Riga Technical University

Riga Technical University is situated in
Riga, the capital of the Republic of Latvia. It
is one of the oldest and largest higher
education establishments in Latvia and
offers advanced study programmes in
Engineering, Technology, Economics and
Architecture.

It was founded in 1862 as a private
educational institution under the name of
Riga Polytechnic. In 1896 the Riga
Polytechnic was reorganized into the Riga
Polytechnical Institute (RPI); the lectures
were delivered in Russian and German.

The RPI gained international recognition for
its research in different engineering fields,
especially in chemistry. In 1919, on the
basis of the former RPI, the Latvian Higher
Education School was founded and several
new faculties opened. For the first time in
their history Latvians could obtain higher
education in their native language.

In 1922 this institution received a new
name: the University of Latvia, and it
comprised of four of the former RPI
faculties: Architecture, Chemistry, Civil
Engineering and Mechanics. In 1958, Riga
Polytechnical Institute was restored by
separating the technical faculties from the
University of Latvia and since 1990 it has
been called Riga Technical University
(RTU). It takes an active part in international
student exchange programmes, and
scientific projects TEMPUS and
COPERNICUS.

The teaching staff comprises 110
Professors and 500 Doctors of Science.
The specialists from our University have
participated in large projects not only in
Latvia, but also other parts of the world;
thisincludes the Panama Canal and
Trans-Siberian Railway. Many other
projects have been carried out with the
assistance of the specialists.

rtu_1.JPG (18626 bytes)
Mr. Guntis Ulmanis, the President or Republic of
Latvia greeting RTU on its 135th anniversary

rtu_2.JPG (16198 bytes)
Mr. Egons Lavendelis (3rd from the left) has just
signed a cooperation agreement with the main
technological Universities of Lithuania and Estonia

The basis of technical subjects is
mathematics and physics. In addition all
candidates need certain knowledge in
chemmistry, computer sciences and
technical drawing. The study system allows
the students to make an individual study
plan by mastering the basic course and
adding separate specialities.

At RTU students can get an Engineer's
qualification, Bachelor's, Master's degrees
and Doctorate in Engineering Sciences,
and Master's degree in Architecture. It
takes five years to complete basic
engineering studies, and another three are
required to gain a Doctorate.

The RTU degrees are acknowledged by the
countries of the Council of Europe, the
USA, Canada and other countries.