1,188 Abstracts Submitted to RSU Research Week Conferences

1,188 researchers, both young and experienced, from Latvia and abroad are ready to present their research papers at the five international conferences that are part of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Research Week 2023. Research Week is held every two years and will take place between 27 and 31 March this year. The topics covered in the series of conferences range from health care and medicine to social sciences. The event will bring together scientists, students, cooperation partners, representatives of public administration and non-governmental organisations, including diaspora organisations, as well as the media.

All Research Week activities will be held in English and will, as traditional, start with the International Student Conference on Health and Social Sciences (ISC). Last year, ISC attracted more than 3,000 participants and this year, 479 abstracts have been submitted by students from 21 countries. Young researchers from Lithuania are the second largest group to have submitted abstracts after Latvia. Students from other European countries like Estonia, Finland, Norway, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, as well as countries further afield, including the USA, South Africa, India and countries in Central Asia, have also submitted their work. Healthcare the majority of abstracts, which covered topics like digital medicine, public health, and psychology. This year, there are particularly many clinical case reports – 150 out of a total of 385 healthcare abstracts. This shows that students are broadening their horizons by analysing unique diseases and therapies. Meanwhile, a large number of abstracts (94) were submitted in the field of social sciences with topics ranging from political science and communication science to law, economics, and business. The student conference will be held in person for the first time since 2019. Registration for participants who will not be presenting a research paper will open on 13 February and registration for various practical workshops will open on 20 February.

Four conferences will take place simultaneously between 29 and 31 March: the conference Knowledge for Use in Practice on medicine and healthcare; the interdisciplinary conference Society. Health. Welfare that will bring together public health, environmental and occupational, and environmental health and social welfare specialists, nurses, midwives, and psychologists; the interdisciplinary conference PLACES that will bring together experts from political science, law, economics, communications, and other social sciences. The series of Research Week conferences will conclude on 30 and 31 March with the conference University Teaching and Learning that covers topics on technology and education. A total of 709 abstracts have been submitted to these conferences by researchers from 34 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK, Ukraine, the US, and Uzbekistan. An overview of some of the interesting abstracts can be found on the Research week 2023 website. An international jury is currently evaluating the abstracts that have been submitted to select the best ones. These will be presented onsite and online at the four conferences. Participation in the conferences is free of charge with prior registration.

For more information about the programme, participants, and other news visit the Research Week website as well as the International Student Conference website. To sign up for the newsletter, send an email to conferencersu[pnkts]lv. An interview with keynote speaker Janet Kelso, PhD in Biology, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, “Discoveries That Rewrite the History of Human Evolution” has been published in the Deep Dive section of the Research Week website.