Riga Polytechnical Institute (1862–1918) Riga Polytechnicum was first established in 1862 and was the first
polytechnical institute in
Imperial Russia. It offered degrees in
agriculture,
chemistry,
engineering,
mechanics,
trade and
architecture, with education in
German. In addition to four technical faculties (architecture, engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry), the polytechnic also included an agricultural and a commercial faculty. The first lecturers came from
German Empire,
Switzerland and
Austria-Hungary. The language of instruction was German. Between 1863 and 1869, the number of students increased from sixteen to ninety. The establishment of a faculty of architecture at the Polytechnicum in 1869 was instrumental in providing Riga with a group of locally trained architects, with consequences for the development of the characteristic
Art Nouveau architecture in Riga. In 1869 the polytechnic moved into a new building. Since there was a lack of technical universities in Russia, many students – especially from the
Baltic Sea governments – had gone to study at
ETH Zurich,
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology,
TU Dresden and
Leibniz University Hannover. This trend began to shift after January 1, 1874 when
Alexander II of Russia introduced general
conscription. Under this policy, all men from the age of 21 had to serve fifteen years, six in the
Imperial Russian Army and nine in the
reserve. For graduates of the Russian university who wanted to study, the period of service was only six months. This difference led to a significant increase in student numbers. At the beginning of the academic year 1874/75, 59 students enrolled, the total student body comprised 201 members. In the course of
Russification,
Nicholas II of Russia nationalized the university by decree of May 6, 1896. From 1896 to 1918 it was renamed the Riga Polytechnical Institute (
Rīgas Politehniskais institūts – RPI) and the language of instruction was changed to
Russian. The number of students continued to increase, reaching 2088 students in 1913/14. In 1918/19 the Polytechnic was called the Baltic Technical University (
Baltijas Tehniskā augstskola). When
World War I started in 1914, the Riga Polytechnical Institute was evacuated to
Moscow, where it operated until 1918. After that, part of the faculty then returned to Latvia and joined the newly established
University of Latvia. In 1919, the university was incorporated as a technical faculty of the Latvian University of Applied Sciences (Latvijas Augstskola, since 1923: University of Latvia), which was founded after independence. On September 1, 1958, their technical faculties were spun off again and raised to an independent university. From 1958 to 1983 it was called the Riga Polytechnic Institute, and then renamed the
Arvīds Pelše Institute of Technology in Riga (). In the mid-1970s, the university became the largest university in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. It has been called the Riga Technical University since March 1990. On April 23, 1992, a student parliament was founded. It is the oldest student self-government in Latvia.
Riga Technical University (1958–present) Riga Polytechnical Institute was re-established in 1958 by splitting off the engineering departments from the
State University of Latvia. In 1990, it was renamed to Riga Technical University. The university currently consists of 9 faculties: • Faculty of
Architecture and
Urban planning • Faculty of
Electronics and
Telecommunications • Institute of Telecommunications • Institute of Microwave Engineering and Electronics • Faculty of E-Learning Technologies and Humanities • Faculty of Electrical and
Environmental Engineering • Institute of Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering • Institute of Power Engineering • Institute of Energy Systems and Environment • Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology • Institute of Information Technology • Institute of Smart Computer Technologies • Institute of Applied Computer Systems • Institute of Applied Mathematics • Faculty of Materials Science and Applied Chemistry • Institute of Polymer Materials • Institute of General Chemical Engineering • Institute of Technical Physics • Institute of Applied Chemistry • Institute of Technology of Organic Chemistry • Institute of Design Technologies • Institute of Materials and Surface Engineering • Institute of Particle Physics and Accelerator Technologies • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Transport and Aeronautics • Institute of Aeronautics • Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanotechnologies • Institute of Transport • Institute of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering • Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management • Faculty of Civil Engineering • Institute of Transport Infrastructure Engineering • Institute of Structural Engineering • Institute of Heat, Gas and Water Technology • Institute of Construction Technology • Institute of Materials and Structures • Water Systems and Biotechnology Institute •
Latvian Maritime Academy •
RTU Liepāja , it had 14,006 students. 3,525 out of these students were foreign students and 514 doctoral students. == Riga Business School ==