Speech by Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas, Rector of Vilnius University, Marking the Start of the Academic Year

Dear colleagues, dear members of the Vilnius University community,

We welcome the new academic year by reconvening and re-uniting as a community to do many meaningful things.

We are now living in a significant period of transformation, both geopolitically and in terms of science and cognition (globalisation and demographics, digital transformation and artificial intelligence, etc.). Universities will inevitably have to adapt to a changing environment, but at the same time, they will also dictate change themselves.

In the face of the crisis of trust in institutions, universities will survive and grow stronger if they are centres of excellence, critical thinking and democracy, where subject knowledge grows into interdisciplinary projects, where individual studies find a place in the vastness of university, and where the digitalisation of studies and the use of artificial intelligence do not contradict, but rather expand, the university’s intrinsic idea of being a place for a community of faculty and students.

As exceptional organisations, strong universities go beyond their research or study objectives. They also play a role in important national and societal processes and are indirectly involved in politics.

At this year’s session of the University’s leaders, we discussed internationalisation (which is not a goal per se, but a tool to increase the quality, reputation, and visibility of research and studies), staff competencies and qualifications (how to enable and encourage the updating of knowledge), and our leadership in society and the State (how to balance public expectations with our interest and potential, to be more aware of our impact, and to be stronger in communicating it).

We are starting the new academic year with a conference in Paris, where we will open the Lithuanian Season in France 2024 together with Sorbonne University; from the very beginning of September, we will host a number of international conferences and discussions at our University; the Faculty of Medicine Science Centre is set to open its doors soon; we are going to celebrate the anniversaries of the Faculty of Philosophy and Kaunas Faculty; on 28 September, we will host the Vilnius University Alumni Festival; a ceremony to honour the new Honorary Doctors of our University will take place on 10 October – and these are only a few of the events that will be taking place in the first weeks of the semester.

My sincere wishes to everyone for a smooth start to the semester and an exciting academic year.