The University of Latvia with its 15,000 students, 13 faculties and more than 20 research institutes is one of the largest comprehensive and leading research universities in the Baltic States. The University offers more than 130 state-accredited academic and professional study programmes. At the University of Latvia, research is conducted in over 50 research fields which represent four main areas of inquiry: the humanities, sciences, social sciences, and education sciences. The University of Latvia is renowned for its research on Latvian studies, material science, information and communication technologies, process simulation and socio-economic as well as environmental and health problems of the transition period.
The University of Latvia pays great attention to the development of international collaboration. At present the University of Latvia has signed more than 500 agreements with 326 institutions in 31 European countries within ERASMUS programme. Each year, approximately 300 students of the UL study abroad with the help of international exchange programmes, thus perfecting their skills and abilities; in turn, the University of Latvia welcomes approx. 250 international students.
Over the ninety years of its existence, from a higher school of a hundred lecturers with less than one thousand students, the University of Latvia has evolved into one of the leading Latvian higher educational institutions with approximately 22 thousand students and more than 1,400 lecturers forming the teaching staff. The development of the University of Latvia is based on a rich and extensive historical heritage as well as experience and it is an ongoing process.
