The University of Latvia Livonian Institute was founded on 21 August 2018. The UL Livonian Institute is the first scientific institution in not only Latvia but also the rest of the world, which focuses its work on modern and multifaceted research into the language, culture, and heritage of Latvia’s other indigenous nation – the Livonians, who also form one of the foundational elements of modern Latvian language and culture.

The goal of the UL Livonian Institute is to advance research across a wide range of topics relating to the Livonians by encouraging the study of language, history, archaeology, culture, folklore, ethnology, contemporary cultural processes, and the connections and interactions among these different areas as well as the integration of knowledge of Livonian heritage and its influence on Latvia into various scientific fields and making this knowledge available to society at large.

The UL Livonian Institute is in active cooperation with Livonian and other community organisations, local governments, state institutions, and entrepreneurs.

The UL Livonian Institute’s partners include the University of Tartu, Uppsala University, Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, the University of Helsinki, the University of Göttingen, and the University of Tromsø.