Three Education Leaders from RSU to Participate in Massachusetts Institute of Technology Training Programme with ERDF Support

To strengthen digitisation, innovation, and internal governance processes at Latvian universities, 17 Latvian education leaders and representatives from companies related to promoting education will participate in a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) international training programme with the financial support of the European Regional Development Fund. Among them are three Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) employees:

Minister of Education and Science Anita Muižniece: ‘I am convinced that this training programme will strengthen the knowledge of the heads of higher education institutions in how to achieve strategic goals. It will also bring the sector closer to the goals outlined in the university reform namely, to increase the role of universities in developing the national economy and civil society. The pilot group consists of 17 participants, but I hope that the number of participants will grow in the future and strengthen the necessary knowledge in a wider range of industry representatives.’

The plan is to implement the programme in several phases, to train up to 66 higher education experts, and business and public administration managers over three years, and to establish a higher education competence centre with the aim of promoting innovation in education and transfer of international experience.

The first 17 participants will form a pilot group. The participants were selected through interviews and represent the largest Latvian research universities, as well as companies and ministries involved in the day-to-day development of education processes.

The programme will provide education leaders with MIT training over several months. This will include at least two international webinars, access to the MIT Horizon content library, access to the J-Wel materials library, training in one of EdX’s online courses on innovation and education management, and the MIT J-WEL Centre’s international workshops on education and digitisation management. At the end of the programme, participants will present on knowledge transfer and innovation implementation. The programme includes an experience exchange trip to MIT in Boston in early May and participation in the Times Higher Education Digital Universities Week.

MIT has been the leading education and research institution in the world for many decades and aims to support other universities and build their capacity. That is why MIT has created a special unit, the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab (J-WEL). J-WELpromotes global cooperation and offers its members (which includes Riga Technical University, RTU) various educational activities (like seminars, research support, information exchange events) for teaching staff, researchers, decision makers, and industry representatives.

The training programme in Latvia is delivered and coordinated by Riga Business School and Latvia is MIT’s first national cooperation partner in Europe. The training project is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and the funding for the training is EUR 700,000 (ERDF project No. 1.1.1.5/18/I/008 Support for RTU International Cooperation Projects in Research and Innovation).

Further information about the project