Student Initiatives
Vilnius University Young Energy Professionals Club
Leader – Justas Norkus
The Vilnius University Young Energy Professionals Club (VU JEK) is an organization that brings together young people interested in the economic, political, and technical aspects of various types of energy.
In 2025, the Young Energy Professionals Club visited schools to organize quizzes, took care of the Energy Museum and its exhibits, shared their activities at as many as six freshman camps, visited Elektrėnai, won an astro hackathon, and participated in various energy-themed conferences (such as the “Baltic Energy Forum”), and club members were invited to the opening of the Independence Exhibition at the Presidential Palace.
START FM
Director – Loranas Vaitkus
VU Radio START FM – a radio station run by the VU SR and Vilnius University – began broadcasting in 2005 and can be heard on 94.2 MHz FM in Vilnius and online worldwide. The only student radio station in Lithuania offers students extensive opportunities for self-expression: it helps train future journalists, programmers, and specialists in other fields. START FM also actively promotes the work of alternative Lithuanian and foreign artists and music groups, conducts interviews with musicians, and supports various artistic and social initiatives. The radio program is intended for members of the academic community at universities and schools in Vilnius and across Lithuania, young people, and all residents of the country with an interest in music. START FM’s core values are fostering creativity, community spirit, and an alternative approach to music and art.
The programs broadcast on START FM are initiated and produced by members of the community—students, alumni, and faculty from Vilnius University and other Lithuanian institutions of higher education—and reflect current issues in the academic community and the lives of young people. The station’s social significance is reinforced by the fact that START FM always strives to support the creators of social initiatives by providing them with the opportunity to inform the public about their activities and campaigns.
During the reporting period, cultural, educational, and informational programs were produced and broadcast, and opportunities were provided for Vilnius University journalism students to gain practical knowledge and skills. During this period, a large number of socially active guests appeared on the programs.
Kendo Club
Leader – Vytenis Almonaitis
The Vilnius University Kendo Club is a Japanese fencing studio operated by VU SR since 2008, designed for both beginners and those looking to improve their existing skills.
Although the club primarily aims to popularize the sport of kendo and promote an active lifestyle, these are not its only goals. The Kendo Club also aims to bring together students interested in Japanese martial arts and to promote the name of Vilnius University in Lithuania and around the world by participating in competitions and other events.
VU Kendo Club practices are held three times a week.
VU Career Days
Leader – Ugnė Mazaliauskaitė
Vilnius University Career Days is one of the most important and highly anticipated events organized by the VU SR, aimed at helping students enter the job market and discover endless opportunities.
This annual event, which has become a tradition, is the only gathering of its kind in Lithuania organized by the student representation itself. Students from all faculties are invited to participate in various lectures and seminars, as well as speed job interviews, after which participants may leave with a real job offer. The event also features a job fair, which has become the centerpiece of Career Days, where companies present themselves and seek to attract promising new employees or interns.
VU Debate Club
Leader – Paulina Šalkauskaitė
The VU Debate Club is a club that brings together people from various faculties at Vilnius University. We offer participants a platform to practice and improve their skills in the British parliamentary academic debate style and learn about useful methods for developing skills such as public speaking, persuasive argumentation, and more.
“Be etikečių” Program
Leader – Enrika Gurevičiūtė
“Be etikečių” is a program run by VU SR since 2010, actively working to reduce social exclusion and promote human rights.
This year, “Be etikečių” participated in Baltic Pride, as well as in a discussion at Pride House: “From Pride House to Pride Home” (about LGBTQ+ communities in Lithuania). At the Sapfo Festival, they led a “non-dysphoric photo workshop,” which focused on teaching participants how to take photos of themselves if they experience dysphoria or simply don’t like how they look. They also organized three “Culture for All” events: 1) “The City Is a Game,” 2) “Emotional Baggage,” 3) “Duokim Drag’o”
Participated in three freshman camps and the “Ad Astra” integration festival, presenting the program to students.
Vilnius University Student Investment Fund
Leader – Guoda Giniotytė
The largest educational investment fund in the Baltic States. We provide our members with comprehensive knowledge of investing and financial management and create opportunities for them to apply this knowledge in practice by managing a real investment portfolio.
Our main goals are to introduce young people studying at Lithuanian universities to investment opportunities and to provide them with the means to develop their skills in this field.
ESN Vilnius University
President – Miglė Kučinskaitė
ESN Vilnius University is a program of the VU SR that promotes student mobility and helps incoming international students integrate into the university and the local community.
The main goal of ESN Vilnius University is to sustainably integrate incoming students into the local community, showcase Lithuanian culture and traditions, and help students feel like they are part of the university.
This year, ESN Vilnius University organized over 130 events for local and exchange students. Our activities ranged from caring for the environment—kayaking and beach cleanups—to exploring other cultures and minorities—Pierogi & Pride, an event dedicated to learning about Polish culture, food, and traditions, as well as workshops on the psychology of killers—CSI: ESN edition. The latter two events were even recognized as some of the best initiatives across the entire international ESN network.
