Number of recipients
In addition to being a prestigious academic exchange program, the Fulbright Program is designed to expand and strengthen relationships between the people of the United States and citizens of other nations and to promote international understanding and cooperation. To support this mission, Fulbright Scholars may be asked to give public talks, mentor students, and otherwise engage with the host community, in addition to their primary activities.
The Scholar is expected to teach undergraduate courses, graduate courses or both in one or more areas of Scholar's specialization. As requested by the host institution, Scholars may offer tutorials, advise students, and assist in curriculum development or faculty training. Scholars are expected to teach approximately 20 to 40 hours per week.
Teaching/Research grants must be 70% teaching and 30% research and conducted in Scholar’s area of specialization/s.
Scholars will be encouraged to participate in the U.S. Embassy's Meet America program in addition to providing guest lectures at universities throughout Latvia.
Scholars selected for this grant will be required to attend a mandatory Pre-Departure Orientation in Summer 2026.
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Latvia, Courtney Queen, talks about her Fulbright experience.
Scholars may affiliate with any appropriate institution in Latvia including but not limited to:
Liepaja: RTU Liepaja
Jelgava: Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Riga: Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music; University of Latvia; Art Academy of Latvia; Riga Technical University; Riga Stradins University; Latvian Academy of Culture
Three to nine months.
One-semester grants must begin in either September 2026 or February 2027. Applicants should contact potential host institutions to determine award lengths from 3 to 9 months.
Applications are sought in all appropriate disciplines, but applications in the following disciplines are preferred:
RTU Liepaja: English teaching methodology, teacher training and Pedagogy, new media arts and design, artificial intelligence, software quality assurance and software testing, IT project management, machine learning, system modelling, business management and entrepreneurship.
Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music: Jazz double bass, jazz piano, modern and contemporary dance, and dance composition, Alexander Technique for musicians and dancers, business in music/entrepreneurship and management, film music composition, music and audio technology.
Art Academy of Latvia: Art Theory and History, Art Science, Art Studies.
Latvian Academy of Culture: American Studies, Postcolonial theories, 21st century literature and culture in Anglophone countries - the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Acting and Directing in Musical Theatre, Creative and academic writing.
University of Latvia: Linguistics and literary studies; North American literature; computational literary studies, digital cultural heritage; clinical optometry, vision science; geography; environmental science; law; pharmacy, preclinical research (patient-derived tumor organoids, organoids-on-chip, drug sensitivity tests; iPSC-based rare disease preclinical models; zebrafish drug sensitivity tests).
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies: Sociology of Organizations, Public Administration--public administration, governance, democracy and sustainability, organizational studies.
Riga Stradins University: Infection biology and immunology of human and mouse macrophages; Social Anthropology, Law, Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Media Studies; Sport Sciences and/or Nutrition and/or Physiology and/or Biochemistry and/or Bioinformatics.
Riga Technical University (RTU):
OpenRAN, UAV, Transport Telematics;
Chemical Engineering;
Economics and Business (Business Dynamics, Financial Dynamics. Organizational Dynamics, Data Analytics in Business Dynamics, Behavioral Dynamics, Innovation and Technological Transformation);
Governance and Security (Economic Security, Supply Chain Management and Security, Personal and Societal Security, Organizational Security, Occupational Safety, Fire Safety and Civil protection, Customs and Tax Administration, Public and Regional Governance, Border Security, Quality Management;
Biological data analyses, bioinformatics, omics, biothermodynamic, industrial biotechnology, environmental biotechnology;
RTU, Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering: Aerospace engineering (Aerospace and space technologies; Aerodynamics; Aircraft maintenance and design, 3D modelling and simulations); Mechanics of materials (High-performance materials and structures (or composite materials); Fracture mechanics; Finite Element Modelling; Structural health monitoring); Civil engineering (Sustainable building materials, HVAC (Heat, ventilation and air conditioning), Building Life Cycle Assessment in Practice, Automation and industrialization in construction, Fast acquisition of geospatial information by remote sensing, SHM (Structural health monitoring); Mechanical engineering (Mechanical design, 3D modelling and simulations, manufacturing/ industrial engineering, metrology, surfaces technology); Physics.
