Active cooperation between the two universities has been going on for quite some time and a detailed merger plan is currently being developed.
RTA students are already cooperating with the Technical University and told Latvian Radio they were looking forward to the merger.
Active cooperation is also taking place at the management level of the two universities and, as RTA Rector Iveta Mietule emphasized, although it is a little more than half a year until the merger, some of the issues related to this process have already been resolved, though some still need to be resolved.
"Currently, there is the first stage, which, in my opinion, is progressing successfully. All the research grants have been launched, they amount to several million, which will certainly strengthen this scientific capacity for Rēzekne. But, of course, we still have to improve the study process and adjust various systems...
Absolutely nothing will change for the students, except that those who will graduate in the summer will have a diploma from Riga Technical University. They retain all contracts, contract conditions, as well as study programs for those who have already started studying.
What we have started talking about with Riga Technical University is that there could also be separate study programs that are currently implemented only at RTU, but which could also be implemented in Rēzekne in certain cases, taking into account the demand from entrepreneurs, from industries that then at that moment, the labor market in Latgale needs it," explained Mietule.
Last weekend RTA was visited by a RTU working group consisting of more than 30 people. Rector of the university Tālis Juhna emphasized that the main emphasis of the technical university is on STEM sciences – engineering, technology, natural sciences, and the aim of the university is to establish a stronger representation of these in the regions.
"We are now working on the last paragraphs of the cooperation agreement. In the next month, that work will be concluded, where it will be agreed how this merger will take place from a formal point of view. As the rector already mentioned, work is now underway in various working groups. The administration is working, the scientific directions are being compared.
"Our plan today is to talk about the nuances that have not been discussed. We are 33 people here and in separate offices, the IT departments communicate with each other, where we will start working on such detailed issues in the improvement of the study process, programs. This work will begin when we have already united," explained Juhna.
Another regional university – Liepāja University – was added to RTU as a separate structural unit in March of this year.
