Latvia, Riga
Riga Technical University (RTU) is a Latvian higher education institution and research organisation. Its goal is to be a modern and prestigious university, widely recognised as a top institution for science and innovation in the Baltic States – a cornerstone for Latvia’s development. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Eastern Europe (founded in 1862) and the largest technical university in the Baltic republics. RTU is a globally recognised European university committed to quality education, excellent research and sustainable use. It is divided into nine faculties: Architecture and Urban Planning, Civil Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Electronics and Telecommunications, Energy and Electrical Engineering, Engineering Economics and Management (FEEM), Materials Science and Applied Chemistry, Transport and Mechanical Engineering, and the Faculty of E-Learning Technologies and Humanities. The faculties are organised into six broader research platforms: Energy and Environment, Cities and Development, Information and Communications Technology, Transport, Materials and Processes, and Security and Defence. There are about 1100 academic and research staff. RTU has about 15,000 students, including 2,763 international students enrolled in dedicated full-time and part-time programmes. It operates its own engineering school, which is a leader among secondary schools in the country in terms of academic performance. RTU operates four Study and Science Centres campuses outside the capital Riga at four other locations in Latvia. RTU has received high marks from foreign experts in European University Association’s (EUA) Institutional Evaluation Programme, who noted in their assessment that RTU is strategically on its way to becoming a third-generation modern entrepreneurial university. RTU publishes its own academic journals on various topics. RTU’s strategy is based on six key pillars: Internationalisation, Digitalization, Interdisciplinarity, Organisational Efficiency, Financial Efficiency and Infrastructural Efficiency. It is now formulating a new strategy in the light of global developments and trends. Over the past decade, the RTU has placed emphasis on promoting the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. The RTU invests in the development of a modern innovation environment and provides students with practical experience, i.e. the RTU Design Factory has been built on global best practices and models. The RTU Design Factory is not about lecturing and imparting knowledge but about learning through experience. RTU is ranked as one of the top 500 higher education institutions in the world in engineering and technologies by QS World University Rankings. It won the first prize in the competition for the best educational institution conducted by companies in Latvia and the platinum category award in a sustainability index survey of Latvian companies.
Role of RTU in the Project :
In the MOOW CODE project, RTU will be responsible for sharing and promotion activities (together with UNINA). RTU will also be the PR leader in the coordination of Pilot MOOW 2, implemented in all three partner universities. Furthermore, it will provide help in other PRs as well. Key people involved in the project:
MODRIS OZOLINS Modris Ozolins is the coordinator of CVC at RTU, and Director of the International Program Department, Director of the Latvian-Norwegian MBA programme Innovation and Entrepreneurship (he is one of the co-founders of the program). Modris has been working for RTU for 30 years, fulfilling different administrative, academic and research positions. Some of those positions are: Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Economics of Riga Technical University; Director of the RTU Riga Business School, the first American style MBA program in Latvia; Vice- Rector for Business Liaison and Development of RTU. Modris is active in promoting management education internationally. For 10 years, he had been a board member of CEEMAN (ceeman.org). He is a founding member and a board member of BMDA (bmda.net). Mr. Ozolins is regularly participating in international projects as an expert and leader.
ELINA GAILE-SARKANE Professor Elina Gaile-Sarkane has more than 20 years of experience in innovation and entrepreneurship. Contributing to the development of an international research network and for strengthening research capacity, Dr. Gaile-Sarkane has been a leader as well as the project manager of several scientific international and EU projects, including Erasmus +. Elina has been involved in 9 international projects since 2012 (and 22 since 2001), dealing with management, innovation and technology transfer, entrepreneurship as well as developing and enhancing leadership skills for young managers. Elinas’ research topics are in management, innovation and technology transfer, entrepreneurship and various aspects of higher education systems and regional policies. Elina, in addition to her PhD has a Bachelor degree in Applied Sciences (Bachelor degree in Chemical Industry) which gives a combination of competence in the field of innovation, management and business.
INGA LAPIŅA Professor Inga Lapiņa has more than 23 years of experience in HE quality assurance. Participated as an expert, leading researcher and project manager in more than 20 international projects promoting interdisciplinary and inter[1]sectoral international cooperation and research with significant contribution to the quality management and development and improvement of the higher education system. The main research areas are quality management, corporate social responsibility, quality of education, and the development of human and intellectual capital. For example, the main project related researches “Student as Stakeholder: “Voice of Customer” in Higher Education Quality Development”, “The Transformation of the Organization’s Intellectual Capital: from Resource to Capital” ( see more ). Since 2008, has gained extensive international experience in more than 20 working groups of experts on quality evaluation of higher education institutions, study directions and study programs, including participation in expert groups of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education of Lithuania and International Quality Accreditation (IQA) CEEMAN. Currently works as Vice-Chair of the Study Quality Commission in Latvia. Has significant experience in Latvian and international organisations, e.g., member of the Task Force “Science and Technology Education for the 21st Century” at CESAER – The Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research and member of the American Society for Quality.
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