Development and Project Department

The objectives of the Development and Project Department are as follows: to facilitate the attraction of funding from EU funds and other financial programmes for the development of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), to ensure the effective functioning of the project management system, and to coordinate the planning of RSU development projects.

Main functions

• to identify opportunities for attracting funding from EU funds and other financial programmes;
• to provide methodological and advisory assistance for project preparation and submission;
• to manage and supervise projects implemented by RSU with EU funds and other financial programmes;
• to coordinate the planning of university development projects;
• to coordinate the cooperation between project implementers and contracting organisations, and to train project managers;
• to monitor the successful implementation of the objectives of the RSU Development Strategy within the scope of its competence.

Support for preparing project applications

RSU employees can receive support for writing research project applications. The support that the Development and Project Department provides is available to RSU employees in two ways.

Financial support for international cooperation and project preparation

This form of support aims to enhance RSU employees' international cooperation and facilitate the preparation of research project applications.

As part of the international cooperation support framework, funding is allocated for networking activities and research mobility, enabling RSU employees to engage in international consortia projects under Horizon Europe, European Partnerships, European Research Area Networks, and the Joint Programming Initiative. For instance, this includes participation in:

• Horizon Europe partnership exchanges,
• support activities organised by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, and
• international scientific conferences.

The maximum amount of funding for participation in events abroad for the preparation of a single project application cannot exceed EUR 1,500.

Funding is provided for the preparation of research project applications to support the preparation of research project proposals under Horizon Europe, European Partnerships, European Research Area Networks, and Joint Programming Initiative projects. The funding is intended to cover, among others, salaries, business trips to potential partners for project planning meetings, and the organisation of workshops in Latvia.

The maximum amount of funding (including taxes) for the preparation of one project application is:

• EUR 9,000 if RSU is a lead partner in the project application, or
• EUR 5,000 if RSU is a cooperation partner in the project application.

Half of the funding is disbursed upon submission of the project application, while the other half is disbursed only if the project application is approved or rejected above the quality threshold.

There are a number of conditions for receiving financial support for both international cooperation and the preparation of research project applications. For example, a lump sum payment for an RSU employee is limited to EUR 3,000 (including taxes) or, if RSU is the lead partner in the preparation of a project application, the scientific leader must reach a minimum Hirsch-index score – 3 in social sciences and 10 in natural and medical and health sciences.

Further information on the application procedures and criteria can be found in the RSU document “Procedure for granting financial support for participation in Horizon Europe, European Partnerships, European Research Area Networks and Joint Programming Initiatives”.

Advisory support for project preparation by external experts

RSU employees can apply for a grant to receive support from external experts to prepare project proposals. This support is only available if RSU is intended as the lead partner in a project under Horizon Europe, the European Research Area Networks and the Joint Programming Initiatives.

Types of advisory support from external experts

• Research expertise for the project idea and the final version of the project application (assessment of the novelty of the project idea, excellence of the project consortium, compliance with evaluation requirements, etc.).
• Coordination of the preparation of the project application package in collaboration with the researchers involved and in accordance with the requirements of the specific programme and call for proposals (preparation of the project concept, preparation of the budget, preparation of the required annexes, etc.).
• Administrative management of the project application preparation process (coordination of the required information, organisation and chairing of consortium meetings, documentation of the decisions, etc.).

To qualify for this support, the application must be submitted at least three months before the deadline for submitting project applications. In addition to this condition, there are several criteria that the project application and the scientific supervisor must fulfil:

• the project idea must be in line with RSU's strategic goals and research priorities;
• the project leader must have a minimum Hirsch-index score (3 in social sciences, 10 in natural and medical and health sciences);
• the project leader must have publications in the relevant field in the last three years – at least three publications in journals indexed in Scopus or ISI Web of Science / Web of Knowledge, ERIH PLUS;
• the project leader must participate in international projects – participation in at least one international research project.

To apply for support, the applicant must complete a digital form in English on Microsoft Forms, taking the conditions set out in the form into account. Before filling in the form, please read the RSU document “Procedures for external expert support for the preparation of Horizon Europe, European Research Area Networks and Joint Programming initiatives”, which contains detailed information on external expert advisory support and the application procedure.