President Alar Karis visited the Institute of Biotechnology on 27 February to learn about current research and research infrastructure at the Institute.
The visit was part of a two-day visit to Finland by President Karis, who is a former scientist. After an opening speech by Chancellor Kaarle Hämeri, Juha Huiskonen, Director of the Institute of Biotechnology, introduced the Institute, and particularly its structural biology coronavirus research.
"It was a great pleasure and honor to present the Institute of Biotechnology's activities to the President. I see untapped opportunities for cooperation, not only between Finnish and Estonian universities, but also between our universities and companies," says Juha Huiskonen.
Professor Mart Saarma presented his research on Parkinson's disease and the development of treatments. His research group's collaboration with the Estonian company GeneCode is a great example of cooperation between Estonia and Finland.
"Visit of President Alar Karis to the Institute of Biotechnology was important for two reasons. Firstly, it became very clear how important it is that we have been able to provide our research infrastructure core facility services for several Estonian researchers. At the same time, our researchers have successfully used high level research services of other European institutions," says Saarma.
"Secondly, although there is an increasing number of collaborations between Finnish and Estonian researchers, most of these collaborations are funded from Brussels. During the visit, an idea was born to establish a foundation that can meaningfully support research collaboration between our two nations," he continues.
Mart Saarma wants to boost Estonia's development through innovation and research
President Karis's visit followed the appointment of Professor Saarma, an Estonian-born scientist, as President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in October last year. President Karis inaugurated Saarma in a ceremony on 8 January 2025.
As President, Saarma intends to advance the quality of Estonian science by focusing more on innovation and research directly related to Estonia's development. Additionally, he aims to create a system where new research results and technologies are regularly presented to the government, the Parliament of Estonia, and the Estonian people to support science-based decision-making.
Mart Saarma is the Research Director of the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki and was elected a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in 1990 in the field of molecular biology. He has been, or is currently, a member or chairman of the scientific councils of several national and international institutions as well as a member of the editorial boards of several journals. Furthermore, Saarma is a member of the Finnish Academy of Technical Sciences and Academia Europaea, a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, a member of the Board of Tallinn University of Technology, and an honorary doctor of the University of Tartu.
