Apply Now: Free Online English Refresher Course for Students

Are you interested in studies abroad or intrigued by lectures taught in English? Transform4Europe invites students to improve their English skills at a free online course which will take place online from 24 July until 4 August.

The free, two-week compact English refresher course is designed for participants at the B1-B2 level. Through engaging lessons and interactive exercises, you’ll enhance your grammar, vocabulary, speaking, and writing skills. Earn 3 credits points while refreshing and advancing your English conveniently from anywhere. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity to achieve your language goals.

To sign up, send your name, English level, university name and student email address to transform4europe@uni-saarland.de by 10 July 2023.

11th International Scientific Conference “Rural Development 2023: Bioeconomy for The Green Deal”

We kindly invite You to the 11th International Scientific Conference “RURAL DEVELOPMENT 2023: Bioeconomy for the Green Deal”, which will take place in Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (Lithuania), 26-28 September, 2023.
This conference is aimed at providing interdisciplinary scientific discussion, presenting new ideas for rural development processes in the context of Bioeconomy, Climate Change, Innovations and Social Progress.

The main topics of Conference sessions:

Agro-innovations and Food Technologies;
Biosystems Engineering and Environmental Integrity;
Multifunctional Approach for Sustainable Use of Bio-Resources;
Social Research for Sustainable Bioeconomy and Climate Change.

Business and Science Forum “Connecting the Dots: A Roadmap for Lithuanian Bioeconomy Development” will be held during the Conference.

Conference keywords: Innovations, Integrity, Bio-resources, Well-being.

Important dates and deadlines:

Until September 15th, 2023 – registration  (extended)
Until September 26th, 2023 – article submission (extended)
Until September 10th, 2023 – payment of participation fee
January, 2024 – publishing of the Conference proceedings

Participation fee	In person (EUR)	Online (EUR)
Authors until August 27th	250	170
Authors after August 27th	300	220
PhD students	125	100
Non-authors	150	Free of charge

Participation fee in person covers not only the Conference proceedings, but also coffee breaks, lunches and gala dinner. The costs of accommodation, cultural (social) programme and transport should be covered by the participants of the Conference.

Speakers of the conference pay the participation fee after receiving information about the confirmation of the topic of the presentation.

Certificates of participants will be sent by e-mail after the conference.

More information about the Conference
Online Registration on the Conference website.
Information for authors.

New design, more user-friendly Conference website: https://www.ruraldevelopment.lt/
Conference e-mail: rural.development@vdu.lt

This Conference starts a cycle of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy.

VMU Agriculture Academy Graduation Ceremonies

On 16-23 June, Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) invites everyone to participate in festive graduation events.

On 21 June, a graduation ceremony will be held for the graduates of the VMU Agriculture Academy, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Bioeconomy Development, and Faculty of Agronomy.

FESTIVE HALL OF VMU AGRICULTURE ACADEMY | STUDENTŲ G. 11, AKADEMIJA, KAUNO RAJ.

10 a.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Forest Sciences and Ecology

12 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Engineering

2 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Bioeconomy Development

4 p.m. Graduation ceremony of the AA Faculty of Agronomy

The events will be photographed and/or filmed; therefore, please note that you might be featured in photos or videos which can be published in various media outlets.

Students Invited to Attend T4EU Entrepreneurship School

Would you like a challenge? Do you have ideas for interesting start-ups? Are you interested in entrepreneurship? If so, join the Transform4Europe Entrepreneurship Week on 11-15 September in Katowice (Poland). Students are invited to register online until 20 June.

During the week, the students will solve various challenges in order to improve their entrepreneurial skills. The program includes various activities involving teamwork, presentations of prototypes created for solving of challenges, lectures on robots in medicine and employer branding, a tour of Katowice etc.

Five students from each partner of the T4EU alliance will be selected.

Program of Entrepreneurship Week

Registration

The international networking activity of EIP operational groups 2023

Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy organizes „The international networking activity of EIP operational groups 2023“ which will take place on September 27-28, 2023. This event is being organized for the second year in a row, and this year it will be an international event, in which EIP operational groups will participate not only from Lithuania, but also from other advanced foreign countries. During the event, it is aimed to encourage the continuity of the projects of the EIP operational groups, innovations, international partnerships, and integration into new European thematic networks.

