in words and images 2018 CONTENT 4 TIME To CeLeBraTe THe BIG 64 naVIGATING THe MINEFIELd oF ANNIVERSARY YEAR ADVISING THe sTaTe, ParT II 5 Expecting the World to be More Efficiently Saved 64 Energy Production and Supply in Estonia 9 Fellows become friends 65 Reflections to Plan S 10 FRAMES 66 oTHERS aBoUT Us 10 Numbers of Academy Members Set 66 Top of the World 14 Life Bends Frames and Paints them Black 66 Estonia’s Most Influential 68 Estonian Society of Human Genetics Lifelong Achievement Award 18 THe FESTiVe ROUTINE 68 Honorary Doctors 18 Annual General Assembly, 20 April 2018 71 Honorary Citizen 20 Postal Stationery Estonian Academy of Sciences 80 24 Members of the Academy: From the Monograph to the Tweet 72 TriPLES 26 The General Assembly, 5 December 2018 73 Three Autumn Days, Three Rectors 30 The New Members of the Academy 74 Shadowing Rector Jaak Aaviksoo 32 More Hands at Work 80 Shadowing Rector Toomas Asser 86 Shadowing Rector Mart Kalm 92 Three Legacies 34 naTIONAL RESEARCH AWARDS 92 The Legacy of Academy Member Friedebert Tuglas 94 The Legacy of Academy Member Arvo Pärt 38 INTERNATIONAL RELaTIONS 96 The Legacy of Academy Member Anu Raud 38 Summer Moments in France 98 Three Minute Lectures Winter Training 38 Partnerships 41 Research Exchange and Science Diplomacy 41 Research Careers in the European Research Area 102 ODDS and ENDS 42 The Advisory Role of Academies in the Information- 102 Our Member Organised the Global Forum in Rich Society Toulouse 44 The Possibility of Scientific Advice During Politicide 102 Enough of Experts? 46 Giving People the Means to Protect Their Minds 103 The Academy’s Publications and its Members’ 47 FuturICT 2.0 in Tallinn Writings 105 Students’ Science Festival 105 Π-prizes 48 BIG INTerVIEW: sCIENTiFiC LangUAGE 108 The Science Day of the Education and Culture CONNECTs Congress at The Academy 109 News from Scientific and Learned Societies 54 NEW BEGINNINGS 54 In Collaboration with the Poska Academy 112 THe PRESIDENTs oF THe aCADEMY 56 Life After Google 58 Research Professors’ Conference 119 PoLARISED REFLeCTIONS 60 Prospective Academy Members’ Conference 63 The Constitutional Law Endowment FOREWORD he year 2018 was a multiple anniversary year. The Republic of Estonia turned 100 years old and the Academy of Sciences 80 years old. Thus, Tmany of the year’s events and undertakings had a festive feel. Even a major part of the Academy’s symbol - the infinity sign, or sideways figure eight – “stood up for the year”, yet also appeared in its customary form on the Republic of Latvia 100 logo. The Estonian postal service joined the Academy’s 80th anniversary celebrations by releasing commemorative postal stationery whole items. It is like being in a song: if you’re on a postage stamp, you exist in the eyes of the whole society. Member of the Academy Karl Ernst von Baer, for instance, likely owes some of his renown among Estonians to appearing on the two-kroon note. For the first time ever, the Academy awarded friendship certificates to some of its allies. One of them has been tireless in representing academic values and pro- moting them throughout her work, another has made outstanding contributions to the Academy’s new forms of work and has offered excellent ideas for facilitating scientists’ cross-border movements, and a third has developed ideas born in the Academy into popular public events and has tirelessly motivated scientists to present their unpublicised thoughts to the broader public. The final noteworthy happening of the year was a joint declaration by the main political parties, scientists and higher education institutions, along with employers and representatives of private businesses, about increasing science funding sig- nificantly. The discussions around the implementation of this declaration are likely to be complex and stretch through a large part of 2019. But it is clear that what has worked so far may not be enough in the future. If we want to reach a bet- ter position in international value chains, the current science funding paradigm has to change. The state doing its share will not be enough if private enterprises stand idly by. Competitive research done in the private sector benefits not just the development of a modern business and economic environment, but also academia and the entire country. This collection brings together some reflections on the Academy’s routine, this time with a festive flair, with the near-obligatory descriptions of major events and some aspects of everyday work. The rectors of three major universities, all Academy members, allowed us access to their working lives, behind the scenes. A retrospec- tive on the Academy illuminates its legacy in modern times. A somewhat unusual travelogue casts light on unexpected aspects of certain countries. The facts, figures, and technical details of the Academy’s and our partners’ activities are covered in the classic white yearbook. 