On Thursday, 16 September, Riga Technical University (RTU) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with one of the world’s leading technology universities - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It gives Latvia the opportunity to join a global community of higher education academic staff, technology experts, researchers and policy experts and, with the support of MIT, to build an innovation and research ecosystem in Latvia. The signing of the agreement took place during a visit of the Ministry of Education and Science and RTU administration to the USA from 13 to 17 September, visiting the University at Buffalo and MIT.
MIT has been a leading education and research institution in the world for many decades and its aim is to support and strengthen the capacity of other universities. That is why MIT has created a special structural unit, the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL), which promotes global cooperation and offers its members, as RTU has become, various educational activities - seminars, research support, information exchange events that are available for the academic staff, researchers, decision-makers, industry representatives.
The Memorandum foresees that MIT support will be available to any Latvian higher education institution, as an international centre of excellence in education and innovation will be established in Latvia. Its mission will be to use MIT support to promote educational excellence, the transfer of international best practice, digital transformation and introduce reforms in Latvian higher education. The activities of the Centre will be implemented by RTU Riga Business School (RBS) in cooperation with MIT.
«It is a great recognition for RTU and Latvia that we are becoming members of an elite higher education community and will be able to gain knowledge and experience from some of the world’s most distinguished academics and scientists. We must use this opportunity to strengthen higher education and science in Latvia that would allow us to compete more on a global scale,» said RTU Rector Leonīds Ribickis.
Minister of Education and Science Anita Muižniece noted: «Cooperation with global centres of research excellence is important for the development of higher education and science in Latvia. I am pleased that Latvian scientists, decision-makers and representatives of high-tech industries will have the opportunity to acquire high-level skills, which will then be used in the development of the Latvian economy.»
The Memorandum was signed by RTU Rector Leonīds Ribickis, with the participation of the Director of the Department of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the Ministry of Education and Science Dmitrijs Stepanovs, RTU Vice-Rector for Strategic Development Artūrs Zeps, Director of RTU RBS Jānis Grēviņš and Director of Technology Department at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia Lauma Muižniece.
RTU has a 30-year partnership with the University at Buffalo, since RTU founded RBS in 1991 in collaboration with the University at Buffalo and the University of Ottawa in Canada.
RTU RBS is also one of the few European higher education institutions that in collaboration with MIT offers students international study courses and enhance their competitiveness in financial management, logistics systems and supply chain management, statistics and data analytics.
Information was provided by Riga Technical University.