The SRP "Education" project on the effectiveness of improving the professional competence of adults and the transfer of its results to practice has been launched

December 25, 2023

On December 22, 2023, the University of Latvia, in cooperation with the University of Liepāja and Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, launched the State Research Program "Education" project No. VPP-IZM-Izglītība-2023/4-0001 "Development of evidence-based solutions for the effective improvement of professional competence of adults and the transfer of its results to practice in Latvia".


Project No. VPP-IZM-Izglītība-2023/4-0001 aims to develop an evidence-based framework and practical solutions for effective professional development of adults, including teachers, and its transfer to practice by providing tools to assess the impact of professional development on practice in Latvia.


By implementing a design-based research approach, the project aims to carry out a systematic study of the transfer of professional competence development of adults, including teachers, to practice. By analysing theoretical knowledge and international experience in relation to the Latvian context and needs, the main barriers to effective professional competence development of adults will be identified, instruments used elsewhere in the world to measure the effectiveness of professional competence development will be studied, policy priorities and ongoing reforms will be analysed, and an assessment of the impact of professional competence development outcomes for adults, including teachers, on practice in Latvia will be carried out. The study will conclude with the development of an evidence-based framework for effective professional competence development of adults, including teachers, and the transfer of its results to practice, validated practical solutions for assessing the effectiveness of professional competence development at the organisational and system level in line with the Latvian context and education policy objectives.



The results of the study will be presented at at least five international scientific conferences. To ensure targeted communication of the project achievements, four articles will be submitted or accepted for publication and three articles will be published in Web of Science or Scopus indexed journals. It is planned that by the end of the project, two Master's theses will be defended and one PhD thesis will be submitted for defence. Two conferences will be organised on the results of the project at the middle and at the end of the project. Regular press releases, social media publications and popular science articles will be used to inform the public about the progress and results of the project.


The results of the research will contribute to evidence-based decision-making on promoting the effectiveness of professional development of adults, including teachers, and the achievement of strategic educational development goals, as well as generate new knowledge and workable solutions at the educational institution, local and national levels.


Project's No: VPP-IZM-Izglītība-2023/4-0001

Project's duration:  December 22, 2023 – December 21, 2026

Project's total budget: 730 000 EUR

Project's partners: University of Latvia (UL), Liepaja University (LiepU), Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS).

Project's scientific manager:  UL FESP SIP leading researcher Svetlana Surikova.

Project's administrative manager: Laureta Buševica.

Scientific group: Dr. paed. Svetlana Surikova (UL), Dr. paed. Sanita Baranova (UL), Dr. paed. Gunta Siliņa-Jasjukeviča (UL), Dr. paed. Dita Nīmante (UL), Dr. psych. Aleksandrs Koļesovs (UL), Dr. paed. Maija Kokare (UL), PhD Dzintra Iliško (UL), MA student Inga Grigaļuna (UL), MA student Maija Vilnīte (ULU), Dr. sc. administr. Inese Lūsēna-Ezera (LiepU), Dr. sc. administr. Una Libkovska (VUAS), Dr. sc. administr. Liene Resele (VUAS), Mg. sc. comp. Karina Šķirmante (VUAS), PhD student Kate Zonberga (VUAS), PhD student Zane Zonberga (VUAS).


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Rector of VUAS becomes a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

By Rota Žagare • October 12, 2026
Andris Vaivads, Rector of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, has been elected as a new foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences' Class for Astronomy and Space Science. Andris Vaivads studies what is commonly known as the magnetosphere around the Earth, other planets and the SunClass for astronomy and space science. He performs his research as a professor in Experimental Space Physics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Earlier, he spent 20 years as a researcher at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Uppsala. He studies the magnetosphere around Earth, other planets, and the Sun. Much of space is filled with plasma, a gas consisting of electrically charged particles that are influenced, among other things, by magnetic fields. When magnetic fields pointing in different directions reconnect – a process known as magnetic reconnection – large amounts of magnetic energy can rapidly be converted into other forms of energy, including kinetic energy. Andris Vaivads’s research focuses on these processes, where large amounts of energy are converted within small regions of space. Plasma processes can, among other things, produce the Northern lights (Auroras), affect satellites, and heat plasma to tens and hundreds of millions of degrees. The research group at KTH, in which Andris Vaivads spends 20 per cent of his working time, develops instruments to measure electric fields on satellites. The group also designs small measurement probes that can be launched from Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna on rockets. More recently, Andris Vaivads has also studied processes in the solar wind, a kind of plasma wind that plays a major role in space weather. This research uses observations from spacecraft launched by ESA (Solar Orbiter) in Europe and NASA (Parker Solar Probe) in the US. Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences serve on committees and participate in classes that initiate investigations, respond to consultations, and organise conferences and seminars. Based on the information published on the official website of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

