Projects

Due to an increase in the consumption of food, feed, fuel and to meet global food security needs, there is a necessity to breed for high yielding crops that can adapt to future climate changes. Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the dominant forage grass species in Europe due to its high regrowth capacity, rapid establishment, tolerance to frequent cutting and grazing, and high nutritive value for ruminant livestock. However, perennial ryegrass exhibits poor performance under unfavourable environmental conditions compared to other cool season forage grass species, thus the changing climate pose a substantial challenge to perennial ryegrass cultivation in the Nordic/Baltic region. In this project, we intend to utilize unique pre-breeding material, developed by the members of our consortium in the ongoing Nordic/Baltic Public-Private Partnership project on pre-breeding of perennial ryegrass and CRISPR-based editing to validate candidate genes involved in northern adaptation of perennial ryegrass. We will focus on genes involved in the mechanisms of freezing tolerance and biomass growth under water deficit. Moreover, we will investigate changes during abiotic stress periods at the transcriptome level to reveal gene regulatory pathways and networks. This project aims at improving perennial ryegrass for winter hardiness, persistence and biomass formation under water-limited conditions. This will enable us to utilize the gained information in future genomic selection programs to develop ryegrass cultivars with improved freezing and drought tolerance and persistence. It will also help breeders and agriculture in general in the Nordic/Baltic region to prepare for meeting new demands due to climate change and changing societal demands. Importantly, by improving forage production, dairy and meat industries will directly benefit and therefore this project contributes to safe and sustainable food systems.

Software modeling

The main research field of the project is implementation of Smart-contract Blockchain Technology.

The Project aims at improving the enforcement of European Small Claims Procedure (ESCP) judgments by creating a roadmap of EU Member States’ (MSs) enforcement rules and simplify and digitalize the enforcement procedures.

Project goals Taking into account the relatively low automation and robotization of the traditional fossil fuels industry, a significant retraining is necessary for the workforce in transition to modern technological industrial sectors. This has to be done, in order for the potentially available workforce to meet the needs and requirements set by the modern mechatronics oriented industry, which actively implements the Industry 4.0 ideology. To meet those requirements, the project proposes retraining courses for the soon-to-be-available workforce. The topics covered by the retraining are electrical drives, automation, robotics, power electronics, and condition monitoring of industrial systems. These separate fields are strongly interconnected and overlapping, and together with the connection point of IT technologies, they can be considered the main technological pillars of modern mechatronics oriented industry.

The project will focus on establishing and describing the long-term in vitro culture of primary human ovarian somatic cells for the future use in the fields of reproductive biotechnology, toxicology and functional studies for the better understanding of the ovarian etiologies of female infertility.

"The project directly addresses digital transformation through development of digital readiness of participating HE institutions and their current and future students by provision and absorption of digital tools for delivery of digital educational content in the area of rapid application development (RAD) thereby enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of the educational experiences of the students with tech and business backgrounds. The increased capacity to use RAD platforms (e.g. ORACLE APEX) will ensure preparation of a higher number of resilient students with business and/or tech background across at least 5 European countries. The project aims at the joint development of courses for Rapid application development (RAD) at European universities in Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, with a focus on ORACLE APPEX, a concept that emphasizes rapid development of web and mobile applications. In an ever-competitive market, RAD is replacing traditional methods and off-the-shelf products. RAD allows business and IT to collaborate effectively, acting as a catalyst in innovation and streamlining workflows. The project will ultimately increase the quality in the educational work, activities and practices through digital transformation of at least 5 European HE institutions, opening up to different business sectors massively requiring IT talents."

"Pitt-Hopkins syndrome is a cognitive functional disorder, caused by a de novo genetic mutation of one allele of the transcription factor 4 (TCF4) gene. It has been reported that postnatal restoration of TCF functions in Pitt-Hopkins syndrome animal model (partially) rescues the phenotype, indicating that therapeutic approaches increasing TCF4 levels or activity might also help patients. It has also been reported that inhibiting histone deacetylase activity increases TCF4 transcriptional activity and rescues memory deficiencies associated with TCF4 haploinsufficiency in a mouse model. These effects are likely conveyed by some TCF4 co-repressor, such as ETO/RUNX1T1 recruiting HDACs. However, HDAC inhibitors have a very broad effect on the cellular transcription and can cause various side-effects. Here, we hypothesize that by modulating the activity of specific TCF4 co-activators or co-repressors or their interaction with TCF4 could increase TCF4-dependent transcription, thus alleviating the symptoms of Pitt-Hopkins syndrome and have less side effects for the patients. To this end, we pursue to thoroughly identify the co-regulators participating in TCF4-dependent transcription, and to find means to modulate their activity. The specific aims are as follows: (1) Identify the co-regulatory proteins of different TCF4 protein isoforms. (2) Determine the mechanism of action and the interacting regions between TCF4 and co-regulatory proteins. (3) Develop means to modulate the transcriptional activity or binding of the TCF4 co-regulatory proteins."

