Excellence in science pays off. Learn about the changes to the Science Motivation Programme!

For the sixth time, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) has evaluated the individual scientific results of its academic staff. The results of scientific activities have been collected and evaluated since 2018.

This year, the results for the previous period were assessed against five criteria, and the results for 2024 will be assessed against these criteria in 2025:

• Publications indicating an affiliation with RSU published in a journal indexed in SCOPUS or Web of Science;
• Total value of contracts awarded for RSU research projects;
• Defended supervised doctoral thesis at RSU;
• Patents owned by RSU;
• Non-approved international project applications to RSU with a positive (above-threshold) rating.

Evaluation criteria and remuneration for 2024 results

On 1 July 2024, changes were made to the criteria and the 'remuneration threshold' which will affect the remuneration in 2025 for the results of 2024:

• Higher remuneration for publications in Q1 journals; no remuneration will be granted for publications in Q4 journals or for publications not indexed in journals;
• Three times higher remuneration for Horizon Europe projects;
• Higher remuneration for non-approved Horizon Europe international project applications where RSU is named as the lead partner;
• Three times higher remuneration for patents registered abroad;
• Increase of the maximum remuneration threshold from EUR 10,000 to EUR 18,000 (from 20 to 36 points).

Number of remuneration recipients and total remunerations have gone up

Looking back at the previous period, 265 colleagues were granted a one-off remuneration for 2023 scientific results according to the total number of points obtained for fulfilling the criteria, including 243 members of the academic staff, or 22.7% of the academic staff at RSU. 22 administrative staff members at RSU also received remuneration. The number of recipients is almost twice as high as in the first year of the evaluation, when the Science Motivation Programme was introduced. Compared to 2018, the total amount of remuneration for the results in 2023 is more than three times higher, i.e. EUR 583,500 before tax. According to the data, almost 40% of RSU academic staff have been engaged in research activities, which is reflected in the 2023 results.

Eleven RSU academic staff members scored at least 20 points against the criteria and received a maximum one-off payment of EUR 10,000.

‘I would like to say a special thank you to our outstanding researchers - our colleagues in the top ten of this list. They inspire and demonstrate that we are capable of producing high quality publications and attracting significant funding for scientific projects.

We will continue to work as a science management team to improve the RSU research environment where all our academics can achieve even greater heights,’

says RSU Vice-Rector for Science Agrita Kiopa.

Evaluation of scientific results is continuously improved

Each year, the criteria are refined considering the results to be achieved in meeting RSU's strategic objectives and the relevance of scientific results in international university rankings.

The evaluation of scientific results is carried out by a broad team including colleagues from the Human Resources Department, the Research Department, the Library, the Development and Project Department, and the Finance Department.

Five criteria of the Science Motivation Programme