Riga Technical University (RTU) invites secondary school students, vocational education students, and bachelor’s students to participate in a scholarship competition by 30 September. School students will be eligible to receive scholarships for the development of scientific research, project, or module papers, while university students will be able to receive scholarships for bachelor’s theses on smart concrete and asphalt solutions. Students from regional schools are particularly encouraged to participate in the competition.
Secondary school students and vocational education students will receive a monthly scholarship of €250. The scholarship will be available for up to three months. RTU researchers will support the young people in developing their projects, and they will have the opportunity to work in modern laboratories and participate in research into construction and road-building materials and technologies that could in the future be used in the construction of roads, bridges, and buildings in Latvia and around the world. University students, meanwhile, will receive a monthly scholarship of €1,000 for the development of their final thesis. This scholarship will also be available for three months.
To apply for the competition, applicants must submit an application, CV, and motivation letter by 30 September, sending them to lachmat@rtu.lv. Approved secondary school students and vocational education students will also be required to submit a basic education certificate and transcript of grades, as well as a certificate from their educational institution confirming their enrolment and a confirmation of participation in the project, while university students will be required to submit a confirmation of participation in the project.
School and university students may define their own research topics or choose from suggested inspiration topics proposed by researchers, such as the use of sensor technologies to improve road quality, asphalt recycling and other environmentally friendly road construction solutions, the use of low-CO₂ materials in 3D printing, concrete spraying technologies, and others.
More information about the competition, regulations, and suggested research topics.
The scholarship competition will be announced regularly until 2029, providing early research experience to a total of 32 school and university students.
This summer, the first school students already worked in RTU laboratories, researching both how to make road construction more sustainable by modifying the bitumen used in asphalt concrete production with lignin and tyre rubber, and how clay can be used in 3D printing for construction purposes and how its properties change when bio-based additives are added.
The competition is organised within the LACHMAT project under the Swiss-Latvian Cooperation Programme “Applied Research”. Within the project, RTU researchers, in close cooperation with colleagues from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), are developing, improving, and bringing advanced road pavement and construction materials and technologies closer to the market. The “Applied Research” programme is part of Switzerland’s contribution to EU Member States aimed at promoting scientific excellence, innovation, and economic development. A total of €12.3 million is available under the programme for the development of science and research in Latvia.
