University of Tartu awards expatriate Estonian visiting professor’s scholarship to Olle Järv

At the ceremony marking the anniversary of Estonia’s national university on 1 December, the expatriate Estonian visiting professor’s scholarship was presented to Docent in Human Geography at the University of Helsinki Department of Geosciences and Geography and Academy Research Fellow Olle Järv. 

With the support of the scholarship, Olle Järv will start work at the University of Tartu Department of Geography in the next academic year to participate in the university’s research and teaching activities and promote international cooperation. Olle Järv is an outstanding scientist whose research has brought new and exciting perspectives on population and cities in time and space. His primary focus is on people’s mobility, big data analysis and applying the data to understand society better. 

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Järv plans to cooperate with the researchers of the Centre for Migration and Urban Studies and the Mobility Lab of the University of Tartu. He also wants to give something back to his alma mater. “After working abroad for ten years, I would like to use the expertise, experience and contacts I have gained to support research and teaching at the University of Tartu. I also want to help carry on the academic legacy of the late Professor Rein Ahas at the Mobility Lab, where I started my research career.” 

Järv hopes to experience a productive academic environment in Tartu. “The collaborative spirit at the University of Tartu is unique. I am sure that it is here that new ideas and collaborative projects emerge that will enrich my research and broaden future opportunities.” 

The scholarship has been awarded by the University of Tartu Foundation and the University of Tartu Fund in Toronto since 2018. “The expatriate Estonian visiting professor’s scholarship is an excellent example of building a bridge between Estonia and the expatriate community. Education and research play a crucial role in the future development of Estonia,” said Peeter Einola, the Director of the University of Tartu Fund in Toronto. 

The scholarship was established to invite distinguished researchers of Estonian descent working abroad to work at the University of Tartu for one academic year or semester. The scholarship is 50,000 euros per year, allowing the holder to participate in research and teaching activities, give public lectures and promote their field of research both in Estonia and internationally. The scholarship is supported by the Chair of Estonian Studies Foundation of the University of Toronto, the Estonian Students Fund in USA, and the University of Tartu Fund in Toronto. 

Previous recipients of the expatriate Estonian visiting professor’s scholarship include David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher, Lecturer in Political Thought and Cultural History, who joined the University of Tartu in 2021; Jaan Valsiner, Professor of Cultural Psychology at Aalborg University; Annela Anger-Kraavi, Senior Research Associate at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge; and Mart Kuldkepp, Professor of Estonian and Nordic History at University College London.