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Master studies | Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics

2021 05 18 Master studiesFaculty of Mathematics and Informatics offers 6 different Master’s degree programmes in English and welcomes students from all over the world.

The deadlines for applicatios are:

June 1st | for applicants from non-EU/EFTA countries;

July 15th | for applicants that are not required to obtain a national visa for arrival to Lithuania, as well as for non-EU/EFTA applicants with Lithuanian Embassies in their home countries.

Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics Master`s degree study programmes:

Computer modelling

The Computer Modeling programme ensures to use computer modeling technologies and participate in their development, to imply the generation and analysis of hypotheses and ideas, scientific, empirical and applied research, interpretation of results, to develop research and analytical skills, professional ethics code, to generate reports.

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Financial and Actuarial Mathematics

The purpose of Financial and Actuarial Mathematics programme is high-profile education in financial and actuarial mathematics with an emphasis on theoretical foundation of various methods and techniques of probability theory, stochastic analysis, risk theory, and related fields. Graduates of the programme are qualified to analyze and solve problems in theoretical models of finance and insurance, with implementation of obtained solutions in practice.

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Informatics

The main goal of Informatics study programme is to prepare highly qualified IT specialists, able to carry out independent research work, continue Doctoral studies in Lithuanian and foreign universities as well as capable of developing software development and maintenance projects and successfully compete for IT jobs both in Lithuanian and foreign companies.

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Mathematics

The purpose of the Mathematics programme is to train qualified specialists who have advanced knowledge of pure and applied mathematics and strong problem-solving skills so that they can successfully tackle challenging scientific, industrial, economic problems. The graduates will be the professionals in modelling and decision making of different processes in industry and research.

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Modelling and Data Analysis

The aim of the programme is to educate internationally recognized professionals in Modelling and Data Science who expertly utilize the up-to-date knowledge of Statistics, Econometrics and Data Science in developing advanced mathematical (statistical) models for private and public institutions for planning, management, forecasting, and evaluation of their activities.

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Software engineering

The purpose of the programme is to prepare high qualification software engineers that can carry out research independently; to lead software development, maintenance and process improvement projects; to apply their knowledge in different application areas; to make decisions under conditions of limited information, and logically, unambiguously and clearly argue them among specialists and non-specialists.

Apply now

2021-05-18

Vilnius University Tops the List of Lithuanian Higher Education Institutions

2021 05 14 VU top380x250Vilnius University (VU) has today been named the best Lithuanian higher education institution for the eighth time in a row. This year, VU scored 74.43 points out of a total of 100 (64.09 last year) in the ranking of education and higher education institutions traditionally compiled by the magazine “Reitingai”. VU is a leader in three of the five areas assessed: academic achievements, added value created by alumni and employer evaluation, and studies and students.

There is a significant gap between VU and other higher education institutions in the country is in the field of science, where the university stands out with an abundance of publications in the fields of natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences.

Just like last year, VU scored the highest employers rating. The survey showed that over 80% of employers positively assess VU students’ preparation for the labor market, the graduates’ knowledge and skills. Therefore, VU alumni enjoy the biggest demand in the labor market and, on average, the highest annual salary.

VU stands out from other higher education institutions in terms of the quality of studies and the number of students. For many years now, VU has been attracting the most talented Lithuanian students. Furthermore, it has the largest number of doctoral study fields and places, as well as the largest number of accredited study programmes taught in a foreign language.

This year’s ranking of Lithuanian higher education institutions rated universities according to 38 parameters (a crucial parameter - student opinion survey - has been eliminated), which are divided into 5 major criteria: scientificity and highest achievements of academic staff, added value created by alumni and employer evaluations, number of students and quality of studies, current and future academic staff, and international competition.

2021-05-14

VU Tech Hub Invites to Participate in the Competition for Scholarships

2021 05 10 lempute380x250The Vilnius University Technology Hub (VU Tech Hub) has launched the Nominal Scholarship Competition for the best defended thesis prepared during degree studies. The students themselves can apply directly or the candidates can be nominated by their academic supervisors.

