NEWS

Study in Latvia, Europe! The application process has started!

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences invites prospective students to submit applications for studies at ViA:

Bachelor's level: Information Technologies, Tourism and organization management
Master's level: Business Environment Administration, Cybersecurity Engineering, Media and Information Literacy, Strategic Communication and Governance, Virtual Reality and Smart Technologies, Tourism Competitiveness ManagementGamified Reality Applications For Real-World Challenges And Experiences (Grace)
Doctoral level: Economics and Business, Sociotechnical Systems Modelling

Great location, job opportunities, lecturers who are industry professionals, scholarships available for each study program, all the necessary equipment for practical work, and much more can be found with us.

“I like the approach this university takes to my courses and professional growth. Professors at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences have always helped me grow my knowledge, and the program is a perfect match for my career goals. Studying Cybersecurity Engineering has helped with both my academic and professional development,” said Mefat, a full-time student and now an alumnus from Albania.

APPLICATION DEADLINES for AUTUMN 2025:

  • Non-EU, Non-EEA applicants (Bachelor's, Master's, Doctoral level): March 1 - May 31 (Scholarships covering tuition fees are available to non-EU, non-EEA students for these programs.)
  • EU/EEA/Swiss Confederation applicants (Bachelor’s): March 1 - July 22 (Students are eligible to apply for Latvian state-funded study placements.)
  • EU/EEA/Swiss Confederation applicants (Master's): March 1 - August 17 (Students are eligible to apply for Latvian state-funded study placements.)

All eligible students are invited to apply for the Latvian State Scholarship. The application deadline for the academic year 2025/2026 is April 1, 2025.

Apply here: Apply online! - Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences

 

The blended intensive program “Data Unlocked: Mastering Data Analysis Methods and Storytelling” brought together students from all Europe

From 10 to 14 February a blended intensive program for students - BIP - "Data Unlocked: Mastering Data Analysis Methods and Storytelling" took place at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA).

During the week, the participants held various seminars and workshops focusing on quantitative and qualitative data processing methods, as well as scientific communication – storytelling and also improving presentation skills. Students practically worked with publicly available data, which is another objective of the program – to get acquainted with different data types and understand the use of open data in research. Before receiving the certificate, students gave a report – a presentation on the results on the closing day, so that they could immediately apply the skills learned during the intensive week.

During the week, the students worked with various experts that also evaluated their work. Among them were Jānis Buholcs, Associate Professor in Dr. Psych., Vineta Silkāne, Lecturer, Liene Ločmele, as well as external experts – sociologist, PhD. Luīze Ratniece and Darja Aksionova, Senior Expert of the European National Contact Point of the Latvian Science Council, Department for International Cooperation.

Reviewing the event, Information and Communication Technologies study field director Māra Arāja stated: “It is a pleasure to see that past researchers are deeply interested in various data analysis methods. Participants had to work very intensively in order to get a comprehensive understanding of both quantitative and qualitative data processing methods in a short period of time. I believe that this has also opened them up to a broader view of potential research methods to use in their work. It is pleasant to receive feedback that this week has helped with ideas on how to continue developing your bachelor's or master's theses, created new research opportunities and quite simply – learned to “date” less.”

 

EUDRES

ViA research assistant gains knowledge and inspiration at conference “Nordic hydrogen solutions for our common future”

At the end of January, Dace Dance, a research assistant at HESPI at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA), participated in a conference at Lulea Technical University in Sweden to get acquainted with the latest discoveries of Nordic researchers in the development and opportunities of the hydrogen industry. During the conference, she learned about the current research topics in the Scandinavian region in this field and listened to the latest research results of leading experts.

The topic of hydrogen is closely related to the research project "Coastal fishing vessels powered by zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells", which is being implemented by researchers from Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Riga Technical University and the Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre in cooperation with entrepreneurs from Latvia and France.

During the conference, answers were sought to several questions, such as what are the drivers and obstacles to the development of clean hydrogen? What is the best thing to do on a Nordic scale to ensure faster development of hydrogen value chains? How to strengthen the connections between different stakeholders? What are the main challenges from technological, environmental, human resources and other aspects?

“It was a very broad and informative Nordic conference on the topic of hydrogen. Events, presentations and working groups analyzed the current situation from all aspects, as well as looked at the main challenges and future opportunities. Each researcher created a small but significant analysis of the field with their work, which together gave the opportunity to look at the hydrogen industry from a very broad and imaginative perspective. A great benefit was also the fact that the conference was attended not only by representatives of universities, but also by researchers, experts, industry developers and experts from other related fields from private institutes,” says Dace Dance, scientific assistant at ViA HESPI.

