News

From the 15th to the 18th of November, representatives of the Estonian University of Life Sciences' management, researchers, administrative staff and students participated at the General Assembly and Forum entitled „Communicating about Biodiversity“ and the Students Scientific Conference of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.

The network brings together six strong agricultural and natural sciences universities in Europe and two foreign members from outside Europe. However, the goal has been taken to expand the network, and in addition to the Estonian University of Life Sciences, three more universities have been involved in this process - the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, the University of Ghent (Belgium) and L'Institut Agro (France).

The rector of the University of Life Sciences Ülle Jaakma signed a memorandum of understanding at the ELLS board meeting on November 16, on the basis of which the Estonian University of Life Sciences will be an observer member of the network for the next two years. According to Ülle Jaakma, after two years we can decide whether we want the full member status in the network and then apply for that.

Ülle Jaakma said that the cooperation with ELLS has a lot of advantages. One of the main aims is mutual curriculum development, taking into account lifelong learning and e-learning opportunities and increasing students' mobility opportunities. For this purpose, a joint application for the European University measure is being prepared. This application did not receive funding in the first round of applications, so the possibilities of its further development were thoroughly discussed at this meeting.

Ülle Jaakma also pointed out that together with such strong universities in ELLS network, it is easier for us to deal with the topics that all agricultural universities have to face these days, whether it is offering solutions to cope with climate change and mitigate its effects, to ensure food safety or to implement the principles of One Health.

Together with the general assembly, the scientific conference of ELLS students "The Power of Science" was also held. Margarita Gorbatš and Yevgenia Fjodorova, graduates of our nature tourism curricula, presented their poster presentations at the students conference. Katrin Kaldre, Assistant Professor of the Chair of Aquaculture, and Helena Andreson, Assistant Professor of the Chair of Food Science and Technology, were part of the jury that evaluated the students' presentations. Katrin Kaldre said that the students' research papers were at the good scientific quality and the presenters had remarkably good presentation skills. "I certainly recommend our students to test themselves at participating in a such a conference with their presentations, especially those who have a strong desire to continue their studies in doctoral studies," said Kaldre.

In addition, working groups in specific Subject Areas of ELLS and Support Teams (such as external communication, e-learning, marketing and communication, etc.) held meetings withing General Assembly. Also the meeting of ELSA (Euroleague Student Association), an organization bringing together ELLS students, took place.