Latvia's leading technical university specializing in building energy renovation, biomaterials for medical devices, and EU programme support across Central-Eastern Europe.
Riga Technical University (RTU) is Latvia's leading technical university, with deep expertise in building energy efficiency, thermal storage, and renovation technologies. They operate as a major regional hub for biomaterials research through their Baltic Biomaterials Centre of Excellence, and provide national-level support infrastructure as an NCP (National Contact Point) across multiple EU programme areas including space, security, and transport. RTU also contributes to digital infrastructure through HPC competence centres and EOSC data services, making them a versatile technical partner across Central and Eastern Europe.
Core involvement in MORE-CONNECT, RIBuild, SUNShINE, Accelerate SUNShINE, THERMOSS, SunHorizon, RealValue, and INPATH-TES — spanning deep renovation, thermal insulation, and smart thermal storage.
Coordinator of the flagship BBCE Centre of Excellence (EUR 7.5M), plus Met4Bone and PREMUROSA on musculoskeletal regeneration and bone/cartilage biomaterials.
Ran NCP support actions across space (COSMOS2020, COSMOS2020plus), security (SEREN 3, SEREN 4), and transport (ETNA 2020), consistently delivering networking and best-practice dissemination.
Contributed to INTERRFACE (TSO-DSO market architecture), RealValue (demand response and aggregation), and SecureGas (gas network security).
Participated in EOSC-Nordic (FAIR data repositories) and EUROCC (national HPC competence centre), signalling a move into digital research infrastructure.
Involved in BIOEASTsUP (circular bioeconomy in CEE) and ICCEE (cold chain energy efficiency for food and beverage sector).
In the early H2020 period (2014–2018), RTU focused heavily on building energy performance — deep renovation, thermal insulation, thermal storage — alongside a broad portfolio of NCP coordination support actions across space, security, and transport. From 2019 onward, their work diversified significantly: biomaterials became a flagship area with the massive BBCE Centre of Excellence, while new threads in precision medicine, FAIR data infrastructure, HPC, and IoT for harsh environments emerged. The shift suggests a strategic move from being primarily an energy-and-NCP university toward becoming a multi-domain technical research centre with biomedical ambitions.
RTU is pivoting from energy-centric applied research toward biomaterials, precision medicine, and digital research infrastructure — expect future proposals in these growth areas.
RTU primarily joins consortia as a participant (29 of 38 projects) but has demonstrated coordination capacity in 7 projects, notably the EUR 7.5M BBCE Centre of Excellence. With 650 unique partners across 45 countries, they maintain a remarkably broad network for a Baltic university, functioning as a connector between Western European research leaders and Central/Eastern European institutions. Their high share of CSA (Coordination and Support) projects shows they are comfortable in facilitation and networking roles, not just technical delivery.
RTU has collaborated with 650 unique partners across 45 countries, giving them one of the broadest networks among Baltic universities. Their geographic reach spans all of Europe, with particular strength in connecting Western and Central-Eastern European institutions through NCP and Widening Participation actions.
RTU is one of the few technical universities in the Baltic states that combines deep energy engineering expertise with a fast-growing biomaterials research centre backed by EUR 7.5M in EU Widening funding. Their dual role as both a technical research contributor and a national-level NCP service provider gives them unusually strong institutional knowledge of EU programme mechanics — valuable for consortium partners who want a reliable, well-connected Baltic node. For any consortium needing CEE coverage or a Widening Participation component, RTU is a proven and well-funded choice.