In addition to local events, ESN Vilnius University collaborated extensively with other ESN organizations in Lithuania and ESN Lithuania, organizing and participating in national and international events and conferences. This year, we organized one of the most important events on an international ESN scale—the Community Meetings—during which leaders and board members from other ESN organizations came to Lithuania for a 4-day training session. We also participated in the largest student conference in Europe—the Erasmus Generation Meeting—as well as the Northern Platform Meeting—a gathering of the Nordic countries—thus representing our organization and university.
VU Legal Clinic
Leader – Airina Mikulėnaitė
The public institution “Vilnius University Legal Clinic” (VU LC), established by VU SR and its partners, is a free legal aid project unique in Lithuania that provides senior law students with real-world professional practice opportunities while offering free legal assistance to the public.
The vision of VU LC is to be a place of practice for the very best law students, providing them with diverse and in-depth practical knowledge gained by providing legal assistance to young business projects, socially vulnerable individuals, and non-governmental organizations.
The COINS Conference
Leader – Domas Sakalauskas
“The COINS” is Europe’s largest international life sciences conference organized exclusively for undergraduate and graduate students. The conference has been held since 2004, and over the past eight years, as many as eight Nobel Prize laureates have participated in it.
Young Journalists’ Association
President – Raminta Kučinskytė
The Vilnius University Young Journalists’ Society (VU YJS) is an initiative that brings together high school and university students, aiming to unite young people from all over Lithuania with diverse journalistic interests and enable them to realize their creative potential in practice.
HEMA Martial Arts Club
Leader - Gintarė Vaičekauskytė
A Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) club where members train with long swords, and the techniques learned can later be applied in tournaments organized by the club. This club gives students the opportunity to travel back in time and engage in a real medieval duel.
Sustainability Ambassadors Network
Leader – Toma Vilkaitė
The mission of the Sustainability Ambassadors Network (SAN): to create a space for anyone interested in sustainability, to educate the public, and to make recommendations to Vilnius University.
SAN’s vision: The Vilnius University community applies sustainability principles in the academic process, administrative activities, and daily life.
We want to learn together about a more sustainable way of life and apply its principles in our daily lives.
How do we do this?
SAN organizes various workshops, lectures, and discussions, quizzes, presentations, volunteer events, and whatever else we come up with. SAN also organizes the Sustainability Festival, which is becoming a tradition, during which we invite participants to learn about sustainability through interactive activities.
VU SR Program “Students for Schoolchildren, Schoolchildren for Students”
Leader – Greta Tamkevičiūtė
“Students to High Schoolers, High Schoolers to Students” (SMMS) is a three-day camp organized by VU SR for high school students in their final years who want to get a closer look at student life and study opportunities.
Writers' Club
Leader – Ugnė Gudaitytė
During the fall and spring semesters of 2025–2026, the VU Writers’ Club continued to bring together writers and those interested in writing or literature. Our goal remained to create a friendly environment for everyone who joined and to help one another improve their writing skills. We continued our usual activities, such as reading our own work to others, as well as lectures and discussions on the structure of various works. We organized two lectures on the writer Thomas Bernhard and poets of the diaspora. This year, new members joined us, who easily integrated into the club’s activities and brought us new ideas. Friends of our members who are also students, as well as international students, are happy to join us.
This year, we tried out new activities—we organized an evening of reading old, somewhat embarrassing works, during which we had a great time and laughed heartily. We also challenged ourselves several times to create something on a single, shared theme. We were invited to participate in an Erasmus+ student poetry slam evening. We visited an exhibition at the V. Mykolaitis-Putinas Apartment-Museum featuring the drafts and edited versions of B. Sruoga’s Dievų miškas (The Forest of the Gods). We are continuing to develop the idea of creating an anthology of our work—selecting a few pieces written by each of us during this time, collaborating with a graphic designer, and printing a limited number of copies.
Photo Club
The VU Photo Club is a club that brings together photographers at Vilnius University—a community united by a passion for photography and a desire to share this art with others. The club views every challenge as an opportunity to grow, improve, and once again build a strong, active community of photographers at Vilnius University.
Latin Club
Leader – Antanas Gražulis
Another theater group (in Lithuanian) joined them, so the club now has three areas of activity: theater in Lithuanian, theater in classical languages, and a Latin club with a teacher for reading and analyzing texts. Over the course of the year, the club has produced two plays, which will be performed in May and July; the performances will be recorded/filmed.
“Kauliukas” Leisure Society
Leader – Robert Berlin
The society organizes various events (game nights, meme contests, D&D) every week, with the goal of bringing together students from different departments by providing an environment for socializing without alcohol.
Ukrainian Youth Group in Lithuania
UYGL is the first and only Ukrainian youth organization in Lithuania that actively participates in public life.
Since July 2025, the organization has maintained and established a separate legal entity.
