Vilnius University Attracts the Highest Number of PhD Students in Recent Years

Vilnius University PhD students

This academic year, as many as 185 new PhD students joined Vilnius University (VU). Out of 29 fields of doctoral studies conducted at VU, the most popular were the fields of Medicine (36 students enrolled), Biochemistry (18 students), Biology (12 students), and Social Sciences (11 PhD students in Law).

Prof. Edita Sužiedėlienė, Pro-Rector for Research at VU, welcomes the growing number of PhD students and underlines the increasing significance of science: “In such a rapidly evolving and challenging world, the importance of science has become greater than ever. The rise in doctoral enrolments at our university, first of all, reflects the research- and knowledge-oriented attitude of today’s students. Moreover, it is also a testament to VU as a research and study institution. We are delighted to welcome this new group of intellectually curious students who, we hope, will become excellent researchers or contribute their skills and knowledge to creating and developing high value-added businesses.”

Prof. Dalius Jatužis, Dean of the VU Faculty of Medicine, describes such a high number of PhD students as very positive and encouraging news, especially considering that the Faculty of Medicine is preparing for the opening of the new Medicine Science Centre next year. “The Science Centre will provide excellent opportunities for young researchers to grow, advance, and mature in their fields. At the same time, we see it as a kind of reassurance that, in a few years, we will have a wide pool of young researchers. According to statistics, doctoral students at the VU Faculty of Medicine very rarely tend to drop out of their studies. Therefore, I have good reason to believe that in four to five years, we will have a large number of PhD candidates, which will be a pleasant challenge for the faculty community. However, for the specialists at the Doctoral School of Medicine and Health Sciences, this wave of doctoral enrolments is not only motivating but will also lead to hard work in coordinating almost twice as many plans, documentation, and people. I sincerely wish strength to Prof. Janina Tutkuvienė, Head of the VU Doctoral School, as she is now facing a heavy workload, but at the same time, it is a truly positive challenge,” says Prof. D. Jatužis.

“Each PhD student contributes to developing legal science and unravelling modern legal challenges. The aspiration of young people to pursue this path ensures that there will be no lack of legal specialists who will continue to share their knowledge and move this science forward,” says Assoc. Prof. Haroldas Šinkūnas, Dean of the VU Faculty of Law.

This year, VU doctoral programmes were chosen by graduates of both VU and other Lithuanian universities, as well as higher education institutions from 12 foreign countries. Almost a third of all enrolled Master’s degree graduates have acquired cum laude and magna cum laude diplomas for their studies and research activities.

Among this year’s PhD students, 150 were enrolled in state-funded studies, four in non-state-funded studies, while 31 were granted competitive funding by the Research Council of Lithuania, including ten doctoral students whose studies will be conducted in partnership with business companies and institutions.

Currently, doctoral studies at VU are organised together with such companies as UAB “Šviesos Konversija”, UAB “Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics”, UAB “ProDentum”, UAB “Smart Continent LT”, UAB “Imunodiagnostika”, and UAB “Experimentica”. Two VU PhD students have already completed their studies that were conducted in cooperation with UAB “Femtika” and UAB “CasZyme”.