On 6 June, President of Latvia Egils Levits visited the Latvian History Institute of the University of Latvia to discuss current research plans and meet with the staff of the Institute.
Dr. hist. Gvido Straube, Director of the Institute, and President of Latvia discussed lack of base funding for history research, selection criteria for history research projects funded by national research programmes, as well as fundamental and applied research programmes.
‘Latvian people and state need research and deeper understanding of national history. And each new generation of historians is expected to analyse the national history over and over again – that is why it needs adequate funding,’ President of Latvia said.
Meeting also focused on research funding policy, strengthening of Latvian in academic use and modern approaches to history communication that are expected to enhance awareness among history policy-makers and public. According to Institute’s staff, Latvia does not have a coherent policy for strengthening research cooperation on the Baltic level, which is essential in implementing regional research programmes on subjects of common interest.
