Research

Research Integrity

RTU complies with The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (ALLEA (2023) The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity – Revised Edition 2023. Berlin. DOI 10.26356/ECOC) adopted by All European Academies (ALLEA). This document serves the European research community as a framework for self-regulation. The European Commission recognises the Code as the reference document for research integrity for all EU-funded research projects.

Preamble
Research is the quest for knowledge obtained through systematic study, thinking, observation, and experimentation. While different disciplines may use different approaches, they each share the motivation to increase our understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. Therefore, “The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity” applies to research in all scientific and scholarly fields. Research is a common enterprise, carried out by many different actors in academic, industry, and other settings. It involves collaboration, direct or indirect, which often transcends social, political, and cultural boundaries. It is underpinned by the freedom to define research questions and develop theories, gather empirical evidence, and employ appropriate methods in an impartial way. Therefore, research draws on the work of the community of researchers and should develop independently of pressure from commissioning parties and from ideological, economic, or political interests. Research integrity is crucial to preserving the trustworthiness of the research system and its results. It encompasses the basic responsibility of the research community to formulate the principles of research, to define the criteria for proper research behaviour, to maximise the quality, reliability, and robustness of research and its results, and to respond adequately to threats to, or violations of, good research practices. Research results in this context include, but are not limited to, publications, data, metadata, protocols, code, software, images, artefacts, and other research materials and methods. The primary purpose of this European Code of Conduct is to help realise this responsibility and to serve the research community as a framework for self-regulation. The research community encompasses a broad range of stakeholders including individual researchers, research teams, and research support staff. It also includes the institutions and organisations that enable research, such as research performing organisations, research funders, academies, learned societies, editors and publishers, and other relevant bodies. The European Code of Conduct describes professional, legal, societal, ethical, and moral responsibilities of the different actors in different settings, including those who define and implement the priorities and criteria for research funding, assessment, and publication. It acknowledges the role of institutions and organisations in facilitating good research practices through appropriate policies, processes, resources, and infrastructure. Interpretation of the values and principles that regulate research may be affected by social, political, or technological developments and by changes in the research environment. Such changes since the 2017 edition of the European Code of Conduct include the development and application of technologies in research in new ways, and the use and impact of social media to share and disseminate research results. The 2023 edition also takes account of changes in data management practices, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and recent developments in Open Science and research assessment. The 2023 edition of the European Code of Conduct also reflects a new awareness of the importance of research culture in enabling research integrity and implementing good research practices. An effective European Code of Conduct for the research community promotes an ethical mindset. Its principles are relevant across the research system and in all disciplines and are applicable to publicly funded and private research. It can be the basis for local, national, and disciplinespecific policies and guidelines, and applies to existing and new research practices such as citizen science or participatory research. Each stakeholder within the research community needs to take active responsibility for observing and promoting these practices and the principles that underpin them.
Principles

Good research practices are based on fundamental principles of research integrity. They guide individuals, institutions, and organisations in their work as well as in their engagement with the practical, ethical, and intellectual challenges inherent in research.

These principles include:

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

Research platforms

Research at RTU is organized on six research platforms. The objective of research platforms is to ensure multi-faculty and interdisciplinary research in the areas of great significance for the national economy and society.  Active and continuous analysis of market needs and commercial potential takes place within the research platforms.

Doctoral studies

RTU implements 21 accredited Doctoral study programmes in engineering, natural sciences, architecture, social and service sciences

Post-doctoral Research

A postdoctoral researcher is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pursue additional research, training, or teaching in order to have better skills to pursue a career in academia, research, or any other fields.

Research Activities

The most significant international research in the last 20 years has been conducted within the framework projects of the European Commission and Horizon2020 projects. Since 2015 RTU has been implementing two projects funded by the European Space Agency. In 2016 RTU started the first research project in cooperation with the European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN.

Open science

Open Access is the European initiative with the goal to promote and support free open access to electronic resources in education and academic environment.

Publications

Every year RTU scientists, academic staff, Doctoral students, and Master students publish their work results in scientific publications in Latvia and abroad.

Intelectual property

Technology and Knowledge Transfer Centre (TKTC) is responsible for the protection and management of intellectual property.

Scientific Events

This section provides information about all scientific conferences organized by RTU, as well as about research achievements of RTU researchers and students. You will also find information about RTU researchers, who received awards from the European and Latvian institutions.

Center of High Energy Physics and Accelerator Technologies

The Center of High-Energy Physics and Accelerator Technology is a department at the Riga Technical University (RTU). Our researchers are working on various projects in both fundamental and applied science. The fundamental research is carried out at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of the four major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator situated at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland.

RTU Press

The Riga Technical University Press is a leader in science and engineering publishing in Latvia. Its mission is to produce and deliver scientific literature to the students and faculties of RTU. It was established in 1965 as the publishing and printing department at the Riga Polytechnic Institute, and its major publishing language at the time was Russian. Now its major publishing languages are Latvian and English.

Contacts

Scientific Equipment Unit

Ensures efficient and expedient use of scientific infrastructure and its development, including the management of the UseScience database and organises activities of the supercomputing or HPC Centre