Strategic partnerships
Vytautas Magnus University is a good friend and strategic partner of the unbreakable Mariupol University. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, the academic community of Vytautas Magnus University supports heroic Mariupol residents: they are involved in fundraising campaigns, offer joint scientific research, provide opportunities for teachers and graduate students of MSU to undergo educational and scientific internships, participate in international conferences.
At the initiative of Vytautas Magnus University, Mariupol University became part of the alliance of European universities Transform4Europe.
A significant result of fruitful cooperation was the opening of the Mariupol University Center at Vytautas Magnus University where anyone can feel part of an unbreakable family.
The creation of the MSU Center in Lithuania aims to:
• strengthen educational, scientific, and cultural ties between the two universities;
• support the exchange of teachers, researchers, and administrative staff who can contribute to educational and cultural programs developed by both institutions;
• exchange of knowledge; encouragement and facilitation of student exchange through the Erasmus+ program;
• hold joint events, lectures, seminars, conferences, Lithuanian-Ukrainian studies;
• popularize educational programs and research perspectives of Mariupol State University among Ukrainian youth in Lithuania;
• strengthen cooperation between Ukrainian aid centers, especially the Ukraine Center at Vytautas Magnus University, for the gradual integration of Ukrainians into the Lithuanian community and educational environment;
• increase the representation of the academic community of MSU by participating in the activities and initiatives of the Transform4Europe Alliance.
Vytautas Magnus University website
As a part of the Twinning project initiated by Cormack Consultancy Group with the support of the Government of Great Britain, Mariupol State University successfully cooperates with the University of Hull. The long-term partnership is regulated by the Memorandum of Understanding signed in June 2022 between the two higher education institutions, according to which partner universities have developed a range of academic cooperation measures, including participation in academic mobility programs, joint grant projects, workshops, trainings, conferences, seminars, summer language schools, forums, and other forms of scientific and educational activities, implementation of double degrees, access to library resources, etc.
The practical dimension of such cooperation is evidenced by:
• technical support from the University of Hull (technical equipment worth 46,404 euros was provided - computers, monitors, contact cables, projectors);
• charitable funds to support the material and technical base of MSU (charitable funds in the amount of 14,925 euros were transferred);
• organization of English language courses for teachers and students using the Rosetta Stone online application (265 people were registered, including 148 bachelors, 51 masters, 2 postgraduates, and 64 teachers);
• joint events as part of the implementation of the educational and research project "Research and Development."
The project aims to bring together scientists from the two universities to discuss research initiatives and further steps to support the Ukrainian academic community. A series of online meetings were held to work in focus groups on the following areas:
• discussion of research areas that are of mutual interest to all participants;
• expansion of the capacity of the MSU library (providing access to library resources from the University of Hull);
• organization of English language courses for MSU academic staff;
• holding English language seminars for teachers and postgraduates on the topic they have chosen;
• conducting summer courses to improve English language competence for teachers taking into account their language proficiency level.
A scanner was purchased for the needs of the MSU library with grant funds.
On July 5, 2023, a seminar on scientific research and prospects for further cooperation between the academic communities of the two universities was held in Budapest.
In August 2-4, British colleagues held two practical webinars for MSU scientists on research technologies.