ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ

Dear Colleagues, Students, and Members of the ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ Community,

We are concluding the 446th year of the University. The year 2025 has been special in that we have completed a five-year strategy while, at the same time, preparing a new one for the period up to 2030. Reflecting on the past five years, we see that we have gained more experience, self-confidence, and trust in one another. We recognise our strengths and know where we still need to improve. We are ready to enter a new stage and to consolidate our position among Europe’s advanced universities.

We perceive our strategy not as a formal document, but as a broad community consensus on what is important and meaningful. The strategy, or perhaps even more so the discussions surrounding it, reveals how we ourselves view the development of our institution and what we wish to communicate to our societal stakeholders. Our overarching strategic ambition is to be a university that is well established in the global research and study space, one that brings people together at the national level, and that is attractive to staff and students alike. This ambition will be further realised through Centres of Excellence, the development of a science and business ecosystem, and the continued strengthening of personalised study experiences and mentoring. We are open to welcoming new people – academic leaders and young talents – while also being ready to offer new opportunities to the entire community (career paths, sabbatical leave, teaching workload arrangements). Finally, drawing on our experience of contributing to the State Progress Strategy ‘Lithuania 2050’, we seek to offer the State and society our expert ideas and solutions more actively and in a more structured way at the level of a university-based think tank. I am convinced that this is something the State and society especially need right now.

One of this year’s most notable achievements was the European Commission’s decision to allocate funding to the LitAI Artificial Intelligence Factory in Lithuania; ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ is the coordinator of this EUR 130 million project. It is expected that this initiative will develop into a national centre of competence and technology, bringing together advanced computing infrastructure, access to data, research activities, and highly qualified specialists, as well as their training.

The Horizon Europe project portfolio continues to grow significantly: funding has been approved for 71 projects in which ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ participates as a coordinator or partner, with a total value exceeding EUR 22 million. As many as 12 individual MSCA postdoctoral fellowship projects have been awarded. The ranks of researchers awarded ERC grants were expanded by Prof. UrtÄ— NeniÅ¡kytÄ—.

Among the new international competence centres being established in Lithuania are two ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ centres: the Center for Advanced Disease Modeling (CADM) (together with VU Hospital Santaros Klinikos and Utrecht University) and the Centre of Competence for Terahertz and Hybrid Semiconductor Chips, uniting ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ, the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology, and Eindhoven University of Technology.

This year also saw the launch of a new type of funding call: ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ received financing for the selection of as many as 26 early-career principal investigators under the ‘My First Research Team’ scheme. These young leaders will have the opportunity to establish their first independent research groups for a three-year period.

In 2025, ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ researchers published five papers in Nature, 42 papers in other Nature-group journals, and 16 international monographs, while a paper by Prof. Linas Mažutis has just been published in Science.

Out of seven Lithuanian Science Prizes, four were awarded to ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ researchers, and Prof. Marija DrÄ—maitÄ— became a laureate of the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts for the dissemination of ideas of modern architecture. The doctoral dissertations of three young ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ researchers were also recognised as the best in the country.

Mindaugas Å arpis’ publication was included among the most significant experimental achievements in the 2024 annual review of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). Meanwhile, ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ researcher Rimantas BudriÅ«nas was named in the Electro Optics magazine’s annual Photonics100 list, which highlights the 100 most influential individuals shaping the development of photonics.

ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ astronomers, together with colleagues from Poland and other countries, identified an exoplanet – a gas giant located further from the centre of the Galaxy. This is only the third such discovery worldwide since observations first began.

At the new medical science centre, we opened the Biobank of Lithuanian Population and Rare Disorders.

This year, the University’s study programme portfolio was expanded with three new international Bachelor’s programmes. Kaunas Faculty developed the programme Language and Artificial Intelligence Management, focusing on issues related to the application of modern language technologies, while the Faculty of Philosophy launched Sustainability and Future Societies, creating a space for students interested in exploring trends in the future development of society. The joint programme Innovative Communication and Entrepreneurship, offered by the Faculty of Communication and the Business School, combines communication studies with a business mindset.

Over the course of the year, nearly 15 per cent of the teaching staff participated in educational competence development training. The desire to improve their teaching and to engage students in active learning is also clearly reflected in the number of teaching initiatives, but what is most encouraging is that the students themselves recognise and appreciate these efforts.

The lecturer competence development and recognition system created at the University over several years is now regarded as the most advanced in the country and capable of providing best-practice examples for other higher education institutions.

From a community and organisational perspective, this year marked a new milestone: the number of our employees exceeded 6,000. We are truly a large organisation and, we hope, an increasingly good employer. This growth was partly driven by a new practice of employing students in various University activities through the establishment of dedicated positions.

At the end of September, the ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ Alumni Festival took place for the second time, becoming a meaningful tradition that unites the University community.

The YIVO conference, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the world-renowned Institute for Jewish Research, connected ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ with the academic centre in New York.

The University was visited by Sorbonne University President Nathalie Drach-Temam and Nobel Prize laureates Victor Ambros and Richard John Roberts. During a visit to CERN, we also expressed our aspiration to become a full member of this organisation.

This year, for the first time, we organised a special event for school pupils, the ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ Super Lecture. It brought together hundreds of motivated pupils in person and reached an even wider audience through an LRT broadcast.

Over the year, we awarded more than 1,000 partner scholarships to students for their academic excellence, final theses, participation in scientific conferences, as well as ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ’s 450th Anniversary Scholarships, which have already become a symbol of our community’s academic and social mission.

In recent years, we have significantly strengthened cooperation with Lithuania’s major media outlets. The SPECTRUM magazine became accessible to the wide readership of Delfi, while the podcast Science Without Sermons secured leading positions on LRT platforms.

We are observing new qualitative results in international science communication. Over the past year, ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ’s research and achievements were mentioned more than 500 times in foreign media outlets, and consistent efforts are leading to growing visibility and reputation of the University internationally. We have also experienced unexpected resonance, such as a short diploma-award video by an international student on TikTok that garnered millions of views and reactions worldwide.

In the field of infrastructure, the construction of the new building for the Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences has begun. An international architectural design contest was held to select a winner for the redevelopment of the SaulÄ—tekio al. 9 complex and the construction of the new Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics. The environments of all academic campuses are being intensively upgraded, improving conditions for work, study, and leisure.

An exceptional event in the history of the ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ Foundation was Swedbank’s EUR 10 million grant to ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ, demonstrating faith in the importance of research and studies and trust in ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ.

At present, the State and society are going through a challenging period, perhaps the first such period in Lithuania’s recent history, especially following the successful years of membership in the European Union and NATO. In the face of geopolitical challenges and internal turmoil, we expect and urge politicians to focus on what is essential: the country’s future strategy, security, and resilience. We risk sacrificing decades of cultivated security, public trust, and the reputation of a politically stable and economically dynamic country on the altar of short-term political interests.

Now is the time to identify and commit to themes that unite us and provide new direction: the vitality of the concept of the nation state, the integrity of the European Union, and the sustainability of NATO. To define key goals and principles of action, a responsible dialogue between politicians and active societal groups concerned with the country’s progress is essential. The University is ready to be part of this process. Within our areas of competence, we can bring people together, moderate discussions, analyse issues, and offer proposals. The University can and must set an example of collective action, wise listening, and broad consensus. I encourage all members of the community to find the time and energy to share their ideas, knowledge, and expertise so that our country may be brighter.

But for now, we are simply awaiting the return of a brighter season of the year. I wish you beautiful holidays, a hopeful New Year, and every success in 2026!

Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas

ÌÇÐÄvlogÃÛÌÒ Rector