The competition is open to the undergraduate and graduate students of Vilnius University of first (Bachelor) and second (Master) cycles including integrated studies who defended their final thesis in one of the following categories of the scholarships during the current academic year (2020/2021).

The one-time grant of 300 euros is awarded in each of the following categories: “The technologies for the development of society“– for the best thesis exploring and presenting technological solutions that determine the social development; “The social challenges in the age of new technologies” – for the best thesis exploring the impact of robotisation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence on the development of society and its institutes; “The innovations for life“– for the best thesis that offers a technological solution to meet the needs of society; “The best interdisciplinary thesis“– for the best thesis, which examines relevant complex problems and combines research methods of different fields of science.

The candidates wishing to participate in the Nominal Scholarship Competition must submit the following documents to the VU Tech Hub by e-mail  until the 29 June 2021:
- Defended Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis (pdf);
- Author‘s name, surname, e-mail;
- Information on the thesis: title, date of defence, scholarship category claimed and brief motivation (up to 100 words) why the proposed research is the best;
- Review of the thesis.

An assessment procedure by Nominal Scholarship Commission will take place until the 31 July 2021. The Scholarship Award Event preliminarily is scheduled for September 2021. More information about the Nominal VU Tech Hub Scholarship here.

2021-05-10

VU Business School Together With CERN is Changing the Traditional Study Model

VU verslo mokykla

 

Artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, electromobiles or quantum computers are the next generation technology innovations the world is focusing on today. They change not only industry, but also the lives of each of us and future generations. The need for specialists able to operate in the dynamic business environment and implement research-based innovations is growing. To this end Vilnius University (VU) Business School in conjunction with the European Nuclear Research Organization (CERN), one of the world’s largest scientific research organizations, will offer Deeptech Entrepreneurship, a unique Master’s Degree programme in the Baltic countries, in the next academic year.

VU Business School, together with CERN, scientists in the field of physics, mathematics and computer science, and business professionals, open up new perspectives. Our aim is to transform the traditional mindset and build an innovative culture that combines business, technology and leadership. VU is just the place where a culture of innovation based on values marries entrepreneurship and leading technological solutions. I believe that it is in this programme that the future business unicorns will start their rich and exciting journey,” Programme Manager Prof. Saulė Mačiukaitė-Žvinienė, said.

This programme combines the fields of technology, entrepreneurship and strategic leadership. The programme has been jointly developed and implemented with VU Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, VU Faculty of Physics, CERN, and lecturers from abroad. Students who establish start-ups during their studies will have an opportunity to test their business project at CERN.

“From a global network to a PET scanner for cancer therapy or simply a touch screen – these are the various types of applied research carried out by CERN, which have helped to change the world we live in. Today, every smartphone relies on the knowledge of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Such famous scientists as Max Planck or Albert Einstein could never have imagined these innovations. These are disruptive innovations which depend on fundamental research where results may take decades or even centuries. CERN invites entrepreneurs who share the same vision and are not only interested in the existing CERN technologies, but are also able to understand original ideas and transform them into new products – unknown today, but required tomorrow,” Prof. Christoph Schäfer, CERN advisor and lecturer in the programme, said.

The world is changing, so traditional ways of investing or recovery from an economic crisis are no longer effective. The Deeptech Entrepreneurship programme is tailored to those who project themselves or operate in the fields of both business and technology. After the start of Industry 5.0 all countries must invest in science-based innovation and take advantage of the unique opportunities they offer. According to the 2016–2018 statistics, 45.3% of all companies implemented innovations in Lithuania, however in 2020, Lithuania ranked only 40th in the Global Innovation Index. Lithuania therefore needs highly qualified specialists who understand two different worlds – science and business – and whose creativity and competence of entrepreneurship will open up ways for new technological solutions.

