After profound assessment of the submitted applications, the organizers of the contest have pre-selected the contestants of the sixth young researchers’ contest ResearchSlam – 24 participants from seven higher education establishments of Latvia, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) among them will compete for different prizes and demonstrate their skills at three competition rounds to be held in January and February 2018.

This year, the award of “Young Scientist of the Year”, awarded by the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LZA), SIA Latvijas Gāze and RTU Development Fund, went to Andris Skride, Assistant at RSU Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Diseases and cardiologist at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, who believes that the best specialists work for the university hospital.

“The work of a medical practitioner is dynamic and will never get boring.

On 8 December the State Education Development Agency of Latvia (SEDA) hosted a festive event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Erasmus+ and to announce the winners of the annual Erasmus+ Quality in Mobility Award “Spārni”. Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) was presented with a recognition certificate and an award for professional contribution and successful cooperation in the implementation of Erasmus+ mobility.

On 14 December at 15:00 in an open meeting of the Medical Promotion Council of RSU to be held in the Hippocrates Lecture Theatre (Riga, 16 Dzirciema Street) Edijs Vāvers will defend his doctoral thesis Discovery of E1R: A Novel Positive Allosteric Modulator of Sigma-1 Receptor.

On 11 December at 15:00 in an open meeting of the Medical Promotion Council of RSU to be held in the Hippocrates Lecture Theatre (Riga, 16 Dzirciema Street) Santa Rasa will defend her doctoral thesis Association of persistent viral infections with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

On 29 November RSU Institute of the History of Medicine was visited by world-renowned artists Stelarc and Nina Sellars who were introduced to the upcoming and eagerly expected transformations in the shape and layout of RSU Anatomy Museum and had the chance to take a glimpse at the collections and displays of the Pauls Stradiņš Museum for the History of Medicine.

On 15 December, 15.00 at RSU Dental Institute, the associate professor Bengt Hasséus (University of Gothenburg, Sweden), expert in oral health with rich experience in the treatment of oral mucosa (precancerous lesions, oral cancer, chemotherapy, imagining etc.) will deliver a guest lecture on oral health.

On 23 November at the autumn general meeting of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LAS) which is the highest decision-taking body of the LAS, Professor Sandra Lejniece of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Diseases was elected a full member or academician of the LAS and the dean of RSU Department of Doctoral Studies, the newly elected RSU rector, Professor Aigars Pētersons was elected a corresponding member of the LAS.

Rīga Stradiņš University has received a ‘Honourable Mention: Writing with Integrity’ in the Turnitin Global Innovation Awards, being recognized by the developer of the plagiarism detection, revision assistant and electronic assessment tool turnitin for its commitment and dedication in promoting academic integrity. Turnitin global innovation awards are presented on annual basis in multiple categories. This year there were 678 nominations received from all around the globe.