High Performance Bio-based Functional Coatings for Wood and Decorative Applications

The aim of the Project “Development of universal data model and continuity of care processes based on international standards for new generation health information systems” is to find appropriate model for digital health care data that could be used for data collection and storage in new generation TIS with the feasibility to implement the same model in other large scale Electronic Health Records (EHR). This data model will be foundation for health care professionals to use digital decision support systems in context of Electronic Medical Record. The definition of data model would lead to the development of EHR processes where minimal set of health status summaries are defined for each specialty/health issue to make evidence-based decision possible. In turn, defined health status summaries are needed for development of continuity of care processes and training of artificial intelligence and development of intuitive Electronic Medical Records.

STP15 "Work Worth Doing? The Value of Platform Work in Estonia" was a short 20-month project aimed at helping a returning scientist establish a thriving research stream and network in Estonia. I am pleased to report that the project has successfully achieved this goal. During its duration, I mentored a master's student who is now continuing as an early-stage (PhD) researcher under my supervision. Together, we are involved in a follow-up grant application in collaboration with the University of Tallinn and the University of Tartu. Consequently, the project continues to progress and, with the support of university co-funding, promises to have long-term impact on the future of sustainable platform work in Estonia. In addition to fostering the development of the next generation of researchers, the project has yielded significant results in terms of publications, dissemination, and follow-up grant applications: (1) Publication of Master's thesis: Toikka, A. (2023). "Worth of Platform-Based Gig Work from the Point of View of Employees and Society." School of Business and Governance, TalTech. (2) Opinion piece in Estonian media: Toikka, A. & Stein, M-K. (2023). "TTÜ Teadlased: Platvormitöötajate Alaväärtustamine Varjutab Ükssarviku Edulugu." Novaator. (English version: Researchers: Undervaluing Platform Workers Tarnishes Unicorn Success Story). (3) Participation in grant application: RITA-PLATV2 2024 "Impacts and Future Directions of Platform Work in Estonia." These outcomes are primarily focused on constructively shaping public discourse around platform work and its participants in Estonia. Given that A. Toikka is continuing this research as a PhD candidate, we have decided to extend our data collection beyond the project's duration to aim for publication in top-tier journals. Preliminary results from the project were presented for feedback at the pre-ECIS (European Conference of Information Systems) Changing Nature of Work workshop (2023) in Kristiansand, Norway.

Digital transformation through development of digital readiness is one of the main objectives of this project proposal by developing a platform through which educators along their students will be able to access STEM LABs remotely through the internet. Therefore ReSTELA project aims to strengthen digital skills , through remotely accessible STEM Labs for vulnerable groups such as people (students educators) living in rural areas, or other groups that don’t have the financial capacity or knowledge to setup such systems and at the same time emphasizing on promoting new and improved learning methods.

The WaveTwin project aims to further develop a digital twin for estimating the wave state in the Baltic Sea from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. Previous methods for SAR data are not successful enough for enclosed water bodies where steep wind waves are dominating. It is apparent that the Baltic Sea also cannot be covered fully with wave buoys to measure the energy spectrum, i.e. the distribution of wave energy by frequency. The use of SAR data allows us to effectively evaluate the wave spectrum over the entire Baltic Sea, skipping the high costs of installing and operating wave buoys. To achieve this goal, the team will use their expertise in the application of deep learning techniques to estimate wave spectra based on SAR images. Environmental protection and navigation at sea (e.g. for the construction and maintenance of wind farms) are two of the most important application areas. A growing interest in such problems is also evident in the field of situational awareness systems.

Developing, testing and validating a fully automated AI fish counting system of 20+ freshwater fish species using more than 23 Mio. videos with fish, fish swarms and changing environmental conditions.