On Thursday, 4 June, the Saeima, in the second and final reading, adopted as urgent amendments to the Law on Higher Education Institutions, introducing a unified academic career framework in higher education. In the final reading, the Saeima also adopted related amendments to the Law on Scientific Activity and the Vocational Education Law.

The aim of the amendments is to ensure a single academic career framework in higher education by defining the stages of an academic career and the corresponding academic staff positions, as well as uniform principles for staff selection, employment and performance evaluation. The new regulation is intended to promote the professional development and quality of academic staff, predictable employment, and retention within the higher education system.

The changes introduce a new model of academic and research careers, linking within a single system the structure of academic and scientific staff positions and ensuring a clear pathway for career development. In developing the regulation, best practices from other European countries were reviewed to reduce the previous fragmentation of the regulatory framework and to strengthen the competitiveness of Latvia’s higher education and science in the international environment.

The new framework establishes four stages of academic and research careers, with corresponding positions for academic and scientific staff. In higher education institutions, the initial career stage will include lecturers and assistants, the second stage will include docents and researchers, the third stage will include associate professors and leading researchers, and the final stage will include professors. The amendments also address the four stages of research careers in scientific institutions.

The regulation also introduces a new approach to involving industry practitioners in academic work, strengthening the link between higher education and the professional environment.

The amendments also more clearly define the status of academic staff and research personnel, streamlining terminology and aligning it with principles used in the international academic environment.

The amendments will enter into force on 1 August this year.

Saeima Press Service