Qualitative education is a process that allows university graduates to become high-level competitive specialists who can easily find a job and receive a competitive salary. This is how Riga Technical University rector Tālis Juhna defined quality education in an interview in the newspaper «Diena» on December 12. In the publication, he also outlined RTU's strategic tasks and the management's vision for the future of the university.
The rector also discussed an important study result for the university – the total number of graduates. From 2024 and going forward, RTU will implement a pilot project in accordance with the government's decision to introduce an institutional funding model that will allow the university to plan its financial resources more freely and focus on achieving certain specified indicators. A model such as this will motivate the admission of the most successful students who want to study, because «this approach will instill more confidence that those who will enroll at RTU will not drop out in the first years, because of large knowledge gaps in mathematics and natural science subjects,» the rector said in the interview.
Speaking about the quality of science, T. Juhna explains that it is easier to measure quality in this area: «Research can be called high-quality, which results in important original world-class knowledge that changes the development of the economy. It is also important whether the results of these studies are referred to by others, that is, citationability, especially important if it is in top-level journals, such as «Nature» or «Science».
When answering the question about cooperation with the university council, the rector admitted that «I have the best to say about the council. It gives a broader view of what is happening outside the university, evaluates what we do with a critical eye, but as a friend, not an opponent.» He emphasized that the RTU council is interested in the development of the university and its representatives actively participate in working groups before council meetings, discussing study, science, innovation, and other issues.
The rector revealed in the interview that RTU's plan is to concentrate all resources in Ķīpsala in the future, the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management and RTU's Latvian Maritime Academy, as well as RTU's Riga Business School will also move to RTU's campus. «Physical presence promotes cooperation and is a good basis for building Ķīpsala as an innovation center where Latvian companies can base their research offices. It will also be a good place to create start-ups,» added T. Juhna, outlining the perspective of Ķīpsala - an island where both science and innovation will be in one place.
"We want to increase the sustainability and stability of the academic staff" («Diena», 12.12.2023)