Club “Artì”
Leader – Kotryna Katinaitė
Artì is an art and crafts club that brings together artistic members of the Vilnius University community in an environment where everyone can express themselves creatively and draw public attention to pressing issues through the lens of art.
Members of the Knitting Club also joined this club this year.
Student Research Society “(Un)discovered Asia”
Leader - Agata Liachovič
In 2025–2026, “(Un)discovered Asia” participated in the Vilnius University integration festival “Ad Astra,” where it presented its activities at the networking fair. Throughout the academic year, both long-standing and new members joined online calls to discuss the society’s activities. Additionally, members created social media posts about Asian countries that interested them, aiming to introduce others to the culture of this region.
Student Committee for Civil Resistance
Leader – Gytis Oškelis.
The Student Committee for Civil Resistance (hereinafter referred to as SPPK) is a club open to all students in Lithuania. The committee’s goals/mission are: to educate students on topics related to civil resistance; to motivate students to get involved in activities related to civil resistance; to collaborate with national defense institutions, providing recommendations and proposals on how to involve students in civil resistance activities. The SPPK seeks to fulfill the following missions: to provide information about possible forms and opportunities for civil resistance; to increase students’ (and other individuals’) knowledge of existing forms of unarmed resistance; to foster a spirit of historical strength through examples of resistance in Lithuanian history.
Key annual tasks by area:
Organizational area – 5 management areas were established: training and competencies, events and logistics, marketing and partnerships, communications, and human resources. Detailed job descriptions for these areas were created. The team has successfully grown and currently comprises more than 40 members.
Strategic area – actively submitting proposals for the VU SR strategic plan and the integration of resilience training into the e-learning (VMA) system. Efforts were made to ensure that resilience becomes a priority in the university’s strategy.
Competency development focus: organizing more than five internal training sessions on a variety of topics (including disinformation, survival skills, cybersecurity, drones, and others). This allowed committee members to significantly expand their competencies and practical skills in various areas of civil resistance and resilience.
Community education initiatives – introduced 350+ students to evacuation plans at camps and participated in fairs. A lecture was delivered and comprehensive training on civil resistance competencies was organized for VU SR members, a discussion was held on the experiences of Ukrainians at the start of the war and during the occupation, and a public lecture on psychological resilience was organized with a guest lecturer.
Communication and Public Outreach: the initiative’s visibility in the public sphere was successfully increased: appearances were made on two radio shows, and the audience on social media was consistently grown—the committee now has nearly 1,000 followers.
Aurora Basket Basketball Club
Leader – Žygimantas Mazėtis
Aurora Basket is an amateur basketball club that brings together basketball enthusiasts from the Vilnius University community. The club aims to create an environment where everyone, regardless of skill level or athletic background, can have a good time playing basketball.
Astronomy Club
Leader – Mykolas Radziukynas
The club organizes weekly meetings (one of which takes place on the roof of the Faculty of Physics). This year, the club held a rocket workshop, conducted four sky-watching sessions, and organized three educational events at schools in collaboration with the Faculty of Physics and the STEAM Center. The club currently has about 12 members.
Vilnius University Boxing Club “Perkūnas”
Leader – Vytautas Gricius
Founded in 2025, the Vilnius University Boxing Club “Perkūnas” brings together Vilnius University students interested in boxing, physical fitness, and an active lifestyle. The club is based on the principle of community—here, students help one another hone existing boxing skills, acquire new technical and tactical knowledge, and maintain good physical condition.
This year, the club already has about 20 members and 2 coaches, and trains twice a week at the Saulėtekis Sports Center. This year, three official sparring sessions have taken place (not training sessions focused on learning techniques, but rather the application of techniques and combinations already mastered).
Hip Hop Dance Club “Anarchy”
Leader – Daniela Žagunytė-Totilaitė
A street dance group for hip-hop enthusiasts. Established in 2025, the newly formed VU Anarchy dance club invites to leave all your stress behind and tune into the music and your body. During Tuesday practice sessions, students have the opportunity not only to get physically active but also to find like-minded people and unleash their creativity.
Mobile BioClass
The Mobile BioClass is a joint project between "Thermo Fisher Scientific" and Vilnius University, launched in 2011 to promote the life sciences, introduce school students to laboratory activities, and encourage their interest in higher education. At Vilnius University, the project is run by the Life Sciences Centre (LSC). The main mentors are LSC students.
Criminology Student Research Society
Leader – Brigita Kavaliauskaitė
The Criminology Club of the Faculty of Philosophy at Vilnius University is an academic student organization that brings together students interested in criminology. The club aims to promote interdisciplinary thinking and active participation in academic and social activities. During the 2025/2026 academic year, we organized two events: “From Lecture Halls to Institutions: Stories of Criminologists,” in which former criminology students shared their professional experiences, challenges, and discoveries while working in various law enforcement agencies, and “How Do Non-Governmental Organizations Contribute to Crime Prevention?”, where participants had the opportunity to learn about the activities of non-governmental organizations, their role in creating a safer society, and the challenges they face in their daily work.