Northumbria strengthens European links during visit by Latvian ambassador

The Republic of Latvia and Northumbria University hope to forge new partnerships following a visit by the country’s ambassador to city campus.

Ms Baiba Braze, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Latvia to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, met with Northumbria staff during a working lunch to discuss potential collaborations with leading Latvian businesses and universities. She was welcomed by Professor Jon Reast, Northumbria’s Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) and Rob Carthy, Director of International Development, alongside colleagues from a number of academic departments including Computer and Information Sciences.

Rob said: “Northumbria University was delighted to host the Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia, Ms Baiba Braze at our campus here in Newcastle.

“This marks the next step in a developing relationship between Northumbria University and the Republic of Latvia, with students here on campus, and the opportunities for the creation of a computer science collaboration with key Latvian institutions.

"It also marks a clear commitment from Northumbria University to maintaining its engagement with Europe, through partnership, collaboration and mobility.”

The lunch meeting was followed by a tour of Northumbria’s new £7m Computer and Information Sciences building at city campus. This state-of-the-art facility will be home to more than 1,000 students and 85 staff and is due to open later this year (see a time-lapse video of its development below).

Ms Braze said it was more important than ever that the Republic of Latvia and UK institutions work closely together to maintain and build successful partnerships and collaborations.

“Latvia and the UK are one of the closest and most likeminded partners in the EU and NATO,” she said.

“There are about 100,000 Latvians living in the UK; contributing to the country’s growth, and relations between our peoples go back to pre-Hanseatic times. To maintain this relationship in the future it is necessary to further develop cooperation between institutions and businesses.

“Newcastle is famous for its universities and their quality and there is a great potential in developing bilateral links with Latvian universities, which will be particularly important after Brexit.

“Having met with Professor Jon Reast, Northumbria’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for International, and Rob Carthy, Director of International Development at the University, we agreed on a work plan both in research and education fields to create partnerships between Northumbria and Latvian institutions.”

To find out more about Northumbria’s international partnerships and collaborations go to: www.northumbria.ac.uk/international

Computer and Information Science Building - Timelapse from Northumbria University on Vimeo.