Kristel Uiboupin elected as director of Youth Academy

On 19 December, the University of Tartu senate elected Kristel Uiboupin as the director of the university’s Youth Academy.

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According to Aune Valk, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and chair of the expert committee, the Youth Academy has several important tasks: ensuring the sustainability of its activities when state funding is frozen; increasing the Youth Academy’s visibility; motivating the team and the cooperation network; and communicating with schools and teachers in and outside of large cities. “With her clear vision and extensive experience, Kristel Uiboupin can, hopefully, overcome these challenges successfully. In addition to her pedagogical and research background, she has substantial experience in project management from the private sector. Her work as a general education teacher has given her a good understanding of the support schools in smaller places expect from the Youth Academy,” said Valk.

Kristel Uiboupin said that the Youth Academy is and will remain a bridge between the university, schools and society, as well as a pioneer and guide in developing research-based hobby education. “The future of the Youth Academy will not be built solely on preserving existing traditions, but on the courage to rethink its strengths and link them with new ideas, approaches and forms of cooperation. I want to create an environment where Olympiads and interest in science meet young people’s changing worldview and offer them meaningful opportunities for discovery and growth,” said Uiboupin.

Kristel Uiboupin defended her master’s thesis in the physics teacher specialisation at the University of Tartu in 2011. In 2012, she began working at the university as a physics education teacher, and since 2015, she has taught physics at Kanepi Gymnasium. At the UT Institute of Physics, Uiboupin has served in recent years as a Project Manager at the Centre of Climate Research and contributed to the advancement of research. From 2016 to 2022, she was a doctoral student at the Institute of Physics (thesis not completed).

Kristel Uiboupin will begin her five-year term of office as the director of the Youth Academy on 1 April 2026.

The University of Tartu Youth Academy aims to provide talented pupils from general education schools with challenges that match their skills, develop research- and technology-based hobby education, and promote science and technology, as well as the researcher’s profession among pupils. The Youth Academy’s projects and learning materials help supplement the school curriculum.