RTU, Institute of Photonics, Electronics and Telecommunications: Photonics, silicon photonic integrated circuits (optical chips), micro photonics, nanophotonics, metasurfaces, optical properties of nanoparticles, quantum communication, telecommunications, fiber optical communication networks, fiber optical sensors and sensing networks for structural health monitoring; Electronics (Smart electronic systems, Radio electronics, Microwave Engineering, Nonlinear dynamics and Chaos, Microelectronics);
All applicants must meet the Program eligibility requirements (click to review the requirements).
RTU Liepaja: Contact Erika Lauberga-Sleze at erika.lauberga-sleze@rtu.lv
Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music: Contact Sigita Razminovica, International Projects Coordinator, at sigita.razminovica@jvlma.lv
Art Academy of Latvia: Contact Agita Gritane at agita.gritane@lma.lv
Latvian Academy of Culture: Contact Ilze Beimane at ilze.beimane@lka.edu.lv
University of Latvia:
Linguistics and literary studies; North American literature: Contact Dr. Zigrida Vincela at zigrida.vincela@lu.lv
Clinical Optometry, Vision Science: Contact Dace Rutkovska at opto.metodike@lu.lv
Digital humanities, computational literary studies, digital cultural heritage: Contact Sanita Reinsone at sanita.reinsone@lu.lv
Pharmacy, preclinical research (Patient-derived tumor organoids, organoids-on-chip, drug sensitivity tests; iPSC-based rare disease preclinical models; zebrafish drug sensitivity tests): Contact Prof. Una Riekstina, Department of Pharmaceutical sciences at una.riekstina@lu.lv
Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies: Contact person: Liga Paula, Institute of Social Science and Humanities, at Liga.Paula@lbtu.lv
Riga Stradins University:
Infection biology and immunology of human and mouse macrophages: Contact Prof. Dr. Bhupesh K. Prusty, Institute of Microbiology and Virology at bhupesh.prusty@rsu.lv
Social Anthropology, Law, Political Science, International Relations, Economics, Media Studies: Contact Una Aleksandra Berzina-Cerenkova, head of the PhD program in Social Sciences at una.berzina-cerenkova@rsu.lv
Sport Sciences and/or Nutrition and/or Physiology and/or Biochemistry and/or Bioinformatics: Contact Dace Reihmane, RSU Laboratory of Sports and Nutrition Research at dace.reihmane@rsu.lv
Riga Technical University:
Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering:
Aerospace engineering (Aerospace and space technologies; Aerodynamics; Aircraft maintenance and design, 3D modelling and simulations);
Mechanics of materials (High-performance materials and structures (or composite materials); Fracture mechanics; Finite Element Modelling; Structural health monitoring)
Civil engineering (Sustainable building materials, HVAC (Heat, ventilation and air conditioning), Building Life Cycle Assessment in Practice, Automation and industrialization in construction, Fast acquisition of geospatial information by remote sensing, SHM (Structural health monitoring).
Mechanical engineering (Mechanical design, 3D modelling and simulations, manufacturing/ industrial engineering, metrology, surfaces technology)
Contact Marina Cerpinska, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Faculty of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at marina.cerpinska@rtu.lv
Photonics, silicon photonic integrated circuits (optical chips), microphotonics, nanophotonics, metasurfaces, optical properties of nanoparticles, quantum communication, telecommunications, fiber optical communication networks, fiber optical sensors and sensing networks for structural health monitoring: Contact Vjaceslavs Bobrovs, Institute of Photonics, Electronics and Telecommunications, e-mail: vjaceslavs.bobrovs@rtu.lv
OpenRAN, UAV, Transport Telematics: Contact Aleksandrs Ipatovs at aleksandrs.ipatovs@rtu.lv
Electronics (Smart electronic systems, Radioelectronics, Microwave Engineering, Nonlinear dynamics and Chaos, Microelectronics): Contact Dmitrijs Pikulins, Institute of Photonics, Electronics and Telecommunications at dmitrijs.pikulins@rtu.lv
Chemical Engineering: Contact Ieva Jaunzeme, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology at ieva.jaunzeme@rtu.lv
Economics and Business (Business Dynamics, Financial Dynamics. Organisational Dynamics, Data Analytics in Business Dynamics, Behavioral Dynamics, Innovation and Technological Transformation: Contact Janis Briedis at janis.briedis_1@rtu.lv
Governance and Security (Economic Security, Supply Chain Management and Security, Personal and Societal Security, Organizational Security, Occupational Safety, Fire Safety and Civil protection, Customs and Tax Administration, Public and Regional Governance, Border Security, Quality Management: Contact Reinis Leveika at reinis.leveika@rtu.lv
Biological data analyses, bioinformatics, omics, biothermodynamic, industrial biotechnology, environmental biotechnology): Contact Linda Mezule, Water Systems and Biotechnology Institute at Linda.Mezule@rtu.lv or Marta Zemite at Marta.Zemite@rtu.lv
Physics (General Physics for undergraduate, Physics of Materials for Master study program): Contact Juris Blums, Institute of Technical Physics at juris.blums@rtu.lv
All teaching will be in English; proficiency in Latvian is not required.
