Until 26 April, interested persons can apply to the open competition for four tenure-track professorships in engineering and technology, as well as economics and entrepreneurship, announced by Riga Technical University (RTU). RTU has already elected seven tenure-track professors.
The following tenure-track professorships are open for competition:
Tenure-track professorships are open to candidates with a PhD, at least three years' experience as an associate professor or professor, and internationally recognised experience in their field, who are conducting state-of-the-art research and providing high-quality studies in their field of study.
Tenure-track professors selected through a competitive procedure will be confirmed for a period of two years. If they receive a positive evaluation at the end of this period, their contract will be renewed indefinitely. They will receive a fixed, competitive salary of €6050 per month before tax.
The tenure-track professorship, introduced in Latvia in 2022, is a special incentive system for professors to support high-calibre scientists and promote excellence in science at the university level. RTU was the first higher education institution in Latvia to introduce a tenure system to specifically motivate the best professors to attract and retain them at RTU. The tenure system has been successfully implemented in many European countries. It provides that elected academic staff will be given an indefinite contract of employment upon obtaining a certain academic position, such as Associate Professor or Professor, and meeting certain professional and scientific qualification criteria.
This system is one of the solutions for developing human capital in research and innovation. In particular, it opens up more opportunities to attract the best local and foreign academics to Latvian science and education through competitions. The presence of world-class science and the transfer of this knowledge to students is important both for the development of research and for the creation of new and competitive start-ups.