At the General Assembly of the Estonian Academy of Sciences held on December 4, new Vice Presidents, Secretary General and the Non-Executive Members of the Board were elected from among the Members of Academy.
Academy Members Marek Tamm and Jaak Vilo were elected as Vice Presidents, Anne Kahru as Secretary General. Academy Members Toomas Asser, Jarek Kurnitski, Maris Laan, Martti Raidal and Anu Realo will take up their posts as Non-Executive Members of the Board. Their nominations were presented to the General Assembly by the elected President Mart Saarma.
In October and November, the academy's divisions elected new heads who are also automatically Members of the Board. The new Head of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences is Tiina Randma-Liiv. Marco Kirm was re-elected for a second term as Head of the Division of Astronomy and Physics. Maarja Grossberg-Kuusk has been appointed Head of the Division of Informatics and Engineering and Kalle Kirsimäe Head of the Division of Biology, Geology and Chemistry.
This means that the next Academy Board will have 13 members instead of the current 12, with five-year mandate.
Mart Saarma pointed out that during the next five years, the Academy should make a special contribution to improving the quality of science and increase the role of Academy in promoting applied sciences and innovation. "The Academy should be much more active and visible in the formulation and implementation of national research and development policies and seek new ways of funding research and development," he said.
Mart Saarma's term as President of the Academy as well as the terms of Vice Presidents and Non-Executive Members of the Board started on December 8. The term of the new Secretary General will start on 1 February next year. The terms of the Heads of Divisions started right after their election.
The Board is the Academy's permanent governing body, meeting as and when required, but no less than once in quarter.
The General Assembly meeting on December 4 was the last during Tarmo Soomere's 10-year presidency. In his speech, Mart Saarma said that the Estonian Academy of Sciences has probably never been as well known to the Estonian people as it is now, when Tarmo Soomere will leave the presidential office on December 7.
The public part of the meeting included the inauguration of Academy Member Ülo Mander. The agreement with Mart Saarma was signed, as well as the association agreements with the Academic Folklore Society and the Estonian Academic Law Society. Raivo Uibo, 2024 laureate of National Research Award for Lifetime Achievement, gave a presentation on his research "Kaleidoscopic autoimmunity".
In addition to the election of the members of the Board, in the closed part of the meeting, the regulations for the election of the Board members were specified, including the possibility of electronic voting. There was also a discussion on the state of the Estonian energy economy and how issues related to this topic could be brought under the continuous substantive attention of the Academy.