On 25 April, President of Latvia Egils Levits met with university council members nominated by him at the beginning of 2022 to discuss what councils have already started working on and what are their next priorities. One of the key issues discussed was drafting of university development strategies, fostering of international dimension and how to raise funding for higher education and science.
Council members told President of Latvia about management and administrative decisions taken by councils to tackle issues such as composition of councils and efficient cooperation with university management and staff. All participants underlined the need to create close cooperation between all university councils for exchange of relevant experience. This is crucial for councils to meet their goals in terms of boosting modernisation and competitiveness of universities. President could also support such network by inviting its members to regular meetings.
President Levits was keen to find out more about council member views on internationalisation of Latvian universities, including attraction of guest professors from abroad and Latvian diaspora researchers in both the academic and research projects. Everyone agreed that Latvia is a small country and thus its universities have to clearly define the strategic areas in which they cooperate and areas in which they freely compete because closer cooperation between academic staff and researchers can significantly boost the quality of education and research in Riga and regions.
Another topic discussed during the meeting was insufficient public funding for higher education and science, which is from strategic, future and sustainability point of view absolutely crucial for Latvia as a modern and developed 21st century nation. President of Latvia has repeatedly stressed that although research funding has increased in 2022, which is a positive trend, adequate funding for science, technological innovations and better education should be a strong priority in each year’s budget.
When nominating his representatives to university councils President of Latvia Egils Levits has repeatedly indicated that higher education and research are the main drivers of national growth and one of the main tasks of these councils is to define the university development strategies. ‘The main task of research universities is to offer internationally competitive higher education and scientific innovations that meet top standards of excellence and quality, and a good mix of fundamental and applied research. Moreover, University of Latvia also has a specific mission at the national level as it is responsible for strengthening and promoting the development of Latvia as a nation state, with special focus on social, human and legal sciences. Art and culture universities play a similar role. They, too, promote Latvian culture, continuity of national traditions and innovation creation. Applied universities, on the other hand, are mainly responsible for professional training of experts that our society and economy needs. They are also designed to excel at applied research by building appropriate capacities,’ President said.
President of Latvia met with thew following university council members at the Riga Castle: Andris Ambainis, Council of Riga Technical University, Andris Grafs, Council of Liepāja University, Arnis Sauka, Council of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Dace Melbārde, Council of Latvian Academy of Culture, Kristaps Klauss, Council of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, Kaspars Putniņš, Council of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, Laimdota Straujuma, Council of the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Mārtiņš Bičevskis, BA School of Business and Finance, Reinis Bērziņš, Council of Riga Stradiņš University, Sandra Rozenštoka, Council of Latvian Academy of Sport Education, Toms Torims, Council of the Daugavpils University, and Valts Ernštreits, Council of the Art Academy of Latvia.
