Year of foundation: 1922
Approx. number of students: 8,800
Period of study: End August-Mid December; Early February-Mid june
MCI partner since: 2016
The City
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the centre of a county in Trakai Municipality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. In the Russian Empire it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915. It became the only temporary capital city in Europe during the interwar period. Now it is the capital of Kaunas County, the seat of the Kaunas city municipality and the Kaunas District Municipality. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kaunas. Kaunas is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, the largest body of water entirely in Lithuania. Kaunas has approx. 300,000 inhabitants.
The University
Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) was known as the University of Lithuania, but in 1930 the university was renamed to Vytautas Magnus University, commemorating 500 years of death of Vytautas the Great, the Lithuanian ruler, well known for the nation's greatest historical expansion in the 15th century. It is one of the leading universities of Lithuania, has now about 8,800 students, including Master and Ph.D. candidates. There are a little more than 1000 employees, including approximately 90 professors. 