Projects

SMART-PL is a 3-year project, focused on introducing a model of personalised learning, based on the virtual learning environment of Intellectual Tutoring "Learning with No Limits". Intellectual tutoring is a set of learning tools: SMART online platform for virtual personalised learning and formative student assessment; сo-working centre with equipment for organising hybrid learning, which increases the educational process's efficiency and gives both teachers and students more opportunities.

MOVEx is a 3-year project, focused on organizing an effective Virtual Exchange Program as a platform for professional and intercultural interaction, exchange of experience, to ensure high-quality educational services

The main scope of the activities to be undertaken during the project covers capacity-building initiatives in selected higher education institutions with the main goal to improve and harmonize understanding as well as practice of entrepreneurial mindset, innovative talent and high-impact expertise.

The purpose of this project is to address the problems related to expert workforce in the field of diagnosis, monitoring, and maintenance of the power systems and related components in the partner countries by bringing innovation in higher education teaching and learning methods in order to fill the expertise gap and enhance its relevance for the labour market and the society as a whole. The project will help Nepal and Bhutan to produce in-house human resources in the field of condition monitoring of power equipment making both the countries independent of external consultants. The main objective of the project is to implement real problem based teaching and learning methods in the curriculum of HEIs of the partner countries. This is possible thanks to the expertise and know how of the EU partner Universities and their long term teaching in this field. The project will also help the EU partners to renew their education in this field and build a sustainable flow of students in both directions

The aim of the project is to assess the fish compatibility of the newly developed pump and to compare the damage rates of the fish during passage to an existing pump in the Kudensee pumping station.

The project provides a comprehensive assessment of Estonia’s wood resources and the technological pathways for their high-value valorisation. It supports national goals to expand the bio-based economy and advance climate-neutral development. The project evaluates the availability of wood suitable for mechanical, microbiological, and chemical processing up to 2050, analyses relevant TRL 6–9 technologies, and identifies development directions that fit Estonia’s resource base, workforce capacity, and strategic priorities. The study maps domestic and potentially importable wood resources, considering species, assortments, environmental restrictions, and an annual harvesting volume of 10 million m³. It assesses resource availability across different forest owner groups, including the State Forest Management Centre (RMK), private forest owners, and industry-related large owners. It provides a concise overview of chemical and microbiological wood valorisation technologies and related product groups across technology generations. The analysis evaluates suitable fractionation and end-product manufacturing technologies for Estonia, taking into account resource scale, supply chain feasibility, human capital, investment needs, and climate policy obligations, including CO₂ sequestration and LULUCF methodology. It also examines additional resource requirements—such as other bio-based feedstocks, water and energy demand, and infrastructure needs—arising from the selected technological pathways. The project reviews current and future demand for engineering, chemical, and wood chemistry experts, drawing on OSKA analyses, and assesses laboratory and R&D infrastructure needs in connection with the establishment of the Wood Valorisation Focus Centre and Metrosert’s Bio-refinery Development Centre. The results provide an integrated overview of Estonia’s strategic options for wood valorisation and offer recommendations for building a competitive, high-value wood-based value chain that strengthens the national bioeconomy and supports long-term climate objectives.

Ukraine has a quarter of the world’s chernozems and 41.5 million hectares of agricultural land, covering 70 percent of the country. Agriculture pollutes about 60 percent of land resources and approximately 45-48 percent of reservoirs, representing 18-24 % of global GHG emissions. SmartAGRO's goal is to develop a precision fertilization solution that will help Ukraine achieve its climate policy goals. SmartAGRO is based on capillary electrophoresis technology, which enables the determination of various macro- and microelements in the soil. The goal is to develop a precise agriculture platform with recommendations for soil fertilization for agricultural crops growing in Ukraine, taking into account the chemical profile of the soil, the type and the crops grown, helping to reduce the use of fertilizers, increase/maintain yields and reduce GHG emissions.

New or reoccurring bacterial threats are a major challenge of this century, and a delayed response due to the lack of field-testing options risks human lives and causing an epidemic. Classical microbiology techniques are relatively slow, while cytometric methods allow the measurement of cell count, morphology etc. in an easy, reliable, and fast way. State of the art flow cytometers are high-throughput benchtop instruments that are neither portable nor cheap enough for field testing, causing logistic delays in bacterial testing in remote areas and conflict zones or where infrastructure is limited. The goal of this R&D activity is to create the proof of concept of and develop the methodology for low-cost, fully portable flow cytometers based on droplet microfluidics, which will not only allow field analysis of bacteria, but will have a single-cell resolution. Furthermore, through cognitive electronics, the system will be easy to use and fully automated from sample input to result output.

Formation of new synapses, and alteration of the strength and stability of existing synapses are regarded as the main cellular basis for memory and long-term behavioral adaptations. Neuronal activity-regulated gene expression plays a crucial role in synaptic development and function, and its deregulation gives rise to various nervous system disorders. Knowledge about the regulatory mechanisms of activity-dependent gene expression is important both for understanding of nervous system function and for finding new drug targets. The aim of this project is to study the molecular mechanisms of neuronal activity-regulated gene expression, including transcription, translation and posttranslational modifications, in the nervous system health and disease. The studies are focused on two genes, the neurotrophin BDNF and the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor TCF4.

Autonomous driving is no longer just an idea of technology vision, instead a real technical trend all over the world. The continuing development to a further level of autonomy requires more from energy optimization. The optimization of electric propulsion drive systems of self-driving electric vehicles by using autonomous and monitoring sensors are not often discussed. The goal of the proposal is to develop a specialized unsupervised prognosis and control platform for such energy system performance estimation. This goal requires the development of several test platforms and digital twins. A digital twin is composed of three components – the physical entities in the real world, their virtual models, and the connected data/view that ties the two worlds together.

Project Goal - Sustainable aquaculture​ feed based on novel biomass from wood by-products

Smart Industry Centre (SmartIC) was created at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) and Estonian University of Life Sciences (Institute of Technology) in 2017 to improve collaboration in research and development and use of distributed infrastructure in the field of Industry 4.0 - robotics, mechatronics, additive manufacturing, product quality control and related fields of IT (especially artificial intelligence). In 2018, Institute of Technology of University of Tartu joined in collaboration (mainly in the field of robotics). In 2017-2020 several new labs were opened (FMS and Robotics Lab, Industrial Virtual and Augmented Reality Lab, Additive Manufacturing Lab/ ProtoLab, Computer Tomography Lab for quality control, etc). Several new ERF and H2020 funded projects were initiated and launched in 2017-2020.