The main objectives of the „The international networking activity of EIP operational groups“:

to bring together national and international EIP operational groups and invite them to share good project implementation experiences;
to discuss the priority directions of research and the need for agricultural innovations;
to agree on new project initiatives based on partnership.

The event is free and open to all (new and completed) EIP operational groups and all interested parties. The event will be held in English.

We invite you to register for the event by filling out the REGISTRATION FORM.

The event program is coming soon.

Place: VMU Agriculture Academy

More information: zivile.cerniauskiene@vdu.lt

Organizers: Social Partnership Department of the Business and Social Partnership Center of VMU AA in cooperation with the Cluster of Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System.

The conference “Fair of contacts and experiences of EIP activity groups 2023” is carried out by the Rural Network project “Implementation of communication tools for greater public involvement and dissemination of information about KPP” NR. PLKT-PV-23-1-00862- PR001. The tool is financed by the Lithuanian Rural Development 2014-2020 program tool “Technical assistance” activity area “Lithuanian village network”. The project is supported by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the budget of the Republic of Lithuania.

Erasmus+ visit at University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn

Lecturer Otilija Miseckaitė form the Faculty of Engineering, Department of Water Resources at Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) visited University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland on 29 May – 02 June 2023 as part of the Erasmus+ teaching programme.

The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was founded on 1st September 1999. The establishment resulted from merging three institutions of higher education in Olsztyn, i.e. the Academy of Agriculture and Technology, the Higher School of Pedagogy, and Warmian Theological Institute. The University offers various studies in the fields of Agriculture, Engineering, Biotechnology, Economic, Management, Technology, Art and other sciences.

Lecturer Otilija Miseckaitė gave lectures and presented VMU and VMU Agriculture Academy, study programs and mobility of Erasmus+ possibilities in VMU AA. Lecturer also participated in Central European Civil Engineering Meeting 2023 (CECEM 2023). CECEM 2023 was as a great opportunity to share knowledge and experience in the field of engineering. The programme included round table discussions, presentations, problem solving cases, lab visits, workshops and social events. The participants also had the opportunity to visit the Wolf‘s Lair and Masurian Canal.

Apply now: Erasmus+ Traineeship Competition. Turn the adventure into an experience

A competition is open for Erasmus+ student traineeship grants. Application deadline is the 30th of June, 2023.

The placement period is from 2 to 6 months.

Selection

All VMU fulltime degree students who have not used more than 10 months of their Erasmus mobility (study / traineeship) period are eligible for the Erasmus grant.

Selection documents

For student traineeship (traineeship during student’s year of studies)

Filled-in application form „Outgoing-Application for Erasmus Student Traineeship (EU countries)“
Confirmation by the company or organization (obligatory).

The priority in the selection is given to

students whom traineeship is an obligatory part of their study programme;
students who have never been Erasmus traineeship students before.

Selection criteria

student’s motivation;
good knowledge of the language which will be used during the traineeship;
student’s work, study, traineeship, participation in the international / academic projects, social activities experience in Lithuania and abroad;
conformability between the chosen traineeship and student’s study programme;
study results (first year MA students should attach transcript of records of their BA/MA degree to the application form).

The competition results will be sent to every participant via e-mail.

Competitions for Erasmus+ traineeships will take place each month.

More information

Interactive Webinar “Why worth you choose MBA programme “Customs Process Management” for your career?”

Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy (VMU AA) starts new MBA study programme Customs Process Management.

Join special webinar and find out why this programme could be a choice for you and listen to the presentation “Customs Process Management”.

Date: 13 June 2023

Time: 4 p.m. (EEST)

Place: online, via MS Teams

Registration is required.

Internship in Portugal

The teachers of the Faculty of Bioeconomy Development Assoc. Dr. Erika Besusparienė, Assoc. Dr. Anastasija Novikova and the teacher of the Faculty of Agronomy Assoc. Dr. Judita Černiauskienė in 2023 May 15-19 participated in the courses at the Polytechnic University of Santarem, Portugal. The University offers various studies in the fields of agriculture, sports, management, technology and health sciences. The 12th international week on the topic “The impact of artificial intelligence on higher education” was organized at this university.