For research grant activity, language fluency sufficient to complete the research project is required. Feasibility of conducting research must be demonstrated in the project statement.
Academics must have a Ph.D. or other terminal degree. Community College faculty and adjunct professors are welcome to apply.
Artists and professionals are eligible to apply without a Ph.D., but they must have at least seven years of experience in a particular profession.
General information about Latvia can be found here.
StudyinLatvia.lv provides information about higher education in Latvia.
$3,750
$750 books and educational materials allowance; should be donated to the host institution (or other entity) upon grantee's departure.
Additional living and housing allowance is provided for grantees with one accompanying dependent or two or more accompanying dependents. These amounts range from $150/month to $300/month. In addition, travel allowances are provided for dependents: $2,500 for one dependent and $5,000 for two or more dependents.
A dependent education allowance for accompanying dependents in grades K-12 is reimbursed at $5,000 maximum for one semester, $10,000 maximum for a full academic year, upon submission of receipts and depending on funding availability. Reimbursement is based on actual costs.
Dependents must accompany the grantee for at least 80% of the period abroad and a minimum of one semester in order to qualify for additional dependent benefits. Dependent benefits are not provided to Flex grantees.
Please refer to the figures above for an estimate of total monthly Fulbright award benefits. Benefits may include a monthly base stipend, living and housing allowances, and additional one-time allowances. Benefits may vary based on a scholar's current academic rank (or professional equivalent), the city of placement, the type of award (teaching, teaching/research, or research), and the number of and duration of stay of accompanying dependents. Research-only or Professional Project grantees receive a standard stipend that is not adjusted for academic rank. In most cases, dependent benefits will not be provided to Flex grantees, or to grantees pursuing grants less than four months (or a semester) in length.
Final grant amounts will be determined prior to the start of the academic year and are subject to the availability of funds. The United States Department of State reserves the right to alter, without notice, participating countries, number of awards and allowances.
Latvia is a small country on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Pine, oak, and birch forests cover about 44 percent of the country. Latvia is a member of NATO, the European Union, the United Nations, OSCE, and OECD.
There are 52 accredited higher education institutions; 28 are university/non-university type institutions, and 24 are colleges. Education levels are generally high.
The capital city, Riga, is the largest Baltic city and is located on the Daugava River, just nine miles before it reaches the Baltic Sea. The Old Town of Riga is its cultural heart and has retained much of its medieval atmosphere. The architecture ranges from Romanesque and Gothic to Renaissance and Baroque. Its harbor, airport, rail, and highway networks make Riga a major trade and commercial center for all of the Baltic countries. It is also known as one of the global leaders in Internet broadband. English is widely spoken and understood. A complete overview of Latvia can be found here.
The academic year is from the beginning of September to mid-June. The second semester begins in February. Teaching is in English.
Applicants are encouraged to contact potential host institutions to arrange their own affiliations. If necessary, the U.S. Embassy in Riga can help to arrange a host institution affiliation.
English language education for dependents is available in Latvia. All public schools are free of charge and the language of instruction is Latvian. In recent years, the Fulbright Program has been unable to provide tuition assistance for English language private schools.
For detailed information about specific institutional requests, please contact Embassy staff: Public Diplomacy Specialist, Ingrida Bodniece at Bodniecei@state.gov or Public Affairs Officer, William Couch at Couchwe@state.gov .
2017-2018 U.S. Scholar to Latvia Kathleen Lafferty
Visit our Scholar Directory to view and search all Fulbright alumni. You can also learn more about Fulbright Alumni Ambassadors.
For detailed information about specific institutional requests, please contact Embassy staff: Exchange Programs Assistant, Ingrida Bodniece at Bodniecei@state.gov, or Public Affairs Officer, William Couch at Couchwe@state.gov .