RSU students and the Student Union are the big winners of the Latvian Student Union’s Annual Awards

On Saturday 9 February the Student Union of Latvia (SUL) held its annual awards ceremony. The majority of the awards were granted to representatives from Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU): Student of the Year, Young Researcher of the Year, Project of the Year, Councillor of the Year, Activist of the Year, Development of the Year and Student Union of the Year. Additionally the award for Contribution to the Enhancement of Social Life went to the Latvian Junior Doctors’ Association lead by several RSU lecturers and residency students.

The Student of the Year award was presented to 6th year RSU medical student Sandra Cipkina who volunteers at the Sigulda Stereotactic Radiosurgery Centre and works as a research coordinator. Sandra has been actively involved in research for more than three years with a special focus on oncology. She has contributed to the drafting of more than ten scientific research papers in surgery and radiosurgery. Sandra Cipkina was also a leading project manager of the RSU International Student Scientific Conference.

Ieva Bāgante received the award Young Researcher of the Year. Ieva is a lecturer at RSU and a certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon who works at the RSU Institute of Stomatology. In the spring of 2018 Ieva defended her doctoral thesis ‘Nasal Function and Aesthetics in Patients with Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip, Alvelous and Palate.’

The annual award in the Project of the Year category was awarded to the International Student Conference in “Health and Social Sciences” 2018 organised by RSU students. This was the most extensive student event dedicated to science in the Baltic States. For the first time this two-day conference gathered around 2 000 participants and attendees from more than 25 countries and was comparable to other world-renowned student conferences.

The award for Councillor of the Year went to Mārtiņš Danefelds, a representative of the RSU Student Union (SU), while Ksenija Tarasova from RSU SU became Activist of the Year. The award in the category Development of the Year was presented to RSU student Liene Vaivode who was appointed Head of Academic Direction at SUL.

For the second year running the Student Union of the Year award was presented to the RSU Student Union. The RSU SU provides a good example to students from other universities regarding quality of studies, student representation, organisation of cultural events, as well as how they have created a cohesive identity for the university and uphold this both within the student community and on a national level.

The Latvian Junior Doctors’ Association received the award Contribution to the Enhancement of Social Life for their work on reducing the number of duty hours for medical residents. As of this year medical residents will work 11 hours per month in addition to a full workload, instead of the 24 hours they had been working so far. These hours will fall within extended normal working hours and they will be compensated with double pay.

Asnate Kažoka was awarded in the category Senior Member of the Year, while the Student Sponsor of the Year award went to SIA Cannelle Bakery. 

The award in the category Studentu lieta – taisna un cieta!, which is a category meant to support and highlight student action and drive to implement change, went to the roundtable discussions which were held on the improvement of the higher education funding system. They were organised last summer by the SUL and became a major turning point in academic life. The discussions gathered representatives from almost all organisations related to higher education, among them several ministries and representatives from the Saeima. Meetings were held regularly to discuss a report on the higher education funding system drafted by the SUL. An agreement was finally reached to increase scholarship funding, to improve the student loan system and to allocate government-funded study places on the grounds of excellence. Work on these issues is still ongoing.

The award in the category Contribution to the Enhancement of Academic Life went to the amendments of regulations to allow for the implementation of doctoral study programmes in arts based on practice or artistic production. These amendments were initiated in 2016 by the SUL and by students from universities offering study programmes in arts.

Traditionally the award in the category Mess of the Year is also presented by the students. This year the award went to the political parties’ pre-election promises and the sudden shortage of candidates for the position of Minister of Education and Science after the 13th Saeima elections, despite the fact that education, including higher education, was highlighted as a priority by all political parties prior to the elections.

The awards were presented in 13 categories overall. The winners were selected by students, student unions, the SUL Board and external experts. The award presentation ceremony was held in the Art Academy of Latvia.