Report:4ad293ad-5227-40db-a597-302d0b281bf3

Based on the document Report:4ad293ad-5227-40db-a597-302d0b281bf3 which was published on 2021-10-22T09:49:29 on the website "Embassy of Good Science" under the URL https://embassy.science/wiki/Report:4ad293ad-5227-40db-a597-302d0b281bf3, the research ifrastructure of {{{Display_Title}}} is described as follows: In 2018, there were 4,968 full-time researchers in Estonia (1). Estonia had 20 positively evaluated R&D institutions (2): 6 public universities and 1 private university (3), 7 public research organisations and 6 private research institutions (4).

In addition to the evaluated R&D institutions, there are other public and private R&D intensive institutions, as well as 4 science and technology parks (5,6,7,8), 6 competence centers (9) and 9 centers of excellence (10).

Most research in Estonia is performed at universities and the leading centre for research and training is the University of Tartu (11). Centers of Excellence present collaboration of different research groups and have been established for the improvement of scientific research (10). Competence Centers present cooperation of public authorities, research institutions and enterprises (9).

Organisation	City
Public universities
University of Tartu	Tartu
Tallinn University of Technology	Tallinn,
Tallinn University	Tallinn
Estonian University of Life Sciences	Tartu
Estonian Academy of Arts	Tallinn
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre	Tallinn
Private university
Estonian Business School	Tallinn

Facts & Figures

Estonia

Where

• Estonia

Research infrastructure

In 2018, there were 4,968 full-time researchers in Estonia (1). Estonia had 20 positively evaluated R&D institutions (2): 6 public universities and 1 private university (3), 7 public research organisations and 6 private research institutions (4).

In addition to the evaluated R&D institutions, there are other public and private R&D intensive institutions, as well as 4 science and technology parks (5,6,7,8), 6 competence centers (9) and 9 centers of excellence (10).

Most research in Estonia is performed at universities and the leading centre for research and training is the University of Tartu (11). Centers of Excellence present collaboration of different research groups and have been established for the improvement of scientific research (10). Competence Centers present cooperation of public authorities, research institutions and enterprises (9).

Organisation	City
Public universities
University of Tartu	Tartu
Tallinn University of Technology	Tallinn,
Tallinn University	Tallinn
Estonian University of Life Sciences	Tartu
Estonian Academy of Arts	Tallinn
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre	Tallinn
Private university
Estonian Business School	Tallinn

Research funding

In 2019, the gross expenditures on research and development were €452,97 million, which comprises 1.61% of the country’s GDP (12). Must funding was spent in the business sector (53,3%), higher education (35,3%), government (10,2%) and private non-profit organisations (1,2%) (13).

In 2020, Estonia had 638 grants and 806 participations in H2020 projects, receiving €240,3 million funding from H2020 (14).

Research strategy

The Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014-2020 “Knowledge-based Estonia” was approved by the Estonian government in 2013 and Parliament in 2014 (15). The Strategy set four main goals for Estonia. First, research in Estonia should reach high level and be diverse. This means internationally competitive and visible research, covering higher education and culture. Second, research and development reflects the needs of the Estonian society and economy. Third, research and development investments should encourage the development of target growth areas (information and communication technology, health technologies and services and more effective use of resources). Fourth, Estonia should be active and visible in international research and development cooperation (15).

Research governance, compliance and integrity

The Estonian Research Council promotes research integrity in Estonia (16), but there is no institution at the national level tasked with the implementation of research integrity among different institutions.

Research Ethics Committee of the University of Tartu and Research Ethics Committee of the National Institute for Health Development are two main ethics committees on research involving human subject. The Estonian Committee on Bioethics and Human Research, established at the Ministry of Social Affairs, is responsible for ethics approvals concerning the research of Estonian Genome Center. Together with the Project Authorisation Committee for Animal Experiments, these committees provide oversight on research with humans or animals, but also in research involving human genes (17). Estonian Research Ethics Committees write annual reports to the State Agency of Medicines and to the governmental bodies of their institution (18). There are also two clinical ethics committees, the Ethics Committee of the Tallinn’s Children Hospital and Ethics Committee of the Tartu University Hospital (17).

Registration of clinical trials including medicinal products is mandatory and regulated by the Medicinal Products Act (19).

Ethics committees are also responsible for investigation of alleged research misconduct. For example, the Statute of the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Tartu states that in the case of the violation of research ethical principles, a member of the Committee has the right to delay the processing of the application or its approval until the circumstances are clarified (20).

The Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity states that the research institution ensures the confidentiality of dealing with possible breaches and protects the dignity and inviolability of private life of all the parties involved (21). Nevertheless, Estonia’s whistle-blower protection framework is one of the weakest in Europe. Public officials are required to report corruption and 2013 Amendment to Anti-Corruption Act protects public officials from retaliation. The country does not provide protection for public employees who report misconduct other than corruption or for private sector whistle-blowers. There is no anti-corruption institution in Estonia not agency that copes with whistle-blower issues. Corruption reports can be submitted to the Central Criminal Police through a hotline (22).

Bodies for RE+RI	Scope
Estonian Research Council	Concentrates the funding of R&D and guarantees the better functioning of financing systems.
Project Authorisation Committee for Animal Experiments	Provides oversight on research involving animals.
Research Ethics Committee of the University of Tartu	Assesses the ethical aspects of human research in the field of medicine and natural sciences and other human research.
Research Ethics Committee of the National Institute for Health Development	Provides its expert opinion for all surveys involving humans.
Estonian Committee on Bioethics and Human Research	Coordinates the activities of the committees and advises policy makers and governmental institutions in bioethics-related questions. It also participates in the preparation of relevant laws and governmental acts and educates the public about the issues in bioethics. Gives ethics approvals concerning the research of Estonian Genome Center.

Laws and regulations

A number of laws address RE and RI in Estonia.

Law	Scope
Medicinal Products Act	Ensures the safety, quality and efficacy of medicinal products in Estonia. It also promotes the use of medicinal products for their intended purposes.
Animal Protection Act	Regulates the protection of animals from human acts or omissions that may endanger their health and welfare.
Organisation of Research and Development Act	Provides the grounds for the organisation of research and development as a component of Estonian culture and the Estonian economy.
Higher Education Act	Provides the bases of organisation of studies at the level of higher education; the rights and obligations upon studying at the level of higher education; and the bases of the operations of education institutions organising studies at the level of higher education.
The European Charter & Code for Researchers	The Charter and Code ensure that researchers can enjoy the same rights and obligations in any European country.
Gender Equality Act	Ensures and promotes equal treatment of men and women ss a fundamental human right and for the public good in all areas of social life.
Equal Treatment Act	Ensures the protection of persons against discrimination on grounds of nationality (ethnic origin), race, colour, religion or other beliefs, age, disability or sexual orientation.

Measures to promote good scientific practices and open science

RI training

Courses in ethics constitute an integral part of higher education in Estonia. All Estonian universities offer introductory courses in ethics (17). Important resource for RE and RI training is Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.

RI dialogue and communication

The statement of the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU “Tallinn Call for Action 2017” emphasizes the importance of building trust between research and society on several levels including academia, media, research performing organisations and research funding organisations (23).

Collaborative science is promoted by the Estonian Research Council through various programs and organisations which offer project grants: Mobilitas Pluss partnership and Co-operation, Baltic Research Cooperation Programme, NordForsk, ERA-NET Cofund and Bonus Programme. In the personal research funding applications, one assessment criterion is international cooperation (24). OpenGENE—Opening Estonian Genome Project for European Research Area is conducted in order to raise public awareness of ethical issues related to gene banks and to increase people’s trust towards data banks (25).

The Estonian Research Information System (ETIS) is a national register in which information on R&D institutions, researchers, projects and research results are presented and open for everyone (26). Research Libraries responsible for the collection, preservation and processing of scientific information and making such information available by providing public services (27).

The Ethics Centre of the University of Tartu is mostly scientifically oriented but it is also active in addressing ethical topics in society (16). It organises annual conferences and events for the promotion of ethics among different scientific disciplines (28). Research ethics committees share information with each other twice per year seminars for research ethics committees are organised for the purposes of networking (18).

Lay press occasionally discusses research integrity.

RI incentives

University of Tallinn provides training in research integrity via some of its courses (17). The Estonian Academy of Sciences offers support to its researchers through various awards.

Guidelines

Estonia

A total of 2 guidelines were found. Add a Guideline.

• Estonian Code of Conduct for Research Integrity (October 2024)
• University of Tartu Ethics Centre's Codes of Ethics Handbook (October 2021)

Andrijana Perković Paloš, Elsa Amin contributed to this report. Latest contribution was Oct 22, 2021