FAQ

The yearly tuition fee for MA studies is 4384 euros.

All master’s students at the VU IIRPS are eligible to participate in Erasmus study and internship exchange programmes. Vilnius University also has bilateral agreements with various other universities from around the globe. Full list of partner universities can be found here.

VU IIRPS has one of the largest libraries dedicated to political science in the region. As well as that, Vilnius University offers access to a plethora of databases of political science, sociology, economics and other social sciences. Full list of available databases can be found here, and the search engine for Vilnius University library can be found here.

You are going to have to write a large number of various papers during your time at the VU IIRPS. Papers have to be submitted before the agreed deadline to Room 201 (see working hours). As well as that all papers must adhere to methodological requirements.

At the VU IIRPS, we believe that student feedback is absolutely the key to having quality studies. You can always express your opinions directly to the lecturers or the Coordinator of Study Programmes in English Benita Striukyte (Room 201). As well as that there are surveys that you can fill out at the end of the semester. Be sure to provide feedback so that we can improve!

Vilnius University Virtual Learning Environment is usually used for sharing study-related information at the VU IIRPS unless there is a separate agreement with your lecturer.

Seminars are very different from lectures. You have to come prepared, do your readings, also sometimes prepare presentations (if asked) and it usually happens as a discussion – you have to show what you understood from the texts you’ve read, what thoughts came to your head, share your ideas, etc.

At the Institute, it’s obligatory to prepare for seminars according to course outlines presented (unless there is a separate agreement with the lecturer). For lectures, you read texts if you want to read them, but you really don’t have to because lecturer will cover everything and more during the lecture than you’ll read in the text. Of course, it can happen that you’re asked to read for the lecture, but you’ll be informed about that.

As you have to work quite a lot individually while studying at the VU IIRPS, we suggest you fall in love with one of the libraries of Vilnius University.

The library of VU IIRPS is open every day from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.

The library of VU in the central campus is open every day from 10 A.M. to 9 P.M. Be sure to explore all the nooks and crannies of one of the oldest universities in the region!

Vilnius University Scientific Communication and Information Centre is a modern library in Sauletekis campus. It is open 24/7 and only closes during national holidays.

All these and papers are archived at the VU IIRPS. If you want to check out any theses from previous years, you can find them in Room 201.

During the first semester, students decide on their Master’s thesis topic and afterwards, the study program committee suggests supervisors to each student. In case a student wants to change his tutor he can find another supervisor from the list of the lecturers of our Institute here. In their profile pages, you can find their academic interests and contacts in case you need to contact them and ask for guidance or consultations.

At the start of every semester, there is a meeting in which the courses offered are discussed. After that, you have to register for courses in Room 201. You can find details of courses offered and times of meetings on the University’s webpage.

You can find the requisites and additional information here.

You can print or copy sources at the library. More information can be found here.

Students from other higher education institutions can transfer to Vilnius University. The following general transfer requirements apply to such students:

– Transfer is not possible before the first semester of studies;

– the student cannot have any academic debts;

– the curriculum of the study programme currently studied and the curriculum of the study programme to be studied can differ by 15 credits.

For more information, please contact: rosita.garskaite@tspmi.vu.lt

• Full degree students at Vilnius University;
• Students who want and can go for Erasmus+ studies in Europe for 3-12 months;
• Students who have successfully completed at least 1 semester of their BA or MA studies;
• Students whose previous Erasmus exchange experience (study or internships) before the application is not longer than 12 months per the current study cycle (Bachelor or Master and 24 months for integrated studies).

• proposed study programme at the exchange university can be accepted and fully recognized as part of the study programme at Vilnius University;
• clear/explicit and reasonable motivation;
• good knowledge of the language of instruction at host university;
• your grade average (of the two lasts semesters) is no less than 7;

Before applying for exchange studies, you must get to know the foreign university of your interest thoroughly – find out whether it offers enough political science courses, what the language requirements are and etc. Such information is usually publicly available on the official website of the foreign university.

You need to choose one or two institutions where you would like to apply and the institution must be the partner of IIRPS VU, i.e., must have signed Erasmus+ inter-institutional agreement and submit online registration form. The database of Erasmus+ partner Universities can be found here.

You can find information on this database such as:

• partner institutions of IIRPS VU;
• the field of study agreed for the student exchange with partner University (for example, 0312 Political Science);
• level of study agreed with partner University;
• number of students and duration of stay at partner University.

To find out if the courses offered by a foreign university are eligible for recognition at VU TSPMI, please contact the International Officer Vilius Mickūnas, by e-mail vilius.mickunas@tspmi.vu.lt.

In your Erasmus+ motivation letter, you need to explain why you are interested in the exchange opportunity at the university of your choice and why you would be a good candidate. The following factors are important for a clear motivation letter:

• Previous experiences (e.g. internships or previous youth exchange programs) that may be relevant to the exchange country of interest;
• The ability to show your academic interest in studying at the university of your choice abroad – e.g. courses offered at the foreign university; relevance of the exchange to the topic of your final thesis; possible links to topics covered in your earlier written work, etc.
• Reasonable links to your career or other future plans;

To prepare properly for your exchange studies, it is important to attend the information seminars organized by the International Relations Division of Vilnius University, which cover all the most relevant steps.

Winning an exchange selection is still not a confirmation of the exchange. Once the exchange selection has been made, the VU International Relations Division sends official nominations of the selected students to partner universities abroad. The foreign universities then contact the students by sending out acceptance letters.

If you are successful in the exchange selection, you can go on an exchange to a foreign university for only one semester or for two trimesters (if the foreign university requires you to study for 2 trimesters in order to accumulate 30 ECTS credits) at first. It is not possible to register for the exchange for the whole academic year at once – since exchange studies are popular at VU TSPMI, this is done to create opportunities for as many VU TSPMI students as possible to go to foreign universities of their interest for at least 1 semester.

In order to stay at the same university for another semester, it is necessary to participate in the new Vilnius University exchange selection for the next semester and/or to contact the exchange university’s administration at the end of the current exchange semester for the possibility of extending the exchange for another semester.

For more information about the exchange opportunities offered by VU, please visit: https://www.vu.lt/en/studies/academic-info-for-students/studies-abroad/study-period-abroad.