Topic: research

In the recent call for the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grants, University of Tartu researchers received funding for three projects: to study the climate impact of air pollution particles, the formation of cell patterns in plant leaves, and women’s hormonal sensitivity. Each grant amounts to nearly two million euros, and the projects last for five years.

On 27–28 November, the conference „Climate Compass 2025: The Art of Adaptation in the Light of Science" will take place in Tartu, marking 160 years since the beginning of meaningful weather observations in Estonia.

As part of a European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grant project, archaeologist Mari Tõrv from the University of Tartu will study how hunter-gatherers across the Northern hemisphere achieved significant population growth and social complexity long before agriculture and cattle farming became the dominating way of life. Tõrv’s research team will contribute to the project with material analysis from the Baltic region.

Estonia, under the lead of the University of Tartu, has become the first member state of the consortium developing the European Spallation Source to deliver all in-kind contributions for ESS construction.

The three-minute thesis competition for doctoral researchers, held at the University of Tartu Library on 22 October, featured 13 popular-science short lectures in Estonian and 14 in English.

Interest in the European Research Council (ERC) programme has grown among University of Tartu researchers. In response, the Grant Writing Unit is organising an ERC Information Event on 4 November 2025, focused on individual ERC Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants.

3 October, Dr. Mark Robinson, Senior Advisor at the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, will give a lecture at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Chemistry titled “Managing the Collective”.

9.–10. oktoobril toimub Physicumis ja Chemicumis 9. vesinikupäev mis toob kokku teadlased, ettevõtjad ja poliitikakujundajad, et arutleda vesiniku võtmerolli üle Eesti energiajulgeoleku tagamisel.

The doctoral thesis defended at the Institute of Chemistry studied the distribution of organic solutes in a gas-ionic liquid environment using cheminformatics and machine learning methods.