During the training, the teachers deepened their knowledge about the application possibilities of artificial intelligence technologies in education, teaching-learning processes, social sciences and the ethical challenges arising from the application of artificial intelligence technologies. The main topics covered the projects on practical application of artificial intelligence technologies, a lot of attention was paid to created ChatGPT model, its concept and practical application.

The participants of the course also had the opportunity to visit the Quita da Lagoalva farm, whose traditions and history continue since 1834. The Quita da Lagoalva farm stands out for its sustainable farming practices, technological processes for the production of olive oil and wine (tradition certified in 1888), and agro-tourism.

In the training, the teachers also had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the Portuguese language and learn basic communication phrases.

The training participants also got to know the history of the city of Santarem and visited the municipality of Santarem.

The creators and teachers of the new MBA study program “Customs Process Management” at an international conference

On May 25-26, 2023, the creators of the new MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” (Enrika Naujokė, Monika Bielskienė, Milda Stravinskė, assoc. prof. Dr. Erika Besusparienė) and teachers (prof. dr. Vesa Niskanen, lect. Kristina Gesevičienė, Lect. .Anthony Buckley) participated in the 8th European Customs Practitioners‘ Conference, which took place in Vilnius. This year’s conference was attended by representatives of business and higher institutions from Lithuania and other countries – Germany, Greece, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria, Israel, etc.

In the 8th European Customs Practitioners‘ Conference were discussed various topics related to trade preferences and agreements, supply chain challenges 24/7, legal maneuvers, customs IT systems and automation. A lot of attention was paid to customs in the context of sustainability, here the committee chairperson of the MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” assoc. prof. dr. Erika Besusparienė, together with Monika Bielskiene, who contributed to the creation of the MBA study program, moderated the session “Green cross-border trade – what should importers and exporters think of and prepare for?”. In this session, Arne Mielken (United Kingdom) provided insights in his presentation that processes are already underway and international trade is moving towards sustainability along with the European Green Deal. He thus provided various insights on the fight against goods that affect the environment through multilateral environmental agreements, the dissemination of experience, and building the status of a reliable trader – Green AEO. In this part, Anna Gayk (Germany) presented the EU platform Access2Markets, which allows you to get various information about third countries (tariffs, taxes, trade barriers, etc.). Meanwhile, Dr. Christian Struck (Germany) shared good practice in the case of Wacker Chemie AG, which implements sustainable production processes in the chemical and semiconductor industries, calculates and analyzes its carbon footprint, and currently implements technologies and aims to reduce CO2 emissions, and prepare for the introduced carbon border adjustment mechanism.

The afternoon of the second day was devoted to a workshop on the topic “Increasing competencies in the field of customs”. This workshop was organized by the Customs Knowledge Institute (CKI) community and its chair of CKI management council Kevin Shakespeare (United Kingdom). VDU is also a member of CKI. In an interactive workshop, the chair of CKI management council and the lecturer of the MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” Anthony Buckley presented insights on the structure of knowledge (promotion of training, sharing of knowledge, building of knowledge, updating of knowledge, awards for sharing of knowledge) and invited the conference participants to express their point of view on this issue. The committee chairperson of the MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” assoc. prof. dr. Erika Besusparienė presented the problematic situation to the conference participants – different persons work in the customs field (import/export managers; financial specialists); The EU customs competence framework includes many different competences; The EU Customs Vision 2040 foresees many new changes; in 2030 many jobs will increasingly use technology, and workers will need to maintain creativity. Conference participants identified the main challenges related to new regulations and changes in IT systems; identified key competencies to know customs and trade regulations, and to have interdisciplinary knowledge (customs+taxes+supply chains); and benefits such as an expanded professional network, new career prospects and higher compensation.

The 8th European Customs Practitioners‘ Conference was useful not only in raising the qualifications of teachers, but also once again confirmed the relevance and compliance of the newly created MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” with market needs.

MBA study program creators Enrika Naujokė, Milda Stravinskė, Monika Bielskienė

MBA study program teachers and creators (Vesa Niskanen, Kristina Gesevičienė, Erika Besusparienė, Enrika Naujokė)

Session “Green cross-border trade – what should importers and exporters think of and prepare for?” (Arne Mielken, Christian Struck, Erika Besusparienė)

Presentation of the MBA study programme “Customs Process Management” in the session “Let’s make connections!”

Closing moment of the conference