Overview of the RSU Alumni Association’s events in the past year

Paving the way for future achievements and maintaining a strong bond among the alumni of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), the University’s Alumni Association is pleased to share a look back at the past year. During 2023, the association continued to support excellence, innovation, and community growth by celebrating accomplishments and success stories.

The culmination of the work of the RSU Alumni Association is the University’s summer graduation ceremonies at which students become alumni and can join the association. Many international students also successfully complete their studies and join the alumni community, forming a diverse and international group. Today, the RSU alumni community has more than 1,550 members – these are graduates from RSU, the Medical Academy of Latvia, and the Rīga Medical Institute. This community serves as a vivid example of mutual support and professional growth.

In 2023, the association prepared for the graduation ceremonies in advance. Flowers are the main symbol of each graduation, therefore, at the beginning of summer the association organised a creative event in collaboration with Drink and Draw for the first time. On a sunny afternoon, graduates were invited to celebrate their graduation by imagining their futures  and start a new chapter together with artist Kristīna Virse.

New events, campaigns, and platforms

As of the autumn of 2023, the Alumni Association has a new social media platform – a LinkedIn profile. It was created to foster closer connections and professional communication not only among alumni, but also with current and potential partners. The plan is to make LinkedIn the association’s main platform.

The newly created LinkedIn profile is a valuable step to strengthen the connection with RSU alumni not only on a personal but also on a professional level.

Seko mums un atrodi jaunas iespējas savienoties!

A brand-new initiative was the campaign Otrdiena ar absolventu (Tuesdays with alumni). The aim of the campaign was to give an insight into what the University’s alumni do in their daily lives after graduation. Every Tuesday, an alumnus shares their adventures, offering attendees the opportunity to follow graduates from various faculties through Instagram stories. This is a great way to share, inspire and learn a bit more about other graduates. 

The University celebrates its alumni not only digitally, but also in person. The RSU Alumni Association presented the Alumnus of the Year Award at the RSU Academic Ball in the beginning of September. In 2023, the award was given to Asst.Prof. Mārtiņš Daugulis with the following motivation: “Daugulis not only inspires and educates students, but also makes a significant contribution to promoting policy issues, representing RSU beyond the walls of the University.”

Intelligence Club and Movie Nights continue

Events that have now become a tradition are important for alumni to network with each other. The association held the 8th Intelligence Club dinner at the beginning of the year. The event was opened by Ojārs Spārītis, a historian, the head of the doctoral programme at the Art Academy of Latvia, and the former president of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. He gave a talk on the cultural heritage of Baltic Germans in Latvian culture. The Intelligence Club dinner is an opportunity to cultivate intellectual discussions and share ideas among professionals and interested people from different fields.

Scholarships for students and lecturers

With the support of the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation and Riga Stradiņš University, academic staff are actively developing innovative ideas, and modernising and innovating their study programmes. The introduction of this scholarship nine years ago has supported more than 150 initiatives, including practical learning games for pharmacists and doctors, as well as a collection of practical exercises for international marketing and advertising specialists.

This process allows lecturers at RSU to introduce significant innovations and foster high-quality education in social sciences and health care.

‘We take a broad look at learning and teaching innovations at RSU – they can be very extensive, requiring advanced technology and infrastructure availability, as well as very specific, small innovations in teaching approach or course design. The most important thing is that the innovation process leads to improved learning experience,’ emphasises RSU Alumni Association Executive Director Paula Feldmane-Jumīte.

On 7 November, the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation, together with the University and the Alumni Association, organised a meeting with the recipients of the scholarship.

The assocition also continue to support future alumni and, as every year, three students from the Faculty of Pharmacy receive scholarships for the entire academic year, with the support of the pharmaceutical company AS Olainfarm. In 2023, three 4th-year students were awarded scholarships: Anete Vircava from Salaspils, Anna Novosada from Daugavpils, and Jūlija Gurinoviča from Ventspils. Olainfarm has been awarding scholarships to the brightest pharmacy students for 13 years to promote excellence in the Latvian pharmaceutical industry.

The year went by quickly and many events, new projects, and ideas were implemented. The association wants to thank everyone who stood with the them and provided support during this exciting year! Together we have been able to build and strengthen our community, creating values and opportunities for all members of the Association.