Vice President KAMBARA Shinji (International Affairs, Information and (Deputy in Charge for) Evaluation) and Professor MOURI Tetsuya (the Faculty of Engineering), Gifu University held a talk with the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Lithuania in Gifu, Mr. MURASE Yukio on Wednesday, May 31 (at Gifu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gifu Prefecture), and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Dr. Aurelijus Zykas, Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Tokyo on Friday, June 2 to discuss the current state of exchange between the Republic of Lithuania and Gifu University.

Gifu University concluded university-level agreements with Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, in 2012), and Kaunas University of Technology (KTU, in 2010) for the promotion of exchanges between students and faculties. Gifu University is also offering "Lithuania Studies" to students as part of the University-Wide Core Curriculum (Zenkyo) to help students to develop their understanding of Lithuania, and foster human resources to serve as a bridge between Lithuania and Japan in the future.

In spite of the new coronavirus pandemic which started in early 2020, Gifu University and these two universities in Lithuania have been actively engaging in exchange activities which include hosting virtual meetings by GU students and their counterparts in Lithuania.

In the meetings, GU representatives reported about seven GU staff members' visit to VMU and KTU in March, 2023 to discuss the possibility of launching new joint degree programs¹ with VMU, and the continued strong partnership with KTU. During their talks, Mr. Murase touched on the future collaboration between universities and business communities whereas His Excellency Dr. Zykas shared his views on how to reinforce the friendship between Lithuania and Gifu University.

Gifu University continues to build a strong bond with the Republic of Lithuania whose long-standing partnership started with the Japanese diplomat, SUGIHARA Chiune ² who was born in Yaotsu Town, Gifu Prefecture.

1) Joint degree programs offer a student an international graduate school level education that enables him/her to complete master's or PhD studies while being enrolled in Gifu University and its overseas partner universities. A joint diploma is conferred to a student from Gifu University and its overseas partner university.

2) SUGIHARA Chiune (1 January 1900 - 31 July 1986) A Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped between 10,000 and 40,000 Jews leave Lithuania by issuing transit visas so that they could travel to Japanese territory, risking his career and his family's lives.