The rectors of technical universities in the Baltic countries meet in Riga, agree on even closer cooperation in studies and science, become acquainted with RTU’s laboratories, and participated in RTU's 161st anniversary celebrations.
Management representatives of Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian technical universities - Vilnius Gediminas University of Technology (VilniusTech), Kaunas University of Technology, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) and RTU - discussed ways to improve regional excellence in science and identified key areas where all partners would be interested in cooperation - particle physics, physics, wood chemistry, bioenergetics, energy, and power electronics.
Participants also discussed how to promote cooperation in maritime education, as the Latvian Maritime Academy and the Liepāja Maritime College have been added during the consolidation of RTU higher education. TalTech has also included maritime education for several years, while VilniusTech maritime education will soon be added.
The leaders of the Baltic universities also discussed the possibility of creating joint courses that will allow doctoral students to learn the skills of writing dissertations, a proposal was made to introduce a second doctoral supervisor from abroad, and the need for universities to share various types of data on studies and research activity was identified. The guests also had the opportunity to visit the RTU Science and Innovation Center and discussed possible cooperation and the need to create a common innovation ecosystem of Baltic universities.
Since the BALTECH meeting took place during RTU's birthday, the guests also participated in RTU's anniversary events. For example, the perspective of the Baltic universities was outlined in their speeches at the plenary session of RTU's 64th international scientific conference. Kaunas University of Technology rector Eugenijus Valatka raised questions about the strategic development directions of the innovation ecosystem at his university, while Dalius Navakauskas, vice-rector of science and innovation of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, shared his experience on promoting research and development capacity, while Tallinn University of Technology rector, Tiit Land, announced the latest strategic achievements of the university. Meanwhile, Jari Hämäläinen, vice-rector of science and innovation at Finland’s Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, shared his thoughts on the university's place in international rankings from a researcher's perspective.
BALTECH was established to coordinate cooperation between regional universities in the field of natural sciences and technologies in higher education and research.