28. February 2019 Tarmo Soomere FOREWORD 3 TIME To CeLeBraTe THe BIG ANNIVERSARY YEAR he Republic of Estonia became 100 years old in a grand reception in the festively decorated Great Hall of 2018 while the Estonian Academy of Sciences the Academy. Treached its 80 years anniversary. For the Academy, The welcoming speech of President of Estonia Kersti January 1938 was the most important month of its Kaljulaid (see the next page) was complemented by ponderous birth. The process started on 28 January 1938, addresses from the speaker of the Riigikogu Eiki Nestor when President-Regent Konstantin Päts signed Decision and the chair of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the no. 35 of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Act. The Riigikogu Prof. Aadu Must. The convention continues with law entered into force on 2 February 1938 upon its keynote speeches on the onset of contemporary science in publication in the Riigi Teataja. Estonia by Erki Tammiksaar, on the interrelations of the Therefore, it seemed fully appropriate to start celebra- Estonian language and science by the Academy Member tion of the anniversary at the end of January. A full day Karl Pajusalu and on how the research community could event on 31 January 2018 started from a festive convention contribute to social cohesion of society by the President in the conference hall of the Riigikogu and continued with of the Academy Tarmo Soomere. The conference hall the Riigikogu was chuck-full of eminent guests. 4 IN WORDS AND IMAGES exPecting the worLd To Be more eFFiCiently saVed Welcoming Speech by President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid appy Anniversary! H When the Estonian Academy of Sciences was founded, eighty years ago, the Academy of Sciences was defined as an association of highly qualified scientists established by law and tasked with developing and President Kersti Kaljulaid expects increasingly effective action representing Estonian science, advancing the application from the Academy. of scientific results in the interests of Estonia and promoting science and scientific thought in Estonia. them would probably not dare to express any doubts they This definition is still appropriate. Current issues have might have had, at the risk of looking like they did not always been the motivating force of any society. Resolving comprehend it. serious problems, of course, is possible only by relying on Perhaps I underestimate the functional reading skills scientific thought. of the majority of humanity, but the thought disturbed me. Late last year, I read a text written by a machine. It was What is happening with humankind if some of us can no obvious that the author was a clever, eloquent, witty and longer tell a human from a machine? Machines themselves well-read machine. But it was equally obvious that the text can tell the difference by making us decipher words in was not written by a human. A person possessing such a funny fonts and transcribe them into ordinary writing. How vocabulary and such factual knowledge would write such about the reverse, though? How can humans tell unerring a text only if suffering from a severe mental illness. machines from other humans? How long will we be able The experiment was interesting. An economics magazine to insist that any intelligent person can do it? had trained the machine using decades of texts published in More likely than not, every passing year adds to the magazines and then tasked it with creating an opinion piece. ranks of those whom increasingly intelligent machines can The results were unsurprising. My first reaction was relief. deceive, because fewer and fewer of us are able to person- I realised that we humans cannot yet be taken out of the ally think through the thoughts necessary to navigate our chain of producing and noting down logical thought. If the lives. A strong memory, systematically built up through text I read was any sign, this won’t happen any time soon. the constant need to memorise things, is becoming a thing Some time later, around Christmas, when I had time to of the past. It is hard to find your way somewhere without reflect on things, a completely different thought troubled help from a machine. Google can come up with suitable me. How many ordinary people, native English speakers quotations for any topic and thus substitute for being well with an average level of education, would have realised read. I use its help, too. And machines determine the online that this was something other than a complex piece of reading fare of many people. To some extent, this applies writing in a journal dedicated to complex thought? At least to all of us. half of the people who read it to the end would probably Learning machines learn about us and funnel us into have realised that something was not quite right, because categories where they expect people who think like we do the text genuinely lacked a point.