The President of the Republic handed over the Young Scientist Award of the President of the Republic’s Cultural Foundation to DMS Allen Kaasik, the extraordinary senior researcher of the Institute of Pharmacology of Tartu University.

The Young Scientist Award, in the amount of 40,000 Estonian kroons, is financed by the entrepreneur Toomas Luman, who is a member of the Board of the President of the Republic’s Cultural Foundation.

The research of Allan Kaasik, aged 31, is related to the search of new, highly prospective medicines that could be applied for treating neurodegenerative diseases and mitigating brain damages caused by coronary heart disease. Even though the ageing of humankind increases the rate of neurodegenerative diseases, no efficient remedies have yet been discovered.

Toomas Luman has promised to finance the Young Scientist Award for 10 years, starting from the year 2000. This year, the Board of the Cultural Foundation, where Toomas Luman also is a member, decided to issue an additional award, as numerous strong applications had been submitted. The award of 30,000 EEK went to Hill Kulu, a PhD in geography and senior researcher of the Institute of Geography of Tartu University, whose research has mostly concentrated on the inhabitation of ethnic minorities and the migration of population.

Of other applications, the Board of the Cultural Foundation also highlighted the research projects of Kalle Oll (34) a PhD in botany and researcher of the Institute of Botany and Ecology of Tartu University; Jüri Plado (32) a PhD in geology, researcher of the Institute of Geology of Tartu University; Ivo Leito (29), a PhD in physics and analytical chemistry and senior lecturer of the Institute of Physics of Tartu University; Martti Raidal (33), a PhD in physics and a senior researcher of the Institute of Chemical and Biological Physics; as well as Ahto Buldas (34), a PhD in exact sciences and senior lecturer of the Institute of Computing Sciences of Tartu University and a professor of Tallinn Technical University, senior researcher of the Küberneetika Ltd.

Also Jüri Engelbrecht, the President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, and Ene Ergma, Chairman of the Estonian Science Foundation, had been asked to attend the awarding ceremony at Kadriorg. Also the young scientist Ahto Buldas, who mostly concentrates on research of cryptology, was present. At the tea hosted by the President of the Republic, the success of young Estonian scientists was discussed; it was also admitted that the Estonian public does not know them well enough. The financing of scientific research was also discussed.


Press Service of the Office of the President

Kadriorg, October 2, 2001

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