Students of the University of Latvia for students: united in diversity

It vividly shows the diversity of students, their different fields of studies and interests, but especially their traditions and activities, without which the study time cannot be imagined. At the end of the last year, each student of the UL could electronically vote for the best student event, organized by the students’ self-government of their faculty. Thirteen faculties and thirteen stories of the best events give an idea of the scope and variety of the UL activities. BioAiris 2012 BioAiris is a tradition-rich and educating boat ride for the present and former students of the Faculty of Biology. In 2012, it took the participants on an adventure down the picturesque Mēmele river. Both athletic activities and opportunities for an artistic self-expression were offered during the time spent on the water. GeoRally Tebra 2012 One of the oldest traditions of the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences is GeoRally, and it is organized by the Geographers’ Mafia, which unites all the geography students. It is a three- or four-day boat ride down one of the Latvian rivers in early spring and late autumn. In 2012, the Tebra river was chosen to be the rally river. 26 kilometers have been covered during the three-day trip. The Geographers went to conquer the Tebra river with the slogan ‘The Tebra river is black as coffee, the Geographers’ Mafia is coming for a cup of coffee!’ The symbiosis of new and intelligent minds in the information sciences In early August 2012, the informal conference ‘The UL and LMT Computer Science Days 2012’took place. It was organized and held by the students and management of the Faculty of Computing, and it brought together 73 participants from five Latvian and two foreign universities and institutes. During the conference, the latest trends in computer science were discussed, such as quantum computing, wireless sensor networks and computer engineering, image recognition, software engineering, artificial intelligence, web science and computer linguistics. The world-acknowledged results in quantum computing by Latvian scientists were presented, and an insight into web science that explores the Web as a complex phenomenon, which study goes beyond the borders of one branch of science, was provided. In total, 29 papers on diverse topics were read. Athletic contests between the economists and managers The Faculty of Economics and Management has one of the oldest student sport games traditions. Doing healthy outdoor sport activities, the students demonstrate their athletic rivalry spirit, strengthen their ability to work in a team as well as improve relationships with current friends and get to know new ones. Acoustic poetry evening In order to take refuge from the daily rush, the students’ self-government of the Faculty of Humanities (FoH) offered poetry and acoustic evening ‘Let’s go into poetry.’ It was an opportunity for students and teaching staff to capture a single joy of poetry and acoustic music. During the evening, both the poets who already gained the society’s recognition and students of the FoH who still had to prove themselves took the stage, while the musicians entertained the guests by creating a special sound and symbol aura. Legal arguments rivalry In the middle of the last year, the students’ self-government of the Faculty of Law addressed the students of all the Latvian universities offering law studies to invite them to show their knowledge of law and power of reasoning by participating in the contest dedicated to the memory of Professor Pauls Mincis, ‘Professor Pauls Mincis Second Criminal Law Moot Court.’ The moot case to be tried was very much alike a real criminal case, while the participants had to give the prosecution and defense speeches using the provided evidence and assuming that the investigation has been completed. Chemists’ Days 2012 In May of the last year, the students of the Faculty of Chemistry had a chance to participate in the faculty’s biggest festival The Chemists Days 2012. The festival included numerous competitions, such as scientific research thesis presentation contest, quiz ‘Be Knowledgeable Chemist’, chemistry experiment demonstration series, photo orienteering, the best students award ceremony, dancing to live music, and provided an opportunity for everyone to get to know the life of chemists from all the sides in both the formal and informal atmosphere. The Baltic Sea Region Medical Sciences students meet each other Last year, the students’ self-government of the Faculty of Medicine, in cooperation with the students of Rīga Stradiņš University, had organized a major Baltic countries medical student conference, which brought together more than 400 medical scientists from the Scandinavian and Baltic countries. The conference gave a great opportunity for students from different countries to present their best works to competent branch experts and to take part in practical classes conducted by professionals. Christmas Ball In December, the students of the Faculty of Chemistry and the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art joined together at the Christmas Ball named Once Upon a Time on Christmas... The ball greeted everyone with a warm atmosphere, joyous dance groups and an opportunity to have a good rest from everyday troubles and to give themselves up to a miracle at least for a moment. Not forgetting the fact that this was the time of love and warmth of the heart, a charity campaign aimed at delighting the children of the orphanage Vita has been carried out. Pre-Aristotle 2012 Last year, the students’ self-government of the Faculty of Social Sciences organized a special event for the new students, who were supposed to ‘meet Aristotle’ for the first time. It took place a day before the main festival and was called Pre-Aristotle. On this day, the new students were introduced to the formal and informal traditions of the faculty and its students. Fun activities were organized between the informative speeches and presentations. Days of Physics and Mathematics 2012 Each year the Student Council of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (FPM) organizes the Faculty’s celebrations. In 2012, the Days of Physics and Mathematics event took place for the 42^nd time. Students gathered to promote the exact science field, to establish and strengthen contacts between pupils and students, to encourage the students to discuss issues and current events in the field of the secondary and higher education, to develop and strengthen students’ organizational skills, to promote active recreation and healthy lifestyle, to establish the links between the lecturers and the students of the FPM not only in the academic but also informal environment. Freshmen ball with a historical and philosophical undertone The celebration which the students of the Faculty of History and Philosophy (FHP) were most proud of in 2012 was the Freshmen Ball, an event rich in traditions. “Only real historians and philosophers can understand the secrets and adventures of the magical night. Starting their studies, the freshmen fit in the environment of the UL, but only after the dedication ceremony in October do they feel truly belonging to the FHP. In the evening, the students split into several groups, go to the forest and walk around it, checking at certain stations,” tells a representative of the faculty students’ self-government. Unexplored areas of theology and religious research In 2012, the students of the Faculty of Theology held the conference Undetermined Areas of Latvian Theology and Religious Research. The students presented the participants their reports the topics of which included ‘Religious Life in the Cēsis city during the 14^th–16^th century’, Attitude towards the Christian church “Prieka vēsti” in the Latvian press’, ‘The religious essence of the atheism education’, ‘Death and dying: doctrine and rituals in tantric Buddhism’, ‘The Dead God as a Zombie’ – to name just a few. Thus the students showed how different and diverse their interests are. Background information The Student Council of the UL is an organization formed by the students’ self-governments of all the faculties, representing the interests of all the UL students and taking care of the students' cultural life. Every year on the second week of November, the students’ self-government elections take place at every faculty. More than 250 students are being elected to student organizations for the rest of the academic year to represent the students’ interests at the faculty and the UL levels. Information for new students

• The UL Home, 18 May 2013

In order to get to know the students from all UL faculties, break stereotypes about study opportunities in the UL and maybe even discover new directions of studies, the Student Council of the UL invites to the UL students’ representational event The UL Home starting at 18:00 on 18^th of May at Raiņa bulvāris 19.

• The system of mentors

In order for the new students not to get confused in the big and wide UL, the Student Council tries to ensure that each faculty has the mentors, the senior students who help the freshers to get to know the faculty and the peculiarities of the studies, as well as tell about the lecturers’ habits. Apply in the beginning of August.

• Aristotle, 01 September 2013.

For more than 46 years, there exists the tradition of the new students to spend the night at the UL, celebrating the start of the new academic year. Last year, the Aristotle event for new students of the UL was held on 1^st of September, the Knowledge Day, with a ceremonial opening on the Dome Square, a torch procession to the Alma Mater at Raiņa bulvāris 19, and the following dancing and celebration till the first lecture.