Facta non solum verba ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES YEAR BOOK ANNALES ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARUM ESTONICAE XXII (49) 2016 TA LLINN 2017 Editor in chief: Jaak Järv Editor: Anne Pöitel Translation: Ülle Rebo, Ants Pihlak Editorial team: Helle-Liis Help, Siiri Jakobson, Ebe Pilt, Marika Pärn, Tiina Rahkama Maquette: Kaspar Ehlvest Layout: Erje Hakman Photos: Reti Kokk: pp. 57, 58; Maris Krünvald: p. 77; Hanna Odras: pp. 74, 78, 80; Anni Õnneleid/Ekspress Meedia: pp. 75, 76; photograph collection of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. Thanks to all authors for their contributions: Jaak Aaviksoo, Madis Arukask, Toomas Asser, Arvi Freiberg, Arvi Hamburg, Sirje Helme, Jelena Kallas, Maarja Kalmet, Tarmo Kiik, Meelis Kitsing, Andres Kollist, Mati Koppel, Kerri Kotta, Ants Kurg, Maarja Kõiv, Urmas Kõljalg, Jakob Kübarsepp, Marju Luts-Sootak, Olga Mazina, Andres Metspalu, Peeter Müürsepp, Ülo Niine, Ivar Ojaste, Anne Ostrak, Killu Paldrok, Jüri Plado, Katre Pärn, Anu Reinart, Kaido Reivelt, Andrus Ristkok, Pille Runnel, Tarmo Soomere, Evelin Tamm, Urmas Tartes, Jaana Tõnisson, Jaan Undusk, Marja Unt, Tiit Vaasma, Urmas Varblane, Eero Vasar, Richard Villems. Printed in Printing House Paar ISSN 1406-1503 © EESTI TEADUSTE AKADEEMIA CONTENTS FOREWORD ......................................................................................................... 5 CHRONICLE 2016 ................................................................................................ 8 MEMBERSHIP OF THE ACADEMY ..............................................................19 GENERAL ASSEMBLY ..................................................................................... 25 BOARD ................................................................................................................ 28 DIVISIONS ...........................................................................................................31 COUNCILS, COMMITTEES ........................................................................... 35 ACADEMY EVENTS ......................................................................................... 50 ACADEMY, MEDIA, SOCIETY ...................................................................... 56 ACADEMY MEDALS, AWARDS .................................................................. 62 PUBLICATIONS OF THE ACADEMY ...........................................................67 INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC RELATIONS ........................................... 68 NATIONAL AWARDS TO MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMY ...................74 ANNIVERSARIES ............................................................................................. 80 MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMY .................................................................. 106 ESTONIAN ACADEMY PUBLISHERS ..................................................... 120 UNDER AND TUGLAS LITERATURE CENTRE OF THE ESTONIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES .................................................. 123 ASSOCIATED INSTITUTIONS .................................................................... 132 ASSOCIATED ORGANISATIONS ................................................................177 IN MEMORIAM ............................................................................................... 230 Appendix 1: Financial activities ................................................................... 234 Appendix 2: Estonian contact points for international scientific organisations ..................................................... 235 Appendix 3: Cooperation agreements with partner organisations .....237 Appendix 4: Directory .................................................................................... 238 3 FOREWORD 2016 has witnessed a peculiar spectre making its frightful entrance into our reality. This time it is haunting not merely the Good Old Europe, but the greater part of the world. It came to be known as the “post-truth era” or, otherwise, referred to as an “age of untruth”. Our childlike faith in the significance of science and evidence-based or even knowledge-based society was hit hard. Although awakening from dreams could really be painful, it’s high time we admitted that in the understanding shared by a large part of society the notion of knowledge-based or evidence- based activity has undergone a continual transformation into a buzz word rather than a principle to abide by. Somewhat like the so-called quality property about ten years ago, the last time the real estate bubble burst, that everybody was selling, despite the fact that no one had ever seen it with their own eyes. The blame for such a course of events is sometimes laid on the prolonged stagnation of the world economy. A backward view and a glance into the surrounding world confirm that a well-functioning ecosystem of science is a necessary – but not sufficient – precondition for the social and economic well-being of the advanced countries (and the sustainability of welfare states in particular). The description of its essentials is plain and simple: the cutting edge science is standing on the bottom side of a well-funded broad-based pyramid, groping for and shifting knowledge boundaries of the humankind and contributing to the development of the entire world. Those countries that had invested more into frontier research and innovation were according to statistically significant evidence (if not with a hundred percent certainty) considerably better off in coping with economic stagnation. For a small country Estonian cutting-edge science has gained an extremely strong position in that context. The best indicator of the cultural depth is often deemed to be the extent of retrospective information known to us about our distant ancestors. Researchers of the Estonian Biocentre have grown into the world’s leading experts in population genetics. An accomplishment that was reached under their leadership – influential advancement of knowledge about the spatio-temporal expansion dynamics of early humans, i.e. the Homo sapiens species, from Africa – was placed by 5 the journal Science among the groundbreaking scientific achievements of 2016. Such recognition is unique in the whole history of Estonian science. Hopefully it will likewise materialise in the form of increased research funding in the near future. Presenting research excellence to a wider society has turned into a core imperative. Extensive press coverage of the national science prize nomi- nations and award recipients is becoming the rule. Also, a considerable part of the society is getting into the habit of being well-informed about the doings and intentions of the Academy. A few examples will suffice to illustrate the point. In a live TV programme dedicated to Estonia’s 98th birthday celebrations broadcasting of the ceremonies was framed between interviews with Members of the Academy. On the initiative of the Estonian TV the award-winning clips from the competition of three-minute lectures were complemented with a review programme titled “A Three-Minute Challenge”. Elections of new Members to the Academy were reflected in detail by the portal Novaator (Innovator). Discussions over meta-scientific questions are gradually turning into an integral part of the Academy’s activities. The Saturday Supplement AK (Opinion and Culture) of the daily Postimees may be decoded, with perhaps only slight overstatement, as “(The Academy’s) opinion and culture.” It is rather unusual that a daily of a small country regularly publishes editorials and guest columns discussing the relevance of science to society. However, we are continually inept at translating research excellence into economic success and/or competitive edge. A peer-review of the Estonian research and innovation system prepared by experts of the European Commission (Ruttas-Küttim, R., Stamenov, B. 2016. RIO Country Report 2015: Estonia; EUR 27869 EN; European Union, 79 pp., doi:10.2791/092522) commends the strong system of Estonian research organisation. The document maintains that Estonian science is excellent, on the other hand, admitting its practical uselessness for the country. The tendency of forgetting the important role played by science in practical life as well as in passing economic and political decisions is not a peculiar- ity specific to Estonia alone. It can be cured by consistent partnership with top-level scientists. There’s room for improvement on both sides. Ac cording to Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation at European Commission, the most shocking revelation during his first year in office was the fact that scientists tend to undervalue their knowledge, analysing ability and collateral effects. He underlined that it was highly necessary for scientists to turn more visible and audible. 6 They could influence the society, economy and policy much more than they currently did. The concept for academies of sciences as a collective brain is gradually taking root, all over Good Old Europe. It is founded on simple ideas: one scientist for advice provision is not enough and we should orient ourselves towards an interdisciplinary panel. Likewise, it is more important to do the right things than to make hasty decisions. For realisation of those ideas the European Commission launched a Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM). The SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) project was initiated to aggregate the heterogenous expertise from vari- ous academies of sciences. In light of these developments the greatest challenge for the Estonian Academy of Sciences in the foreseeable