“The breakthrough countries, international organizations, technology parks, business clusters and companies are looking for entrepreneurs, developers and leaders able to combine technology with future solutions. The new study programme is offered at the intersection of science and business, implementing the knowledge and practices of technology, data science, innovation management and entrepreneurship. The Deeptech Entrepreneurship Master’s Degree programme brings together different sectors to better prepare students to become the next generation technology entrepreneurs able to combine technological and entrepreneurial experiences, thus perfectly complementing and enriching the portfolio of international master’s programmes of VU Business School,” Dr Birutė Miškinienė, director of VU Business School, said.

Become VU Student for a Day on 19-30 April

Studentas 1 dienai EN

We are excited to invite you to Become Vilnius University Student for a Day, the event taking place on 19-30 April. This is a great opportunity to step into the shoes of VU students and be part of online lectures or seminars. Lecturers and current students look forward to welcoming you!

You can experience real time lectures at Vilnius University and you can easier make a decision what to study!

 

The times for the lectures are in UTC+3

List of lectures

Risk Management April 19 d. 18:00                

Lecturer: doc. dr. Martynas Manstavičius

Master degree programme Financial and Actuarial Mathematics.            

REGISTER

Software Quality April 23 d. 15:00

Lecturer: doc. dr. Sigitas Dapkūnas

Master degree programme Software Engineering.

REGISTER

User Experience Engineering April 26 d. 17:00                

Lecturer: doc. dr. Kristina Lapin

Master degree programmes Informatics and Software Engineering.

REGISTER

Risk Management April 26 d. 18:00                

Lecturer: doc. dr. Martynas Manstavičius

Master degree programme Financial and Actuarial Mathematics.

REGISTER

Software Quality April 30 d. 15:00

Lecturer: doc. dr. Sigitas Dapkūnas

Master degree programme Software Engineering.

REGISTER

Vilnius University Introduces a New Era of Scientific Investigations: New High Performance Computing Cluster

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Vilnius University (VU) introduces a new era of scientific investigations in Lithuania with a tenfold boost in processing power from its new high-performance computing cluster. To meet the need to enable students and researchers to undertake new areas of scientific investigation the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of VU decided to build a new high-performance computing (HPC) cluster, replacing an existing stack that was expensive to maintain and approaching its end of life.

“One word sums up Dell Technologies and Novian Technologies (formerly BAIP), and that word is ‘professional.’ It’s a pleasure working with them. Everything happens when it should,” Povilas Treigys, Vice Dean for Information Technologies at Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics of VU says.
The results of this new technology is Tenfold performance improvement since it will support new areas of scientific investigations; help educate graduates to fill the IT skills gap in Lithuania and enable areas of research that benefit society.

Lithuania has a shortage of around 13,000 IT professionals, so the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at VU plays an important role in bridging the skills gap. Undergraduates are allowed to work within businesses outside the university while carrying out their studies.

 

Upgrading to a new level of performance

Researchers and students in the faculty were using a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster that was nearing the end of its life and expensive to maintain because of the high energy costs required to run it. It was impossible for the faculty to pursue some of its research goals because the current system did not provide enough processing power.

The faculty secured financing from the Lithuanian government to invest in a new HPC cluster. It already knew and trusted Dell Technologies from using its laptops and desktops. So, as part of a stringent public-sector procurement process, Dell Technologies and local partner Novian Technologies proposed a solution.

The university chose the Dell Technologies HPC cluster because it would be simple to manage and could support the faculty for at least eight years and be easily expanded if needed. And with 10 times the processing power, the HPC cluster could run a wide range of teaching and research applications.

“Having most of the stack from one vendor will make this HPC cluster much easier to manage than the previous one. It also uses power more efficiently,” Eduardas Kutka, lecturer and HPC network administrator at VU, says.

 

A groundbreaking implementation

The HPC cluster solution provides a full stack of carefully selected and powerful hardware technologies including more than 750 TB of storage, 1,728 computing cores and NVIDIA GPUs.

