Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) has been awarded funding under the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND programme project Choose Europe for Science, thereby confirming its strong position in internationally competitive research. The project will be implemented by the RSU Institute of Microbiology and Virology in cooperation with the RSU Social Sciences Research Centre, promoting an interdisciplinary approach to attracting early-career researchers—postdoctoral fellows—both to RSU and to the development of sustainable scientific careers in Latvia and Europe.
“The selection of our project confirms the quality and relevance of the research carried out at the Rīga Stradiņš University Institute of Microbiology and Virology and the Social Sciences Research Centre,” notes the Institute’s Director, Zaiga Nora-Krūkle.
“This funding will support the further development of research by enabling the recruitment of postdoctoral researchers from Europe and other countries, providing additional competencies and international experience.
At the same time, it will strengthen the Institute’s capacity to support early-career researchers and promote our involvement in building Europe-wide research collaborations.”
The RSU Institute of Microbiology and Virology will ensure the conceptual development, thematic focus, and scientific coordination of the project, based on its expertise in virology, immunology, and molecular biology. It is specifically in these fields that four outstanding early-career researchers will be recruited at the Institute, with their scientific work supervised by tenured professors Dr. med. Bhupesh Kumar Prusty and Dr. biol. Dace Pjanova. In parallel, within the framework of the project, two postdoctoral researchers in the field of social sciences will be recruited at the Social Sciences Research Centre to promote the study of health-related social processes and to strengthen the interdisciplinary dimension of the research. Scientific activities will be led by tenured professor Dr. soc. Miķelis Grīviņš and leading researcher Dr. sc. pol. Una Aleksandra Bērziņa-Čerenkova.
Institutional support from RSU and the planned university co-financing played a significant role in participation in the programme.