International Scientific Seminar on Massive Star Formation

By Rota Žagare • September 18, 2026
On 24 September, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences will host the international scientific seminar “Massive Star Formation – Latest Research and Developments”, organised by the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC). The seminar will bring together researchers and those interested in research with visiting scientists from the United States. The seminar will feature scientist Dr Todd R. Hunter and Lead Astronomer Dr Crystal L. Brogan from the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The guests will present current research in radio astronomy, state-of-the-art observational infrastructure, and the opportunities it provides for studying the Universe and the processes of star formation. Dr Todd R. Hunter will give a presentation entitled “Exploring the Universe at Centimeter Wavelengths: The Next Generation Very Large Array”, while Dr Crystal L. Brogan will present “Searching for Our Cosmic Origins Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array”. The seminar will provide researchers with an opportunity to discuss the latest research findings and methods with internationally recognised experts in radio astronomy, as well as to explore opportunities for future scientific collaboration. Such international knowledge-exchange activities strengthen the research capacity of Ventspils University of Applied Sciences and promote the involvement of Latvian researchers in the international radio astronomy research community. This information has been prepared within the framework of the project “Ventspils University of Applied Sciences` International Cooperation and Innovation for the Development of Latvia’s Smart Specialisation” (Project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/012). 

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By Rota Žagare • September 18, 2026
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Ventspils Radio Astronomers Introduce Artificial Intelligence Methods into Their Research

By Rota Žagare • September 11, 2026
As the availability of artificial intelligence (AI) tools continues to grow, so do their capabilities and the range of tasks they can perform, including increasingly complex and sophisticated ones. Consequently, AI is finding applications in ever narrower and more specialised fields. Scientific research in astronomy is no exception, including radio astronomy and related theoretical fields, which are among the areas of research pursued by scientists at the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VSRC) of the Institute of Engineering at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences. AI is based on existing knowledge and cannot independently interpret newly generated scientific results. Nevertheless, AI-assisted data processing, generation of program code, partially repetitive data rows and other types of information, as well as the initial compilation and review of large volumes of information on a scientific topic or, for example, the operation of an existing program, can facilitate certain tasks when carried out under careful supervision and verification by a researcher. The results can, in turn, be checked using another version of an AI agent. However, these approaches do not necessarily reduce the overall amount of work or the time required to complete it. To make the most effective use of the opportunities offered by AI and to communicate this knowledge in an accessible way so that it can subsequently be learned and adopted by everyone involved in research, including members of the older generation of scientists, VSRC launched a series of seminars on the use of AI in science in autumn 2026. The series places particular emphasis on astrophysics and radio astronomy, including radio interferometric observations using the Irbene Radio Telescope (IRT) and the LOFAR network. The first seminar was led by VSRC scientific assistant Gints Jasmonts, who shared his knowledge and experience on 3 September. He provided an introduction to the world of AI and presented examples from his own work in computer science and astrophysics. The discussion focused primarily on large language models available through chat interfaces, search engines and programming environments. At their core, these AI systems operate by predicting the next word or token based on the preceding context. The seminar concluded with a discussion, which revealed that participants are already using AI in their everyday work. At the same time, it became clear that learning how to apply the diverse capabilities of AI specifically to research will require further learning. The next seminar will therefore have a more practical focus. This information has been prepared within the framework of the project “Ventspils University of Applied Sciences` International Cooperation and Innovation for the Development of Latvia’s Smart Specialisation ” (Project No. 1.1.1.5/3/25/I/012).

Ventspils Researchers Present Latest Discoveries on Massive Star Birth at International Astrophysics Symposium in Germany

By Rota Žagare • August 31, 2026
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By Rota Žagare • August 23, 2026
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