The story of Vilnius University

Stephen Báthory founded this institution in 1579 as the Jesuit Academy of Vilnius. It is the first and largest university in Lithuania and one of the oldest in Central and Eastern Europe. In its day it was the third oldest university in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, after the Cracow Academy and the Albertina, and the only one in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Its history follows the upheavals of the region. After the failure of the November Uprising of 1830–1831 it was closed, and it reopened only in 1919, as the Polish Stefan Batory University. In 1945 its Polish students and scholars were transferred to Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń.

Today it is Lithuania's leading research institution, and more than a third of the country's PhD theses are defended here. Its scientists are known far beyond Lithuania: Professor Virginijus Šikšnys is recognised for his contributions to CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, often called gene scissors, and in 2004 Professor Valentina Dagienė founded the Bebras informatics challenge, now held in over 60 countries.