RSU launches two new faculties on 6 February

As a result of the internal consolidation that began at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) last year, two new faculties - the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences - will open on 6 February this year. The consolidation will contribute to the improvement and modernisation of the quality of study programmes, strengthen the integration of research into studies, reduce fragmentation, and increase the number of students at the new faculties.

The changes have been introduced gradually throughout January without affecting the study process. The winter graduation on 9 February will be held using the previous faculty structure. The official opening of the Faculty of Social Sciences will take place on Wednesday, 7 February at 16.00 in the lobby of the RSU main building at Dzirciema iela 16 (read more).

The Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences will now comprise six departments, which were previously part of the Faculty of Rehabilitation and the Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare, as well as the RSU Liepāja branch, the Psychology Laboratory, and the RSU Red Cross Medical College.

The Dean of the new Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences Prof. Inga Millere: 'The majority of study programmes in health care, as well as in other fields, will now be under the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences.

The structure of the new faculty will enable the development of interdisciplinarity and increase opportunities for collaboration between students, lecturers, departments and study programmes,

and not only broaden the offer in education through the creation of new, interdisciplinary study courses and study programmes, but also create a state-of-the-art environment for developing new scientific ideas.'

The Faculty of Social Sciences has also undergone major changes. It is the first in Latvia that will use an innovative structure moving away from the traditional system of departments. Study programmes will be merged into seven study programme groups:

• Business and Economics (programme group leader: Ph.D. Romāns Putāns)
• Internal Security (programme group leader: Ph.D. Lidija Juļa)
• Communication and Media (programme group leader: Lāsma Šķestere)
• Psychology (programme group leader: Dr. psych. Sandra Mihailova)
• International Politics and Society Studies (programme group leader: Lelde Metla–Rozentāle)
• Law (programme group leader: Dr.iur. Inga Kudeikina)
• Health Management (programme group leader: Ph.D. Daiga Behmane)

The faculty will also include the RSU student media network Skaļāk, a forensic laboratory, a mock courtroom, the scientific journal Socrates, as well as a new unit designed to support and integrate research into the study process - the Social Science Research Centre. The centre will be headed by Ph.D. Ieva Puzo. To ensure the quality of education, the faculty has also created a new post, which will be taken on by Līga Ozoliņa - the Head of Curriculum Quality Development.

Dean of the new Faculty of Social Sciences Assoc. Prof. Karina Palkova: 'Together with a strong team, and drawing on the experience of some of the best universities in the world - the University at Buffalo and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - we have built a faculty of the future.

The new faculty will focus on interdisciplinarity in the study process and in research, something that is in high demand today.

The RSU Faculty of Social Sciences is an ambitious faculty, providing answers to big, global questions, and offering solutions for the development of society in the long term.'