The software engineering company EPAM Systems joined in on the Vilnius University’s (VU) Scholarship of the 450th Anniversary, which aims to contribute to solving financial issues related to accessing higher education. On Tuesday, VU signed a sponsorship agreement with its new partner. The company allocated €10 thousand for additional scholarships to be allocated to students at the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics (MIF) facing financial difficulties.
“Some two-thirds of Vilnius University students come from smaller cities and towns. It remains a major challenge facing many students planning to study and live in one of the big cities - Vilnius, Kaunas, or Šiauliai,” noted Head of the VU Partnerships Development Division Lina Kižinienė. “Therefore, Vilnius University and its partners aim to provide financial assistance to every applicant who would otherwise not be able to obtain an education at the University due to financial difficulties.”
EPAM Lietuva General Director Linas Grinevičius stated that the company’s employees are trying to change the lives of students by providing training and mentoring programs, internships and opening community schools.
“The industry is dynamically transforming, we constantly see the introduction of new technologies and tools. We believe that basic knowledge and university education are the foundation for startups to thrive in this fast-paced environment. It provides a foundation for systematic thinking and the key skills that help people become the most valuable professionals.
We encourage creativity and unorthodox ways of doing things, we help those taking the first steps toward essential knowledge provided by Vilnius University. We invite the first-year students to start their journey with an EPAM scholarship, grow with us or discover their own paths. We expect graduates to have an engineering mindset: innovators and trailblazers who change the rules and seize the opportunity to do things in ways no one has done before,” L. Grinevičius said, addressing the future first-year students.
VU is one of the first universities in Lithuania to award first-year students with the incentive Scholarship of the 450th Anniversary, thus aiming to reduce the acute problem of social exclusion in Lithuania. The university has been awarding this scholarship since 2019. This scholarship aims to reduce the acute problem of social exclusion in Lithuania, increase the accessibility of university studies, and help those accepted into the University’s first-cycle and integral study programmes adapt to the new environment.
VU established a scholarship for 100 students with its own funds. Companies like Light Conversion, Coherent Solutions, Ekspla, OPTOMENAS, Vandens harmonija, GJ Magma, Hnit-Baltic, EKSMA Optics, Altechna, Standa, Optogama, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics, Transvera, and EPAM Systems joined in on the VU’s Scholarship of the 450th Anniversary.