Projects

Wood is Estonia's most important bio-based raw material, the skilful processing of which creates high added value, carbon binding products. Today, Estonian universities do not have a unified action plan and infrastructure for coordinated research and development (R&D) and for offering industrial solutions throughout the entire value chain. Therefore, the infrastructure is created for linking 14 structural units of 8 institutes of 3 universities. This synergy enables to carry out interdisciplinary, high quality R&D activities of wood valorisation. The infrastructure creates new opportunities for training young researchers and provides a strong base for international cooperation. An integrated contact point will be created for effective marketing of services of the infrastructure. R&D of the infrastructure covers mechanical, chemical, biochemical and thermochemical valorisation of primary and secondary wood and can take the Estonian wood science and industry to a new development level.

The research project focuses on Industry 4.0/5.0 digital production technologies, which enable the development of new products also considering their production readiness to be significantly accelerated. The whole life cycle of the product is under consideration, from the creation of digital product models using 3D scanning, digital twins, and simulation technologies; rapid product prototyping through additive manufacturing technologies to integrate both mechanics and electronics; production based on the principles of lean manufacturing, quality control and product and production monitoring. As a result of the project, a prototyping development and demo centre/ experimental lab will be created in Virumaa College, which enables the development and production of complex and smart mechatronic products.

The Engineering Academy is a project initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research and funded by the European Social Fund, with the goal of improving the quality of engineering education and reducing the labor shortage in technical fields. The project is led by the Education and Youth Board and is joined by five higher education institutions. The Engineering Academy includes 22 engineering-related study programs, of which ten have been selected as priority focus programs for development. The project has three focus areas: • Increasing the number of applicants • Improving the quality of education and Increasing alignment with labor market needs • Reducing dropout rates The Technical University has set a goal to increase admissions in the field of engineering by 15% each year. To improve the quality of education, the action plan includes a significant expansion of project-based and problem-based learning, curriculum development, quality enhancement, and infrastructure upgrades. Additionally, lecturers’ training and the recruitment of teaching assistants are planned. To reduce dropout rates, individual support for students will be increased, both during the first year and when completing their final theses. First-year students will also be offered additional mathematics courses. The goal is to significantly reduce dropout rates and increase the number of graduates.

The project aims to advance Electric Propulsion Drive System (EPDS) Digital Twin (DT) technology for Software Defined Electric Vehicles (SDEVs), with a focus on achieving DT adaptive and intelligent levels. It addresses the need for efficient testing and evaluation of electric propulsion systems in line with EU clean energy transition goals. Leveraging the rapid development of DT technology, the project seeks to contribute to SDV technology through enhanced modeling, data gathering, IoT integration, and system optimization. Key challenges include lifecycle management, data processing, and real-time communication between physical and virtual systems. The project encompasses advanced modeling, data gathering, IoT, and communication infrastructure, system integration, optimization, and technology demonstration.

This multidisciplinary study aims to decrease cardiovascular mortality in Estonia by increasing treatment adherence and empowering patients to create a supportive self-management environment for monitoring their health and actively participating in the treatment process. Analysing 1) the LDL-cholesterol values of North Estonia Medical Centre (NEMC) patients to find underdiagnosed and undertreated patients and 2) treatment adherence to lipid-lowering drugs (LLD). Identifying patient groups who need additional support. During the pilot project, a novel application will be developed, together with personal support, used to increase LLD adherence. The novelty of the tool – combining the data used in Estonia from the Nationwide Health Information System, ePrescription, and NEMC electronic medical record with the data collected by the patient and enabling two-way communication between the patient and medical staff. In the last stage of the study, an impact assessment of the tool is planned.

Life-sustaining artificial kidney treatment or haemodialysis (HD) is needed for end-stage renal disease and critical care patients. High quality HD must ensure effective and personalized blood purification from harmful uremic toxins (UT), among inflammation-cardiovascular disease related middle size (MM)-UT. This, urged by a need for HD surveillance in crisis (coronavirus, war, energy), has created a demand for on-line, bloodless, and non-infectious tools for UT removal monitoring. Optical monitoring can provide a feasible tool for this. However, to date no reliable monitoring technology of MM-UTs is available. This project aims to fill this knowledge gap. Optical spectral signature identification combined with chromatographic and biochemical analyses to reveal the main optical MM markers in biofluids, selection of best signal processing algorithms, and a proof-of-concept in-vivo clinical study is planned to develop a novel optical technology for on-line MM-UT removal monitoring in HD.

EML brings together the high-level infrastructure of understanding and application of magnetism and electromagnetism of four partners - University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics, and Metrosert with the aim of enabling extensive use of this expertise and knowledge by companies and the public sector, also in order to achieve TAIE and Estonia 2035 goals. EML partners with NEO materials (Sillamäe) and magnet (Narva) factories. EML includes three distributed core laboratories - Magnets and magnetic materials, Recycling of rare elements, and Electro-magnetism applications - bringing together the versatile know-how of EMLpartners. The laboratories provide top-level electromagnetic analysis expertise, develop methodologies, offer scientific and industrial magnetic analyzes, and provide professional training. EML represents Estonia in international organizations (EMA, EMFL, NHMFL, COST) and participates in numerous international projects.

DigiBio project focuses on digitalisation, bioeconomy, and sustainability, scientific domains which constitute a high priority in national, regional, and EU strategies and policies. As the second large European Centre within this area, the Estonian Centre for Bioesustainability (ECB) will place Estonia in a very competitive position in European R&I. With DTU assistance, ECB will establish a major research, technology development, and innovation platform for the generation of cutting-edge bioengineering solutions focused on sustainable bio-production through biology digitalisation. This platform will accelerate lab-to-market translation of bioengineering solutions, diversifying Estonian national industry. DigiBio’s overarching objective is to establish a state-of-the-art CoE for digitalisation of biology in Estonia, through upgrading the ECB.

CERN is an international scientific centre that unites 24 member states and 10 associated states. Their mission is to conduct experiments in high and low energy particle physics and develop novel technologies and IT solutions for medicine, AI and quantum computing. Since 2023, Estonian research at CERN has been coordinated by the CERN consortium formed by the National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (KBFI), the University of Tartu (TÜ) and Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) whose members participate in LHC CMS, WLCG, FCC, CLIC, iFast, AMBER, Cloud and CCC experiments. Cutting-edge research at CERN fosters internationalisation and advancement of Estonian science, technology and IT. CERN actively trains students, doctoral candidates, teachers and engineers, contributing to the next generation of Estonian scientists. This application presents the operational and infrastructure plan for CERN scientific infrastructure and consortium until the end of 2029.