On July 29, the Ambassador of Latvia to Italy H.E. Mrs Solvita Āboltiņa, the Ambassador of Italy to Latvia Mr Stefano Taliani de Marchio, Rector of University of Bergamo (UniBg) Professor Remo Morzenti Pellegrini, and Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Riga Technical University (RTU) Professor Uldis Sukovskis, gave speeches as part of the conclusion of UniBg and RTU’s joint online international summer school on engineering themes related to human health «Nonlinear Life. Edition 4». The summer school was attended by 79 participants from higher education institutions in 18 countries and 21 professors and industry representatives from six countries.
After the official speeches, the organizers informed the Ambassadors, UniBg Rector, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Deputy Rector for International Academic Cooperation and Studies Professor Igors Tipāns about the results of this year's activity and various organizational matters related to the summer school's next edition, which is scheduled for the summer of 2022 in Bergamo (in person). Among the issues under consideration, significant importance was given to further involvement of both Ambassadors and their growing role in the various processes related to the development of the summer school.
During the event, parties also discussed the dynamics of the current cooperation between RTU and UniBg, which has developed from initial talks on possible cooperation within Erasmus+ student exchange to mutual visits of delegations led by RTU and UniBg Rectors to Bergamo and Riga. UniBg Rector also initiated a joint concert performed by RTU Women’s Choir «DELTA» and Men’s Choir «IDICA» from the Italian city of Clusone in Riga and the joint organization of the summer school «Nonlinear Life» in 2022.
By organizing this summer school, UniBg and RTU aim to help prepare specialists in inter-disciplinary fields, capable of not only developing high-tech products, but also successfully integrating themselves within the working environment of international companies and implementing different inter-disciplinary projects in a team.
This year’s event was attended by 79 participants (Bachelor, Master, PhD students, as well as Post-master Research Fellows and Post-doc Research Fellows) from 18 countries - Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, Romania, Serbia, Sweden and Vietnam.
World's leading researchers, representing different fields and countries, have been involved in the preparation of the scientific content of the summer school, promoting cooperation opportunities of a scientific nature between students and professors and strengthening the international recognition of both UniBg and RTU.
The 2021 edition’s lectures on «Advances in Materials for Medicine» were delivered by professors from Latvia, the Netherlands, Serbia, Turkey, the UK, Italy and the Italian National Research Council (CNR) as well as by practitioners from the biomedical sector (firms, laboratories, rehabilitation facilities). In particular, the focus was on metallic biomaterials; polymeric biomaterials; ceramic biomaterials and coatings; composite materials, nanostructured, engineered tissue and characterization of materials.
«Nonlinear Life» is a summer school with a converging sciences approach on engineering themes related to human health, launched in 2017 by RTU. This year the summer school reached its 4th edition and was organized online by UniBg and RTU. The next edition will be delivered in Bergamo in 2022.