This is the first time that Dell EMC PowerEdge C6420 servers have been installed within Lithuania’s scientific community. The faculty worked closely with Dell Technologies and Novian Technologies to identify the high-performance components required to meet its needs.

The power-hungry processing applications that will run on the HPC stack include neural networks, artificial intelligence, cyber security and medical research. Among many other uses, it will be particularly beneficial for cancer research programs.“Together with partners, we have to analyse medical images that contain millions of cells, which we then have to count and classify. Up until now, we didn’t have the resources for all that storage and analysis,” Treigys explains.

 

Establishing a strong research resource

The HPC stack means the faculty will be able to open up access to the rest of the university as well as commercial businesses, helping to build a research ecosystem around the university. “The Dell Technologies HPC stack will extend our scientific community around the university and could even open up new revenue streams,” says Treigys. “We can share resources and widen areas of research as well as prove our capabilities globally.”

The new HPC stack will also help attract academics, researchers and students who want to work with the most powerful and up-to-date technologies. “This is a new era of computational and experimental investigations at the university. Researchers and students will have access to HPC with GPU technologies, which means they will not only be familiar with their capabilities, but also with what can be achieved by employing this kind of technology in the future,” Treigys says.

 „Dell Technologies“ information

VU Scientists: Cyber Espionage Threat Growing

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The State Security Department of the Republic of Lithuania has recently presented an assessment of national security threats to the public. It states that in 2020 there were many instances of cyber-attacks, with websites of institutions being repeatedly hacked, and fraudulent emails with fake information being sent. Experts from Vilnius University (VU) also note that the threat of cyber espionage has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. State-supported cyber groups have seized the opportunity of the pandemic to carry out cyber-attacks on national authorities, national security authorities, and energy and other strategic companies of other states.

According to Dr Renata Danielienė of VU Kaunas Faculty, one of the aims of such state-supported groups is to obtain as much confidential information as possible from the institutions of another country, business organizations or research bodies carrying out relevant research, developing new or improving existing inventions. Danilienė believes that the activities of such groups pose a serious threat to organizations using online strategic information systems.

“The attacks previously carried out by cyber groups in other countries show that the aim may be not only state or industrial espionage, but also an attempt to undermine any activity, such as the attacks during the US election campaigns. Attempts were made to break into the accounts of high officials, to publish secret information in order to shape the opinion of the population in a certain direction or to take revenge for critical statements against the country from which the attack is likely to have taken place,” Danielienė said.

Assoc. Prof. Dr Linas Bukauskas of VU Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, also agrees that there has been a trend of information manipulation via social engineering, where the electronic space of non-friendly countries is used to achieve certain goals.

“In such cases, the aim is to lure people into a trap by means of social engineering attack. For example, citizens receive invitations to events or conferences taking place in a non-friendly country, often fully paid. Those who become interested may slowly become involved in activities that could be qualified as anti-state activities – to disclose scientific, state and technological secrets. The person’s vigilance is tested by using information. It must be remembered that ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’, there is usually a hidden agenda,” Bukauskas warned.

Targets – public authorities and media sites

When evaluating reports of institutions responsible for security of Lithuania and recent cases in the media, VU researchers note that the number of cyber-attacks against Lithuania is increasing. According to experts, several elements related to cyber security can be distinguished: data loss, information manipulation, vulnerability of cyber security and the use of this vulnerability in state or critical infrastructure systems.

Internet sites of public authorities and media are often targeted. Criminals publish fake information in order to compromise organizations themselves and to form a certain opinion of the population. According to the National Cyber Security Centre at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania, in December 2020 alone, 22 public sector internet sites were hacked. Most of the internet sites were those of Lithuanian municipal authorities, where fake information was published.

