The President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid visited the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

On November 26, 2020, President Kersti Kaljulaid visited the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.

At the roundtable meeting with the representatives of researchers, lecturers, employers, alumni and students the problems of research and education together with the possibilities of graduates to contribute to the development of Estonia were discussed.
The main common understanding of the meeting was that the education of biology and biosciences has to be directed in a way, which gives maximum benefit to students, university and entrepreneurship. The employers confirmed the need for specialists with PhD degree to create future technologies in bioscience.
The participants welcomed the increase of research and development spending to 1 percent of Estonia’s gross domestic product but also mentioned that it is important to add 2 percent funding by the private sector and to guarantee that the funding reaches the scientific community.
The participants agreed that the continuous development of teaching and research terminology in Estonian is important as we, at our national university, are the only ones who can do it.
The President also visited the laboratories and auditoriums of the institute.

Kersti Kaljulaid graduated from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology with a Bachelor degree in genetics in 1992.

Additional information:

Toivo Maimets
Director, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Phone: +372 737 5028
E-mail: toivo.maimets@ut.ee

Photo: Sulev Kuuse