According to the Memorandum, the universities agree to identify mutual opportunities of cooperation, especially in such areas as development of collaborative educational activities at Master’s level including joint programmes, double and dual awards, exchange of students and staff members, co-ordination of joint or collaborative research projects, mutual collaboration and organisation of meetings and workshops as well as other activities. Effective cooperation is particularly expected in the field of natural sciences.
In his speech during the meeting, the British Ambassador to Lithuania Brian Olley emphasised that these relations established by the universities are a great way to strengthen cooperation between the two countries.
“It is self-evident that internationalization of education is so valuable. I speak from personal experience with our family, our three children who have benefited hugely from the internationalization of their degree courses. The quality is self-evident: joint research collaborations, academic publications, the diversity of opinions. It’s all absolutely vital and this will assist us all in building long-lasting economic, technological, educational and overall benefits for society between our two countries”, the ambassador said.
The meeting was also attended by the director of the international company Cormack Consultancy Group Gintaras Steponavičius. He highlighted that the cooperation between VMU and Keele University will be particularly beneficial to the sectors of biotechnologies and biosciences. “I wish that you will come out of [the partnership] with agreement on concrete programmes to offer for bright minds outside of Lithuania and UK but also for our own talented people in Lithuania. Having leading universities, really strong institutions on both sides will bring good results for all of us”, Steponavičius noted.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost of Keele University, Professor Mark Ormerod had many kind words to say about VMU and also pointed out that both universities have quite a few similarities. Keele University was founded in 1949 and is also characterised by a broad range and focus on internationalization as well as scientific research in various disciplines, including natural sciences.
“We understand your strong commitment to internalisation, which we share. We believe very much in the power of progressive universities to find solutions to the challenges that face the world. We’d like to enter a collaboration where ecology and biodiversity are going to be the key components”, Prof. Armarod stated, explaining that Keele University is one of the UK’s leaders in the field of environmental sustainability.
VMU Vice-Rector Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vilma Bijeikienė, also speaking at the event, drew attention to the commonalities between Keele University and Vytautas Magnus University. “There are many aspects where we overlap in interests and values. Among the values of our university, we have sustainability, diversity, internationalization and academic excellence. I think together we can achieve progress in all these spheres”, the vice-rector said, underlining that VMU focuses on natural sciences not just at the Faculty of Natural Sciences but also the Agriculture Academy.
Executive Dean of Natural Sciences at Keele University, Prof. Jonathan Wastling, expressed hope that the established cooperation will allow both universities to seek common goals. “The UK, over quite a long time, has benefited from biosciences as a sector that has really powered growth and innovation. I know Lithuania also has the ambition to grow your biosciences industry as higher percentage of your GDP. I hope that some of the experience we have in the UK and the work we do at Keele can be used to help you fulfill that objective”, Executive Dean of Natural Sciences at Keele University said.
During the meeting, Dean of VMU Faculty of Natural Sciences Prof. Saulius Mickevičius thanked Keele University for the started cooperation and for the invitation to visit Keele. “We hope that just after Christmas and New Year’s holidays we will start thinking about our visit and preparation of our study programs and doing our work in the future. Thank you very much for such a good opportunity to have cooperation with a UK university in the field of life sciences. This is a very good opportunity for all Lithuanian universities and the VMU Faculty of Natural Sciences”, Prof. Mickevičius stated.
At the end of the event, David Law, Academic Director: Global Partnerships at Keele University, emphasised that the future cooperation has great potential and thanked Cormack Consultancy Group, the British Embassy in Lithuania, and the British Council for help in establishing the relations between the universities. “When I traveled to Lithuania, everyone was warm and welcoming, but the colleagues at VMU were particularly warm and welcoming. When I looked around your campus, I could see straight away that it was a really big opportunity to collaborate. Not just in life sciences”, Prof. David Law said.
