Support for involving doctoral students in scientific research and studies

The project is being implemented in cooperation with the Latvian Academy of Sport Education (LASE).

The project will provide RSU and LASE students with doctoral study grants through a competition that aims to promote defending doctoral theses and obtaining a doctoral degree. Doctoral students will be given employment contracts and be considered equal partners in research and studies, thus facilitating the doctoral students' being included in the academic environment. In addition to a salary, doctoral students will be provided funding for research work and mobility. In order to ensure critical mass and create a dynamic research environment, RSU will cooperate with the strongest scientific institute in Latvia, the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis (LIOS). A cooperation with LASE is planned in order to ensure a more successful implementation of this project, to share resources and experience in the implementation of doctoral programmes and the development plan for doctoral studies.

International teaching staff will be involved in implementing doctoral programmes to increase their competitiveness and promote international cooperation.

Project activities

Project activity	Result	Results in numbers
		Amount		Unit
Involving doctoral students in studies or scientific research	Number of doctoral students involved in studies or scientific research	27		Doctoral students
Emplying international academic staff	Number of international academic staff members involved in work in higher education institution	3		International academic staff
Ensuring project management and project implementation	Projects implemented	1		Project
Information and publicity measures on the project implementation	Publicity ensured	1		Set of events

News

29 June 2023

The PhD thesis contracts for the two participants will expire on 30.06.2023. The thesis defences are scheduled until the end of the project. A total of eight theses have been defended so far and all eight degree holders will be elected and/or re-elected to higher academic positions by the end of the project. Visiting Associate Professor Feras A. Batarseh from the USA visited Riga to meet with RSU researchers, degree candidates, academic staff and discuss further cooperation opportunities. RSU plans to continue cooperation with both visiting professors in the autumn semester.

29 March 2023

18 PhD students/degree candidates are continuing their thesis work. Three PhD theses have been defended and all three participants have been elected to academic positions; the exact dates for the thesis defences of two more RSU and two LASE project participants are known and it is expected that they will also be elected/re-elected to higher positions upon completion of their degrees. In February, Feras A. Batarseh, a visiting assistant professor from the USA, started working at the RSU DSP Social Sciences.

29 December 2022

Employment contracts with 13 more doctoral students (12 from RSU and 1 from the Latvian Academy of Sport Education) have been signed. They will work on their doctoral theses as part of the project. Two project participants from RSU have been elected to academic positions after obtaining their degrees. One participant has defended her thesis, obtained a doctoral degree, and is expected to be elected to an academic position. In December, a visiting assistant professor from Cyprus started working in the field of psycho-oncology in the health care doctoral programme, and employment relations with the visiting assistant professor in the social sciences doctoral programme are being formalised.

29 September 2022

The final reports of all 26 project participants on their work on the project have been evaluated. Some of the participants approved in the first call for proposals have had their employment with the project extended in order to complete their work. The evaluation of the applications received for the 2nd call for proposals has been completed and all applications received from both RSU and LASE PhD students have been approved for participation. The conclusion of employment contracts for the start of the project has started.

Negotiations with a visiting professor from the USA for a job in the social sciences doctoral programme at RSU are currently underway. The search for a visiting professor for the health care doctoral programme at RSU is ongoing – the advertisement will be updated and re-posted. A visiting professor started working in the health care doctoral programme at LASE in September.

29 June 2022

The first project contracts have been signed and the defence of two doctoral theses has taken place. The project board has carried out the first evaluation of the work that has been done. Theses and related research work continues to be developed. Advertisements were placed on the Euraxess portal, and an application was received and evaluated for a visiting professor to start working at RSU in the autumn. The advertisement for the vacancy in the social sciences doctoral programme was re-posted. Another call for applications is planned together with LASE.

29 March 2022

Communication is ongoing with the RSU Department of Doctoral Studies about recruiting foreign academic staff for the autumn semester health care and social sciences doctoral programmes. Advertisements to be placed on the EURAXESS portal are being coordinated.

Thesis development and research work is ongoing. The first doctoral thesis has been submitted for defence at RSU.

The project board has met to discuss the project’s progress and future plans. It is foreseen that a new call for RSU students will be launched at the end of the summer.

Information published on 29 March 2022

29 December 2021

All 25 doctoral students from RSU and two doctoral students from LASE who are involved in the project have either been transferred to the next academic year or have successfully completed the doctoral programme. Research and thesis development is ongoing. The funds that are earmarked for research have been used to purchase reagents, to participate in scientific conferences and training courses, and to publish scientific publications.

Information published on 29 December 2021

29 September 2021

Employment contracts have been concluded with all the doctoral students approved in the announced competition, doctoral theses are being developed and the research activities related to them are being provided. At the end of the study year, doctoral students attend the meetings of the Committee to evaluate their research activity. At these meetings the design and progress of their doctoral theses are presented to the Committee’s members. Doctoral students of all study years participate in these meetings. The composition of the Committees has been approved by a decree from the Vice-Rector for Science in accordance with the specifics of the doctoral study programme. After receiving the evaluation from the Committee members, doctoral students are either transferred to the next study year, or are excluded from the list of students after successfully mastering the DSP. The results are currently being summarised.

Within the framework of the project, the reagents necessary for the doctoral students research have been purchased at this stage, publication in a journal has been provided and participation in remote courses related to research topics has been ensured.

Information published on 29 September 2021

29 June 2021

A competition was launched at the end of April to select doctoral students’ applications for the project. In total, RSU and the Latvian Academy of Sport Education received 41 applications, including 28 in the field of medicine and medical sciences and 12 in the field of social sciences. All the applications that were received and the work plans that were submitted by doctoral students were evaluated by the Project Council.

27 doctoral students were approved for participation. A cooperation agreement has been concluded with the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, as one of the approved doctoral students will develop the doctoral thesis at the institute.

Currently, employment contracts have been concluded with all the approved doctoral students.

Information published on 29 June 2021