the logistics of the car. 

The following items are recommended for canoeing: swimwear, comfortable clothes and footwear that are likely to get wet while paddling, a raincoat, a hat and sunscreen, insect repellent, drinking water and snacks, a sturdy polythene bag to store your gear in the kayak so it doesn’t get soaked. It is also recommended to have another set of clothes to change into and spend the evening outside in the campsite. 

Students, lecturers, and faculty staff who are interested in participating are invited to register here: REGISTRATION IS CLOSED  The number of participants is limited.

10.00 AM we gather in the courtyard of Kaunas Faculty, pack, count and go to the bus, which will be waiting for us in front of the Church of Vytautas Magnus in Karaliaus Mindaugas Avenue.  

11.00 AM We will travel by bus to the Verknė River in Prienai District.

11.00 AM–12.00 PM. In pairs, we will set off by canoes

4.00–5.00 PM We will arrive at the recreation site for dinner.

Dinner menu: kugelis (potato pie), steaming soup, tea, coffee and apple pie.

7:00-8.00 PM Departure by bus to Kaunas. Planned return by 21.00 PM. 

The Faculty and the Erasmus Project Fund will cover the cost of the canoe rental, dinner and bus rental. 

Participants shall take care of personal drinks and snacks during the trip and the canoeing trip. 

The VU Kaunas faculty community is invited to welcome the beginning of the new academic year together!

10:00 AM–12:00 PM The beginning of the academic year event will be held at the Linden Courtyard of the VU Kaunas Faculty. During the event, the Dean will greet the faculty community, and students, lecturers and administration staff will be able to participate in a speed friending chat game, taste academic discussion cocktails, socialize and enjoy other entertainment. The event venue is Liepų Kiemelis, Muitinės Str. 12, Kaunas.

12:30 PM From Karaliaus Mindaugas Avenue, in front of Vytautas Church (Aleksoto Str. 3), we will take a bus to Vilnius to participate in the traditional Vilnius University community procession and the celebration of the start of the academic year.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

2:45 PM The ceremonial procession of the Vilnius University community along Gediminas Avenue will begin - from the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania to the Great Courtyard of Vilnius University.

3:00 – 4:30 PM Ceremony of the beginning of the academic year RENOVATIO STUDIORUM in the Grand Courtyard, where VU leaders and guests will greet the audience, the first-year students will take their oath, and the beginning of the new academic year will be officially announced.

5:15 PM Departure back to Kaunas from the parking lot at Cathedral Square. Return to Kaunas is planned for around 7 PM.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) sector is growing faster than its regulation can change. New legal acts are coming into force in the European Union, international organizations are publishing new guidelines, and financial technology companies and lawyers must quickly determine which regulatory requirements apply in a specific situation.

This problem is addressed in the project "Formation and validation of a Decentralized Finance Regulatory Knowledge Graph (DeReKG) for semantic matchmaking and analysis of regulatory requirements" by Gintarė Košubienė, a doctoral student at Vilnius University's Kaunas Faculty, which is funded by the Vilnius University Research Promotion Fund.

The research will create a regulatory knowledge graph - a structured network of legal knowledge that links regulatory concepts, obligations, and their relationships. The system will not only be able to answer the question of what MiCA requirements apply to a specific DeFi service, but also demonstrate what legal acts and their provisions the answer is based on.

"Every day, we see how much time and knowledge the analysis of DeFi regulations requires. We want to create a reliable solution that would not only allow us to find relevant legal requirements but also explain why the answer is correct and on what sources of law it is based. This is an important step towards more transparent and reliable RegTech solutions," says project manager G. Košubienė.

G. Košubienė is also the founder of Micapass, a startup developing DeFi regulatory compliance solutions. The rapidly changing regulations and their complex application in practice prompted the question of whether the latest artificial intelligence technologies could help make this process faster, more accurate, and more reliable.

An interdisciplinary team will implement the project. The research will be joined by young researchers from the Faculty of Law of VU, Akvilė Jurkaitytė, who also holds the position of Senior Lawyer of the Finance and Insurance Team of Sorainen, and Legal Assistant Erlandas Prakapavičius. PhD student Jonas Mindaugas Rimšelis will apply artificial intelligence solutions from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of VU.

The project team invites financial technology companies, regulatory compliance specialists, and legal experts to join the research. Their insights will be important for assessing the accuracy and applicability of the developed solution in real-world settings and for validating the research results. Such a partnership will help ensure that the research results are relevant not only to the academic community but also to business and regulatory practice.

Project budget: 17,934.7 EUR.

Project duration: 2026-09-01–2027-12-20.

Project number: MSF-JM-08/2026.