RBS (RTU Riga Business School) alumni have created a new scholarship to support young people who are ambitious and exemplary in their studies and for whom a scholarship is the missing link to an international business education here in Latvia. RBS alumni will cover one scholarship holder’s tuition fees for the duration of the undergraduate program. Emīls Valdmanis, a student in the RBS BITL (Baltic IT Leadership program) or Computer Science and Organization Technology program, will receive the first scholarship.

“In 2021 RBS has defined its strategic focus for the coming years as providing business education in a technology-driven world,” says RBS Alumni Association President Jānis Selga. This is a significant commitment for RBS, given that the school brings international programs – both Bachelor and MBA – to Latvia. As alumni, we are pleased that RBS is an educational innovator in Latvia, organizing events that are vital to the advancement of education. As alumni, our goal is to help young people in these uncertain times by allowing them to feel the breath of the world right here in Latvia. We want to make sure that young people see excellent educational opportunities, stay in Latvia, and put their new skills to use. I encourage every RBS alumnus to get involved in supporting current RBS students, both financially and non-financially, and thanks to those alumni who have already responded to this initiative. As alumni, our opportunity to help bright young people who would not be able to pursue a world-class education without this support is crucial, as not everyone has access to the necessary funding. All the information about the purpose of the donation and the scholarships can be found on the RBS Alumni website: https://alumni.rbs.lv/fundraising/.”

Emīls Valdmanis is an active young man who has always enjoyed learning. This has also inspired him to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Emīls is fascinated by technology in its broadest sense. Emīls was introduced to RBS opportunities and the BITL program by the Vītolu Fonds, which led to an application for studies and the opportunity to be one of the program’s students.  

“I am very grateful to our graduates for this step, as it will allow ambitious and driven young people to find their way to RBS undergraduate programs,” says RBS Director Jānis Grēviņš. The BITL program is the newest of our programs, but it has a very important purpose and perspective: we want IT skills and leadership to be a critical combination of skills for future success. Young people in Latvia can now study international undergraduate programs and earn double university degrees under the guidance of experienced instructors. Today, RBS is more than just a provider of traditional business education programs; it also brings to Latvia the opportunity for higher education to continually learn from the world’s best, with a particular emphasis on technological leadership, as demonstrated by a recent collaboration agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).”

RBS was established in 1991 through a collaboration between RTU, the University of Buffalo (USA), and the University of Ottawa (Canada). RBS offers English-language MBA programs in which students earn a world-renowned professional Master’s degree in business and organizational management, as well as Bachelor’s programs in which students earn a Bachelor’s degree in international business management or computer science and organizational technology.