The aim of the election of Academy Research Professor is to enable recognised researchers in their field working full-time in an Estonian research and development institution or university, leading research and supervising doctoral students, to commit themselves to scientific research during the term of Academy Professor.
The aim of the election of theme-based Academy Research Professor is to enable recognised researchers in their field to carry out their field-specific research in an Estonian private or public sector organisation during the minimum one-year term of theme-based Academy Professor. The number of open positions, the field or theme, the term and the conditions for application are decided by the Board of the Academy in agreement with the institution financing theme-based Researcher-Professors.
The General Assembly of the Academy approved the new Statute of Research Professor of the Academy of Sciences (in Estonian) on 20 April 2022.
For the first time Research Professors were elected in 2002. Since then, the Estonian Academy of Sciences has announced a competition for the position of Research Professor every three years and each time has elected three Researcher Professors for a three-year term.