According to Danielienė, Lithuania is not unique – many countries face similar problems. “The report published by the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service in 2020 highlights that anyone can be the target of an attack, because hackers are looking for the weakest links, for example, an insufficiently protected device which can be linked by hackers to the cyber-attack infrastructure, thus becoming part of criminal activity,” the VU researcher noted.

Renata Danieliene asmeninio archyvo nuotr 1Human error is the Achilles heel

When assessing the cybersecurity situation, Bukauskas distinguishes the use of indirect human errors in the public space in 2020. Human errors are left in the development or installation of systems, variables are not processed sufficiently safely or weak login passwords are created. These errors are used to leak data. In addition, people’s shared files or errors in software solutions are used by hackers.

“The most common attempt is to hack in by taking over passwords, exploiting vulnerable systems to run a variety of botnets. At VU Cyber Security Laboratory we use net flow sensors to monitor illegal connections. These sensors indicate the activity of hackers and the passwords used. An automated attack is looking for unsafe systems or unprotected places left by people, checking vigilance. For example, an individual system may be subject to 200 illegal hacking attacks on average in “quieter” weeks, but there can often be thousands and more,” Bukauskas said.

In order to avoid human errors in cyber security, professionals responsible for cyber security must be trained appropriately. At VU Cyber Security Laboratory, researchers are implementing several projects developing methodologies to identify early cyber security risks and also to improve the competences of cyber security specialists.

One-off investment is not sufficient

The population may suffer a variety of consequences due to cyber-attacks: from disconnected energy supplies to stolen personal data and financial losses. Meanwhile, the companies that are hacked may be disconnected from their critical systems, their confidential data and that of their customers and partners may be stolen, and financial losses due to the inability to provide services are incurred. In addition, they may be penalized for the disclosure of confidential data, suffer reputational loss, and loss of customer trust, all which may require considerable efforts to recover.

According to Danielienė, cybercriminals, whether organized groups or individual programmers, are constantly looking for vulnerable places in information systems or infrastructure, but they also use people’s credulity.

“The analysis of the attacks shows key issues such as security gaps in the infrastructure, the lack of knowledge of cyber prevention and cyber security managers and personnel, as well as a lack of leadership competences. There is often no information on the organization’s security policy or it is not complied with and, in the event of a cyber incident, nobody knows how to respond. In addition, organizations still do not pay sufficient attention to regular training and awareness raising in cyber security,” Danielienė added.

In order to reduce the risk of cyber-hacking, Danielienė believes that organizations need to take coherent and integrated measures, implement and maintain a cyber security culture within the organization, and managers and individuals in charge must be constantly attentive to trends in the cyber world and be ready to respond accordingly by taking certain security measures. “In this world of information technologies, it is not enough to invest in infrastructure once. Today organizations must allocate funds regularly to both infrastructure upgrade and cyber risk management,” Danielienė emphasized.

Linas Bukauskas 199x300None of the system escapes attacks

According to Bukauskas, all systems, whatever they may be, will one day experience a cyber incident. According to the researcher, taking care of cyber security must be routine work, because the technologies used today do not have known vulnerabilities for now, but will be broken later.

“It is important to periodically monitor cyber security events, update software solutions, and monitor the environment as to who is interested in you as an organization. For example, if you see that you have received 1,000 queries from different IP addresses with a similar request, you should already be concerned about your security and monitor or look for vulnerable points. Cyber security professionals regularly monitor data vulnerability databases, which do not expose vulnerabilities, but only identify product x as vulnerable with indicators of compromise. They participate in threat-sharing networks, which help to obtain early information about the patterns of an ongoing attack or the characteristics of attackers,” Bukauskas noted.

Bukauskas once again reminds us that organizations seeking to avoid cyber security incidents must regularly update their software solutions, change passwords or use two-factor authentication. System administrators should also avoid using popular passwords that are easy to guess.

