Professor Aldo R. Boccaccini receives Honorary Doctorate at Riga Technical University, Latvia

Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Riga Technical University (RTU), Latvia. The award was conferred at the ceremony of the Grand Opening of the new building of the Baltic Biomaterials Center of Excellence (BBCE) in Riga, Latvia, on 20th January 2025. Prof. Boccaccini has been an international partner of BBCE since the start of the center in 2020 and he is currently a member of the BBCE Steering Commitee. The international partners in the BBCE project, the FAU Institute of Biomaterials and AO Research Institute in Davos, Switzerland, were noted for their key role in enhancing the scientific excellence of BBCE researchers. In recognition of their substantial contributions to RTU’s development and scientific capacity building, as well as their active involvement in the development of BBCE, RTU awarded Honorary Doctorate Diplomas to Professor Mauro Alini, Emeritus Scientific Advisor at the AO Research Institute, and Professor Aldo R. Boccaccini. Commenting on the award, Prof. Boccaccini said: “It is a true honour to receive the Honorary Doctorate from Riga Technical University, an institution to which I have been attached in different capacities for many years. I am very thankful to Prof. Janis Locs and his team for giving me personally and my team in Erlangen the great opportunity to be involved and actively participate in this unique success story that is BBCE. We are proud to be supporting BBCE from the early idea, proposal preparation, and then implementation of this visionary biomaterials project, which has already shown impact not only in Latvia but also in Europe and worldwide. I consider this RTU honorary doctorate as a recognition for what we have done together, but also a compromise to continue my personal involvement in BBCE activities at all levels in which the contribution of my team will be considered to be beneficial for the further success of the Center and RTU in general.”