The Vilnius City Municipality has announced the 2026 scholarship competition for researchers of Vilnius history and invites applications for studies exploring the history of Vilnius, collective memory, the city’s identity, and its transformation.
Applications may be submitted from April 20 to May 28, 2026.
The aim of the scholarships is to encourage interest in the history of Vilnius, foster the city’s identity, and contribute to the understanding and dissemination of important historical events, phenomena, personalities, and their activities.
The scholarships are awarded once a year to scholars, researchers, and their organizations in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and other academic fields. Applications may be submitted by representatives of Lithuanian universities, research institutes, research centers, and other scientific and educational institutions and organizations. The same individual or organization may receive the scholarship no more than three times.
The list of proposed research topics for 2026 covers a very broad spectrum—from the history of Vilnius districts, streets, marketplaces, healthcare institutions, and the city’s waters to the citizens of the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Sąjūdis movement in Vilnius, women’s history, art patronage, subcultures, and food culture.
This year’s competition includes two topics related to nightlife in Vilnius: nightlife in Vilnius, and subcultures in Vilnius during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods.
Researchers and organizations are invited to submit applications on these topics and contribute to the exploration of Vilnius’s still under-researched nightlife, alternative scenes, subcultures, and social history.
This is an opportunity not only to document an important but often disappearing part of the city’s memory, but also to better understand how Vilnius’s nightlife, communities, and cultural movements shaped the city during different periods.
The full list of 2026 research topics and the competition conditions can be found here.