A consensus was observed at the conference that pure hydrogen is an essential component in moving from fossil fuels to a green way of obtaining energy. “The use of hydrogen was discussed from various aspects, starting with materials science - what is currently relevant, what is being studied, for example, how to obtain this hydrogen, which of the methods of obtaining it are environmentally friendly and which are not, which technologies have potential at the initial stage or at least theoretically can be calculated to have benefits,” continues D.Dance.

Attention was also paid to aspects such as the storage and transportation of hydrogen energy and which sectors could be the first to switch to this energy. The biggest beneficiaries were also assessed, including the need to have educated specialists with appropriate competences and skills in this area. Knowledge exchange and dialogue took place in several panel discussions with researchers and experts. Sigrid Lædre, Senior Researcher at SINTEF and Project Manager of NordicH2ubs, linked the lack of political dialogue on hydrogen mentioned by Skulason and Lykketoft to the lack of actual knowledge about hydrogen among politicians. “Politicians may have heard about the potential of hydrogen, but they don’t understand how to do it,” said Ledre.

“One of the challenges is that no one really knows where we are going. There needs to be clearer messages from governments – clearly defined directions, rather than general policies and placing responsibility on the industry. In parallel, Vigdis Olden, Senior Researcher at SINTEF and Project Manager of MatHias, stressed how important it is for researchers to communicate in a way that is well understood by politicians and the public. In-depth attention was paid to the public perception of this topic, what is the general mood in the Nordic countries. “There was a lot of talk that the technology is new, but there is already a negative reaction in society,” says D. Dance.

The discussions emphasized that not only public knowledge about hydrogen in general should be increased, but also the level of understanding of politicians about this technology. Speaking of community aspects and citizen engagement and education on the topic of hydrogen, the conference agenda included a session dedicated to the democratic involvement of the indigenous people of the Nordic countries, the Sami, in the development of the future energy source. Stefan Mikaelson, a representative of the Swedish Sami Parliament, Sámedikke, participated in the conference and presented the views and position of the Sami people to the attendees. The dialogue was led by researchers from Scandinavia and Canada - Rasmus Kloker Larsen, Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute, and Michael Ross, Industrial Research Chair in Nordic Energy Innovation at Yukon University. They stressed the importance of listening to and also taking into account the thoughts of indigenous peoples regarding the development of renewable energy and agreeing on a common vision for the future of sustainable development.

“The conference was a breakthrough in the research in the Nordic region specifically on hydrogen in the maritime sector. This will also be useful for the ViA study H2-SEAS, and we will have the opportunity to use the direct contacts gained at the conference for the further development of our project and, possibly, some new forms of cooperation,” reveals D. Dance.

The focus of the ViA project H2-SEAS is on environmental impact and life cycle calculations for a prototype of a small-scale fishing vessel, which is currently still in the development stage. The H2-SEAS consortium offers an affordable, innovative and complete hydrogen-electric solution to accelerate the sustainable transition to zero-emission fishing vessels under 12 meters in length in the North Sea and Baltic Sea basins.

european commision

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences joins international research and assessment coalition

Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA) has joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) on the reform of science assessment, joining the family of higher education institutions, universities and colleges.

“CoARA” is a collective of organizations committed to reforming the methods and processes by which research, researchers and research organizations are assessed. Current research assessment methods rely heavily on publication-based indicators, such as the number of citations, and often fail to recognize the broad contribution of researchers. More than 700 research organizations, funders, assessment institutions, professional societies and their associations have agreed on a common direction and basic principles to implement a reform in the assessment of research, researchers and research organizations.

“With this agreement, we support reforms in the assessment of researchers’ achievements, research projects, and research organizations,” says Kārlis Krēsliņš, Vice-Rector for Academic and Scientific work.

The Agreement focuses on the specific challenges involved in reforming the research assessment of researchers, research projects, research units and research organisations. It does not consider research performance at country level. 

In Latvia, this agreement has also been signed by the Latvian Academy of Arts, the Latvian Council of Higher Education, and the Latvian Council of Science, while in the European Universities Network - E³UDRES² - several partners, such as St. Pōlten University of Applied Sciences in Austria.

 

Project Change (K)Now! online seminar "Reusable Solutions for Large-Scale Events"

On 25 February 2025 at 14:00, the Change (k)now! project will host an online thematic seminar "Reusable Solutions for Large-Scale Events" (in English). Nina Laible, Sustainability Officer at bergmanngruppe (Germany) will share lessons learned from the UEFA EURO Fan Zone, including the strategies used to promote reusable solutions, the design and operation of the comprehensive reusable system, and the challenges faced during implementation.

More information and the registration link is available here.

 

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