RSU Innovation Day to Bring Together Students, Researchers and Entrepreneurs
On 5 November, from 9:00 to 17:00, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) will be hosting Innovation Day, inviting visitors to discover entrepreneurial experiences, emerging technologies and research solutions for healthcare and sport. Alongside the main stage programme at the RSU Aula, Dzirciema iela 16, the event will feature an expo area and two side events: the Pre-incubation Demo Day and a practical AI in Sport workshop.
Innovation Day is open to students, researchers, staff, entrepreneurs and anyone interested in innovation. The programme will explore different stages of developing an innovation, from an initial idea and business concept to research-based technologies and their potential applications. Visitors will have opportunities to ask questions, meet like-minded people and discuss possible collaborations.
Entrepreneurship and the Confidence to Try
From 9:00 to 12:30, the main stage programme will be focusing on entrepreneurship, developing ideas and taking initiative. Roberts Alhimionoks, CEO of the Latvian Startup Association Startin.LV, will share insights into entrepreneurship and inspiration to take action. Lauris Vidzis, founder of Longevity Catalyst and innovation expert, will discuss overcoming the fear of making mistakes and continuing to pursue an idea.
Other inspiring speakers will share the decisions, challenges and lessons that have shaped their journeys. These conversations will be particularly relevant to students considering starting a business or exploring how to use their academic knowledge to develop new solutions. Those who do not yet have an idea but are curious about entrepreneurship are equally welcome.
Research Projects to Explore Innovation in Health and Sport
From 13:30 to 17:00, the main stage will turn to science and innovation at RSU. Researchers will introduce projects in diagnostics, treatment and sport, explaining how research findings could help address practical challenges.
The programme will explore questions that may initially seem unexpected: could 3D dental X-rays help identify osteoporosis risk early? Could a computer help develop better medicines? And how might smart socks help reduce the risk of sports injuries?
Project presentations and demonstrations will offer an accessible introduction to both the challenges researchers are tackling and the approaches they are developing. Researchers and doctoral students can discover colleagues’ work in other fields and explore opportunities for collaboration, while students and other visitors can learn how research connects with everyday needs.
Awards will also be presented to RSU projects that have actively contributed to advancing innovation. The main stage programme will be held in Latvian, with English interpretation available.
Meet Solution Developers in the Expo Area
From 9:00 to 13:30, an expo area in the RSU lobby will give visitors opportunities to explore the solutions on display, meet their developers and ask questions about how the technologies work, how they are being developed and where they could be used.
The expo area will complement the stage programme with individual conversations about the development of innovations and their path towards practical application.
Pre-incubation Participants to Present Their Business Ideas
From 13:30 to 16:30, the event area at the RSU Pharmaceutical Education and Research Centre, 21 Konsula iela, will be hosting the RSU Business Incubator’s Pre-incubation Demo Day.
Participants and teams will present the business ideas they have developed during the programme. Their work has included generating ideas, exploring potential customers’ needs, developing business models and learning to present their solutions. Demo Day will offer a chance to see how an initial idea develops into a clearer business concept.
Everyone is welcome to listen to the presentations and support the teams. The event will conclude with the presentation of certificates and a celebration of the programme’s completion. Demo Day will be held in English.
AI in Sports Workshop Requires No Prior Knowledge
The second side event will be the Start NIH / StudentLab practical workshop “AI in Sports: From Data to an Interactive Dashboard”, taking place from 13:30 to 16:30 at the RSU main building, 16 Dzirciema iela. The room will be announced shortly.
Students will work with a prepared dataset of athletes’ physical performance test results and use Google AI Studio and Gemini to build an interactive digital tool for analysing and visualising the data. Participants will practise writing instructions for AI, evaluating its proposed solutions, identifying errors and improving the results.
No prior programming or AI knowledge is required. The workshop will be held in English, and places are limited. Participants should bring their own laptop and charger.
Registration and Certificates of Attendance
RSU students attending Innovation Day or either side event will receive a certificate of attendance supporting an excused absence from lectures on 5 November, provided the absence has been agreed with the relevant course lecturer in advance. This also applies to students attending only Demo Day or the AI in Sport workshop.
On arrival at their chosen event, participants must present the QR code issued by Luma to check in. Certificates of attendance will be sent electronically after the event to participants whose attendance has been registered.
Register for RSU Innovation Day and its side events
The full programme will be published shortly.
