VMU: an international research university
8 priority areas of research and arts
VMU conducts research in the humanities, social, natural, technological, and agricultural sciences, as well as the arts.
3 Horizon Europe projects
VMU coordinates three Horizon Europe programme projects related to smart forestry, the ethics of communication technologies, and migration issues.
VMU participates in the CLARIN-LT Research Infrastructure Network, which provides a wide range of digital language resources and technologies for researchers, teachers, and students in the social sciences and humanities. CLARIN-LT activities include conducting applied and interdisciplinary research, promoting international mobility of researchers, providing information about the language data and tools stored in CLARIN repositories, organising high-level national and international scientific events, offering advice to researchers, and collecting Lithuanian language resources and language research tools.
VMU researchers also participate in the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI), an innovation network established by the European Commission. Its goal is to promote innovation in agriculture and forestry and to bridge the gap between research and practice. EIP-AGRI was created as a new approach to help the agriculture and forestry sectors become more productive, sustainable, and capable of addressing current challenges such as increased competition, volatile market prices, climate change, and stricter environmental regulations. Within this network, VMU is implementing a project funded by the European Commission.
VMU’s participation in the European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ESS ERIC) has also contributed to the development of partnerships through the implementation of the project “Implementation of the Lithuanian Membership Plan in the European Social Survey European Research Infrastructure Consortium” (No. VS-3).
VMU researchers also serve as experts in Horizon Europe committees.
Researchers from VMU Agriculture Academy participate in the activities of the international research infrastructure – Infrastructure for Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems (AnaEE).
Past livestreams of conferences
VMU organizes annual conferences on topics relevant to the public
Human rights
The National Forum on Human Rights (NFHR) is an annual event hosted by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and co-organized by Vytautas Magnus University. The forum unites various groups of society, provides a platform for diverse voices, and seeks to ensure better quality of life for all residents of Lithuania, regardless of their nationality, race, faith, gender, social status, or views.
As part of the implementation of its Disability Policy of the University of Inclusive Opportunities, VMU organizes the annual Disability Forum: Inclusive Higher Education. Participants include Lithuanian and international higher education experts experienced in creating reasonable accommodations and increasing the accessibility of higher education for persons with various disabilities or individual needs.
VMU is also one of the organizers of the International Academic Romas Sakadolskis Forum of Journalism. This annual forum brings together Lithuanian and international journalism professionals and the academic community to discuss key issues in journalism. In order to draw attention to the genres of journalism and the quality of a journalist’s work and mindset, the event also includes awards for exceptional factual, opinion, entertainment, investigative, and cultural journalism.
VMU Andrei Sakharov Research Center for Democratic Development organizes annual Sakharov conferences. Named after the prominent physicist, humanist, and Nobel Prize laureate, these conferences are held every year on May 21st, Sakharov’s birthday. Each event addresses the most topical human rights issues. In 2025, participants discussed various aspects of the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Education
VMU Education Academy and the Lithuanian Association of Distance and e-Learning (LieDM) organised the conference “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Education”.
Each year, VMU organizes the student conference “Freedom to Create”, during which VMU students and schoolchildren from VMU partner gymnasiums give presentations and introduce projects on a variety of topics. The 2025 conference was dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis.
The Institute of Foreign Languages holds the annual international scientific conference “Sustainable Multilingualism”. The event brings together around 150 multilingualism researchers, scholars, and students from all over the world.
Ecology and sustainability
VMU Agriculture Academy organizes the annual Future of Regions Forum. Focusing on the advancement of regional development, the forum unites researchers, businesses, municipal representatives, communities and NGOs – their cooperation helps the regions strive for competitiveness, vitality, and innovative solutions and applications. In 2025, the forum’s theme was the four dimensions of competitiveness that cover various aspects of organizations and their economic, environmental, and social impact.
VMU hosted a biennial conference dedicated to research on the Baltic region conducted across Europe. It brings together hundreds of academics from all over the world who explore a wide range of issues affecting this part of the continent. In 2023, international conference “Turning Points: Values and Conflicting Futures in the Baltics” was held at VMU.
VMU Agriculture Academy organizes the international scientific conference “Rural Development”. The topic chosen for the event in 2025 is Resilience to Global Change. The conference aims to encourage interdisciplinary scientific discussions and introduce new ideas in agricultural and rural development as well as their resilience in the context of global challenges.
In cooperation with the association LithuaniaBIO, the cluster AgriFood Lithuania DIH and other partners, VMU organised the Lithuanian Bioeconomy Innovation and Business Development Forum. The patron of the Forum was Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.