We are happy to announce that the first UNESCO Chair in Biosphere and Man of Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences newsletter in English has been created in the charming end of August, in order to spread the news to a wider audience. Have a great reading, get involved and by all means - share the news.

Read news here (pdf.) 

On Friday, May 31, the international conference "The 11th IEEE Workshop on Advances in Information, Electronic and Electrical Engineering AIEEE'2024" will be held at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA) (Tērbatas iela 10, Valmiera), organized by ViA together with Riga Technical University and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.

The purpose of the conference is to bring together young scientists and researchers from the fields of information, electronics and electrical engineering science to promote mutual cooperation in the exchange of ideas and tools related to but not limited to computer technology, audio or image processing and recognition, automatic control, robotics, computer hardware and software , telecommunications, information technology, information systems, system security and control, modeling and performance, e-commerce and e-governance, cloud computing, human-computer interaction, cyber-physical systems, intelligent systems, high-performance and next-generation computing, sensor nodes, circuits, devices, wireless sensor networks, internet and web applications, mobile computing, semantic web and ontologies.

Scientific and Organizing Committee Chairs also include ViA associate professor Arnis Cīrulis. Also, some doctoral students of the Sociotechnical Systems Engineering study program of ViA will present their scientific articles at the conference.

More information about the event and the program is available here: https://ieee.lv/aieee/

As part of the "Accelerate Future HEI" project, the "Business laboratories 2024" training cycle has ended. During this project 26 young entrepreneurs from Limbažu and Smiltene regions, as well as Vidzeme University students, developed their business ideas and received valuable advice from already experienced entrepreneurs.

In a cycle of 6 lessons, the participants gained a deeper theoretical insight, as well as the improvement of practical competences and skills in the process of starting a business, creating ideas and design thinking, ways of innovation, creating a business plan, marketing knowledge, financial literacy and the art of presenting your ideas to potential investors. The theoretical lessons were led by university lecturers, while the mentors and inspirers of the young entrepreneurs were already experienced entrepreneurs-experts, as well as university graduates from very different fields. The development of entrepreneurial, social and various personal skills of the participants, the development of cooperation between the university and the local governments of the region, as well as the strengthening of the business environment in the regions can be noted as significant benefits of the Business Laboratory project.

At the beautiful and solemn closing event, the bravest members of the Business Laboratory presented ideas for the development of their robotics school, the production of an eco-grill, the creation of an application for people with autism, as well as the development of cleaning services for children's playrooms. A big gratitute goes to both Limbazi and Smiltene municipalities for the organizational and financial support for this project, as well as to all lecturers, experts, mentors, and, of course, also to the participants themselves - young entrepreneurs.

On May 17, the week-long intensive program "Innovative methods for future skills 2.0" ended. During that time, not only lectures and seminars, but also discussions and practical workshops took place at Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences (ViA).

The aim of the intensive program was to develop the pedagogical skills of university academic staff to work with innovative teaching methods, such as simulations, virtual reality, multimedia, escape room, etc. The acquired knowledge will help in future work with students and developing their skills.

ViA was visited by staff from partner universities in Slovakia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, Cyprus, Germany and Finland.

During the week, an insight into Latvian culture, language and traditions was also provided.

Taking into account that Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences is part of the European university alliance E³UDRES², the participants discussed the vision of the future university and created a context map - what, in their opinion, the ideal university of the future looks like. Reflections included not only innovative teaching methods, but also technology, people skills, etc.

"Innovative methods for future skills 2.0" with the support of ERASMUS+ took place from 13 to 17 May.