CWT Estonia scholarship for study trips helps ten young researchers from the University of Tartu improve their skills in world's leading centers

Elise Helena Armulik, a doctoral student in medicine and sports, who received the scholarship, will use the scholarship to travel to Australia. She plans to participate in a conference on the thymus gland, which is the focus of her research. "The scholarship gives me the opportunity to learn from top specialists in the field, receive valuable feedback on my work and create contacts for future collaborations," said Armulik. 

Biancamaria Bonucci, a doctoral student in gene technology, focuses on paleogenomics in her research. It is a branch of science that deals with the reconstruction and analysis of genomic information from extinct species. She used the scholarship to participate in the paleogenomics conference held in Stockholm at the end of June, where she presented the results of her research. 

Wei Chen, a doctoral student in folkloristics, is using the grant to visit Kyoto University in Japan to conduct a visiting research. His research focuses on the topics of folk knowledge and cultural resilience in Eastern Tibet. During the study trip, he hopes to make valuable international contacts and find new perspectives for his work. 

In June, Jelisaveta Džigurski, a doctoral student in life and earth sciences, presented her research on the impact of genetic factors and hormonal contraceptives on venous thromboembolism at the European Society of Human Genetics conference in Sweden. She believes that participating in the conference helped to increase the international visibility of both her research group and the University of Tartu. 

Yaroslav Halieiev, a doctoral student in law, specialises in international law. With the support of the scholarship, he will participate in legal conferences in Italy and Serbia, where he will also make presentations. 

A doctoral student in informatics, Taavi Kivisik, is heading to the Netherlands to participate in a Bayesian statistics workshop. The knowledge he will acquire there, will be essential for completing his doctoral thesis. “Thanks to the scholarship, I will improve my knowledge of the application possibilities of Bayesian statistics, which are still little used in cognitive sciences. This will allow me to solve new and important problems that I will start to solve in my own research,” said Kivisik. 

Neuropsychopharmacology doctoral student Pilleriin Kupper’s research focuses on the brain’s neural networks in the vulnerability and resilience of the psyche to mental disorders. With the scholarship, she will improve her skills in the transitional psychiatry research group at Goethe University in Germany, where she hopes to acquire a new methodological approach for her research. 

Ivan Kuznetsov, who is a doctoral student of life and earth sciences, used the scholarship to participate in a behavioral genetics conference in the Netherlands and a molecular evolution conference in Denmark. According to him, the scholarship also provided valuable experience in applying for research funding, which is an important part of a research career. 

Medical student Elis Riin Tars-Hurt is planning to use the support to complete her sixth-year internship in Oman. “Thanks to the scholarship, I can gain knowledge and experience that I can later apply in my professional work. It gives me confidence for the upcoming exchange abroad,” said Tars-Hurt. 

Master’s student in Linguistics, Laura Vilumets, is using the scholarship for a study trip to Hong Kong. According to her, international experience allows her to bring new perspectives to Estonian linguistics and take a step closer to achieving her academic goals. 

CWT Estonia scholarship for study trips has supported the students of the University of Tartu since 1997. The scholarship helps to foster international cooperation, enables young researchers to introduce their research to the global scientific community, and bring new knowledge, skills, and collaboration networks back to Estonia.