Klaipėda University ( lt, Klaipėdos universitetas or KU) is a university in the

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

city of

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuan ...

Overview

Klaipėda University was formally founded on January 1, 1991, by a decree of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

(the Lithuanian parliament). The new university incorporated existing institutions of higher education in the city. At its inception, it comprised 3,000 students and three faculties (Humanities and Natural Sciences, Marine Engineering, and Pedagogy). It has since grown to seven faculties and eight institutes: the faculties of Natural Science and Mathematics, Humanities, Marine Engineering, Art, Pedagogy, Social Sciences, and Health Sciences; Maritime Institute, Seascape Institute, Institute of Continuing Studies, Coastal Research and Planning Institute,

Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology Institute of Baltic Region History and Archaeology ( lt, Baltijos regiono istorijos ir archeologijos institutas, (BRIAI)) is the scholarly research subdivision of Klaipėda University. It was established in 2003, following reorganization of the fo ...

, Institute of Regional Policy and Planning,

Mechatronics Mechatronics engineering also called mechatronics, is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that focuses on the integration of mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering systems, and also includes a combination of robotics, electronics, ...

Institute, and Musicology Institute. Having 4000 students and 600 persons in educational staff (in 2017), the university offers 54 undergraduate (bachelor's degree), 4 specialized professional, 48 graduate (master's degree), and 11 postgraduate (doctoral) study programs.

Historic structures of the university campus

Klaipėda University occupies a former military campus. The territory of contains six

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

buildings that have been declared architectural monuments. In the first half of the 20th century these four-story red brick buildings, erected by the Germans in 1904–1907, comprised two residential blocks for servicemen, a chapel-canteen-club, HQ and a guardhouse, a residential block for officers and an storehouse for uniforms. During the 20th century it was a base for, successively, German, French, Lithuanian and Soviet troops.

Students and studies

Klaipėda University offers a developed three-level study system: 58 bachelor, 2 specialized vocational, 56 master, 10 doctoral study programs. It also offers 7 international study programs for foreign students. Its location in a seaport determined that the university develops academic programs not found in other Lithuanian universities, including marine environment research and engineering of marine transport, hydrology and oceanography, port technologies and engineering, history and languages of

Lithuania Minor Lithuania Minor ( lt, Mažoji Lietuva; german: Kleinlitauen; pl, Litwa Mniejsza; russian: Ма́лая Литва́), or Prussian Lithuania ( lt, Prūsų Lietuva; german: Preußisch-Litauen, pl, Litwa Pruska), is a historical ethnographic re ...

and Baltic region, ecological engineering,

landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...

, underwater archaeology, port technology, and naval engineering.

Structure

Klaipėda University is an autonomous state study and science institution of the Lithuanian Republic. The highest authority in the university is its Council. The Council is a collegial governing body of the university, formed according to the Law on Science and Studies under which the management of state schools of higher education includes not only the representatives of academic community but those of public as well. The Council provides strategic objectives of the university, affirms the vision and mission of the university, elects the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

and ensures

accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

and contact with society and the founders. The Senate is a collegial body managing the academic affairs of the university. The Senate of

University operates in accordance with the Statute of

University. Daily University is led by the rector who represents the university and operates on behalf of the university. The rector uses the assistance of the vice–rector for research and academic affairs, vice–rector for

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

and development affairs, of the seven deans of the faculties, of the directors of the three scientific and two studies institutes, of the president of the students union, and of rector's office units. Rapidly developing Klaipėda University has more than 2,800 students and 900 staff, including 550 professors, associate professors and lecturers studying and working in: 3 faculties: *

Social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

and

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

Marine engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circl ...

and

Natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

Healthcare science The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple acad ...

1 study institutes: *Maritime (Naval & Port Engineering programs) 3 scientific research institutes: *Baltic Coastal Research and Planning *

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

Region

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and Archaeology *

5 study and scientific centers: *Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics: Center of Regional Planning. *Faculty of Humanities: English Language Center; Center of Baltic Studies; Center of Evangelic

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

; Language and Culture Center. *Faculty of Arts: Institute of

Musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

. *Faculty of Pedagogy: Center of Educational Innovations. *Faculty of Social Sciences: Regional Policy and Planning Center. and other structural units: *Marine Science and Technology Center *Laboratories *Library *Virtual Learning Center *Botanical Garden *Publishing Office *Career Centre Klaipėda University owns ''Brabander'' – the largest Lithuanian exploratory – sail training vessel, designed for students’ practice and marine expeditions. On 18 January 2008 by the decision of University Senate an independent structural element – laboratory scientific research and training sailing vessel BRABANDER was established. The university also owns the

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

''Odisėja'' for marine expeditions and sail training. On 14 November 2014 acquired a new special research vessel ''Mintis'' which was funded by the project “Creation of Marine Valley Nucleus and the Renewal of Studies Infrastructure (JŪRA)”.

International cooperation

Klaipeda University established the International Relations Office in 1992. It helps to implement the university's policy concerning its relations with foreign higher education institutions.

Rectors

* Prof. Donatas Švitra (1991–1993) * Prof.

Stasys Vaitekūnas Stasys is a popular Lithuanian given name, derived from Slavic name Stanislav. Feminine variation is Stasė. *Stasys Antanas Bačkis (1906–1999), Lithuanian diplomat *Stasys Eidrigevičius (born 1949), graphic artist *Stasys Girėnas (1893–193 ...

(1993–2001) * Prof.

Vladas Žulkus Vladas Žulkus (born April 16, 1945 in Telšiai) is a Lithuanian archaeologist. In October 2002 he was elected rector of Klaipėda University. Biography Žulkus started his career as an archaeologist in the Institute for Monument Preservation in ...

(2002-2011) * Prof. Vaidutis Laurėnas (2011-2014) * Prof. Eimutis Juzeliūnas (2014–2018) * Prof. Artūras Razbadauskas (2019–present)

Notable persons

* Minister of Internal Affairs and Member of Parliament Agnė Bilotaitė studied

political sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at Klaipėda University. * Former mayor of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Vytautas Šustauskas Vytautas Šustauskas (19 March 1945 – 21 June 2023) was a Lithuanian politician who was leader of the Union of the Fighters for Lithuania (''Kovotojų už Lietuvą sąjunga'') political party. Šustauskas died on 21 June 2023, at the age of ...

and member of Parliament studied

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

at Klaipėda University. *

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

s commentator, TV presenter, writer Robertas Petrauskas studied

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

at Klaipeda University. * Lithuanian singer

Jurijus Veklenko Jurijus Veklenko (born 6 July 1990 in Klaipėda), also known as Jurij Veklenko or simply Jurijus, is a Lithuanian singer. Eurovision Song Contest Veklenko previously performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 as one of the backing singers fo ...

studies

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

at Klaipeda University.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klaipeda University Klaipėda University Buildings and structures in Klaipėda Educational institutions established in 1991 1991 establishments in Lithuania Education in Klaipėda