According to the expert, it is necessary to monitor not only the vulnerability of the systems used by the company, but also the applications and platforms used by employees during their workday, especially if personal devices such (i.e. shadow IT) as mobile phones and tablets are admitted to the network of the organization. Employees must be trained to assess the safety of the software. The applications, mobile apps or web browser extensions used for easy password storage in an organization also need to be monitored, because sometimes there is demand for excessive rights or even full-text passwords are stored in systems outside the EU.

The researcher also draws attention to the safety of mobile applications developed by technology start-ups. Start-ups should pay more attention to the safety of the products they develop and comply with the secure coding standards.

“Start-ups adapt the latest technologies, but very often forget to perform cyber security tests, and don’t always comply with the secure coding standards. The main purpose of such companies is to produce a product as soon as possible, sometimes without paying sufficient attention to the safety of the product. Young people are often involved in the development of such systems and may not always have sufficient experience in terms of security. Learning secure coding and programming techniques is a serious activity that requires specific knowledge based on experience,” Bukauskas concluded.

Arqus Twinning Activities Accelerated – Dates and Mobilities Planned

The Arqus European University Alliance, which brings together the universities of Bergen, Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon, Padova and Vilnius, completed the application process for its unique Twinning activities and announced the selected participants. Vilnius University, which received the most applications out of all seven universities, is planning to carry out the first exchange in September 2021.

2021 03 17 map380x250According to Head of Studies Quality and Development Department Andrius Uždanavičius, Arqus Twinning aims to strengthen subject-related collaboration of staff and students and create possibilities to carry out joint learning and teaching activities through piloting short-term mobility schemes: “The Alliance’s aim is to respond to the societal challenges and to advance towards deeper European integration”.

During the application period, Vilnius University received and will carry out a total of 12 mobilities. The first exchange is expected to take place in September 2021 – Prof. Dr Aistis Raudys from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, and his students, will visit the University of Granada in Spain. The team will be working on a joint research project to improve the accuracy of people counting on public transport during crowded conditions to allow for better transport planning, optimisation, and a less polluted environment. The aim is to create a joint paper on the topic of passenger counting and flow forecasting.

Other activities are scheduled for the year 2022. Dr Jolanta Šinkūnienė from the Faculty of Philology and a group of students, will visit Granada in March. Her team will work on building a body of specialised language for tourism, focussing on aspects of discourse analysis, as well as translation challenges, cultural conceptualisation differences and their implications. Ieva Giedraitytė, from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, and students, will travel to Padova in Italy. This exchange will be intended for master degree level students, who will participate in the virtual module “Europe as a Global Actor”.

During the fall semester of 2021, other Arqus universities will also carry out different types of Twinning activities. Up until the end of September 2022, Granada will implement 10 mobilities: Bergen and Padova will have 4 teams, another 3 will visit other universities from Leipzig and there will be 2 teams from Graz and Lyon. A total of 4 activities from other Arqus universities will be carried out at Vilnius University.

“Even though originally it was planned to fund 14 initiatives (2 per university), seeing the success of this initiative, the quality of the applications and motivation of our academic staff, almost all universities decided to find more resources and fund more. As a result, 37 accepted applications will be funded: 25 by Arqus and the rest from other sources, (other programs or internal budgets). That is not the end, we still have plans to announce another call next academic year,” Andrius Uždanavičius says.

The exchanges that will be carried out by Vilnius University are blended Twinning activities. According to Uždanavičius, this is a unique way to follow the plan even in difficult circumstances, while adjusting to both physical and online activities.

“Twinning activities are expected to contribute to the achievement of the Alliance’s objectives and may vary in their mode and type. They may include joint workshops, internships, participation in international conferences, summer schools, group projects, etc. They may be implemented only physically when students from different universities meet for workshops face to face or be blended – when students from two universities are working virtually on a common project and eventually meet physically to complete and present the results,” Andrius Uždanavičius explains.

The eligibility deadline for Twinning visits is end of September 2022. Another call for Twinning initiatives is planned to be announced during the 2021 fall semester.

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