Kaunas University of Technology

Early years

The origins of the KTU go back to the University of Lithuania, which was established on 16 February 1922. The university was renamed, Vytautas Magnus University on 8 June 1930. The university consisted of seven faculties: the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, the Faculty of Evangelical Theology, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Technology. The beginning of 1940 saw the reorganization of the Vytautas Magnus University with The Faculties of Law and Humanities being transferred to the University of Vilnius.

World War II and the Soviet Era

On 21 August 1940, following Soviet occupation, the university was renamed to the University of Kaunas. The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was transferred to the University of Vilnius in the autumn of 1940. After the German occupation in 1941, the university was once again renamed to Vytautas Magnus University with five faculties: theology, philosophy, technology, civil engineering, and mathematics. The university closed on 17 March 1943,.

The Soviet government reopened the University on 13 November 1944. The university operated under the name, Kaunas National Vytautas Magnus University until 1946. The Faculty of History and Theology closed in June 1949. The University of Kaunas was reorganized into Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI) and Kaunas Medical Institute in 1950. Throughout the Soviet era, the KPI resisted Russification and kept teaching in the Lithuanian language.

Under the influence of Perestroika, the Lithuanian SSR reinstated the School's "University" status. Vytautas Magnus University was re-established as a separate university from KPI in 1989. KPI was renamed to its current name, Kaunas University of Technology in 1990.

Since 1990

Following the restoration of independence, the institution adopted Western standards. The university started implementing a two-level degree program of higher education and a new procedure for awarding research degrees and academic titles in 1992. The university joined Magna Charta of the European Universities and became a member of the European University Association and the International Association of Universities in 1998.