The annual grand gathering of the members and friends of the Centre of Excellence for Well-Being Sciences

Register HERE. Places are guaranteed for the first 120 registrants. Registration deadline 14.08.

Register for the workshops HERE.

NB: On August 25, chartered buses will transport participants from Tallinn and Tartu to the conference and return on August 27. Therefore, the Centre of Excellence will not reimburse car travel expenses.

 

EstWell Annual Conference Programme*

*Sessions marked with ENG are held in English; all others are in Estonian. The programme may have changes.

 

25 August

10.30 Welcome coffee and snacks

11.00 Introduction to the conference

11.30 Introduction to the Centre of Excellence, Andero Uusberg

12.00 Keynote of the day: Kaytlin Werner (ENG)

Kaytlin Werner’s research integrates the fields of emotion and motivation regulation using experience sampling and experimental methods. After postdoctoral fellowships in Toronto, Oregon, and Stanford, and before starting her professorship in Adelaide, Kaytlin will join the University of Tartu’s Affective and Regulatory Processes Lab for a year.

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Breakthrough projects, session chair Andero Uusberg

What are the breakthrough projects (LMP) of the Centre of Excellence? How are the ongoing projects progressing, and what new ones could be initiated? This session serves as an introduction to the LMP workshops on Tuesday.

15.00 New applications, session chair Taavi Tillmann

What new useful applications have EstWell researchers launched this season?

• Personality app “Personomist”, Kätlin Anni
• Biosensing in stepped mental health services, Ivo Fridolin and Merike Sisask
• Database of assessment instruments, Tuuli Ruus

16.00 Coffee break

16.15 Poster conference, session chair Merike Sisask (ENG)

What research results have EstWell PhD students taken out into the world this season?

18.00 Dinner

19.00 Outdoor landscape game

 

26 August

9.30 Keynote of the day: Anu Realo (ENG)

Anu Realo (PhD in Psychology) is a personality and cross-cultural psychologist. She is a Professor at the University of Warwick and Tallinn University, as well as a Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu. Her research focuses on cultural and individual variation in personality traits, subjective well-being, values, and social capital. She currently leads a major project on sustainable futures, funded by the European Commission. In her talk, she will discuss her research on subjective well-being both within and between individuals and cultures.

10.30 Breakthrough project meetings 1

Parallel discussions for those interested in breakthrough projects, sign-up during the conference

11.15 Coffee break

11.30 Breakthrough project meetings 2

Parallel discussions for those interested in breakthrough projects, sign-up during the conference

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Workshops

1. Workshop “Policy analysis – how this is done?” Triin Lauri (ENG)
   Curious about what makes a policy work? Wondering how to study not just what happens, but why – and for whom?

This interactive 1.5-hour workshop explores key tools for analysing policies in welfare and education. It’s designed not just for political scientists, but for all social researchers interested in real-world effects.

We’ll ask:
When and why use Difference-in-Differences?
What is a Regression Discontinuity Design, and when does it shine?
What’s configurational analysis (like QCA) – and is it for those who think policy is messy? (Spoiler: yes)
How can we assess feasibility – and predict whether a policy can or should work?
What do Street-Level Bureaucrats have to do with it – and how do they shape what policies actually become?

No matter your disciplinary angle – sociology, education, economics, public health – policy questions will find you. This workshop helps you think more clearly about what counts as good evidence, how to ask sharper questions, and how to turn insights into useful policy advice.

2. Workshop “Human-centred and personalised prevention – recipe for success or shortcut to failure?” Karin Streimann, Triin Vilms (EST)
National and international strategies, development plans, and funding schemes increasingly highlight the need for novel, human-centred solutions to prevent and address complex societal problems. Preventive research has also focused largely on the individual or micro-level environment and on developing and testing solutions in those contexts. This approach assumes that complex problems can be prevented or mitigated without changing the surrounding systems. This workshop will discuss:

How does the lens of justice and equity relate to human-centred preventive solutions?
What are the disciplinary and level-based differences in approaching and influencing problems?
Which types of solutions are current research and development focused on, and where should the future focus lie – on influencing individual competencies and behaviour or on systemic factors such as environmental restructuring, pricing and tax policies, or regulations?
How can we shift the perspective from human-centred to system-focused prevention? Do we see a need for this, and what role can we play in this transition?

3. Workshop “Inclusive Research Design in the Field of Mental Health and Well-Being” Merike Sisask (EST)

The Social Health Research Group invites you to take part in a workshop where we will explore how to make research in the field of mental health and well-being inclusive throughout the entire research process – from shaping research questions and designing the study to interpreting the results and achieving societal impact. We will discuss the role of target groups in preparing and conducting the research, interpreting data, and disseminating findings. The workshop draws on specific experiences from international projects (DigiGen, MENTBEST, MINDWORK) as well as doctoral theses that have employed creative and participatory approaches. We will address the benefits and limitations of participatory research, and highlight the importance of researchers’ creative and reflective thinking. The workshop offers space for exchanging experiences and supports participants in exploring questions and dilemmas that have emerged in the context of their own research.

15.00 Coffee break

15.30 New data collections, session chair Kelli Lehto

What new data collections are being developed by researchers and partners of the Centre of Excellence?

• Upcoming “Cognitive Work” study by the Estonian Biobank, Uku Vainik
• LongEstWell in the Health Portal, Peeter Ross and Kadi Lubi
• Mental well-being app Mentastic, Ain Aaviksoo

16.30 Break

17.00 New insights into well-being from a micro perspective

What have we newly learned about the psycho–physiological mechanisms of well-being?

• Health behaviour and emotional experience, Kenn Konstabel
• Measuring molecular markers of mental health, Jekaterina Reut
• Language models and emotion regulation, Andero Uusberg
• Music and cognition / emotional expression, Kairi Kreegipuu

18.30 Dinner

20.00 Party

 

27 August

9.30 Keynote of the day: Henk van Steenbergen (ENG)

Henk van Steenbergen studies the interplay of emotion, motivation, stress, and cognitive control using both psychological and neuroscientific methods. He is Associate Professor at Leiden University and head of the Affective, Motivation and Action Lab.

10.30-12.00 New insights into well-being from a macro perspective, session chair Rene Mõttus

What have we newly learned about the large-scale patterns of well-being?

• Genetic links between adult ADHD symptoms and well-being and health, Triinu Varvas
• Digital exclusion among the elderly, Kadri Leetmaa
• Mapping school-based prevention ecosystems, Eike Siilbek
• Health meaning-making in social media, Katrin Tiidenberg

12.00 Hotel check-out

12.30 Lunch

13.30 Workshops

1. Workshop “Digital agile testing for interventions” Taavi Tillmann (ENG)
   Digital health and well-being services can be implemented on a spectrum. On one end, we have rigorous evidence-based purists who want large trials before any roll-out. On the other, there are those advocating for earlier implementation based on public demand, political momentum, expert opinion, or perceived low risk.

Most real-world cases land somewhere in between – with opportunities to test what works. Digital interventions allow us to run multiple agile experiments in quick succession due to short feedback cycles.

Taavi will share a case of running four agile trials within four weeks during a London digital service rollout, showing how tweaks to SMS and postal messages (including “final reminder” phrasing) dramatically improved uptake. The workshop invites participants to explore how we could apply such agile methods when introducing new services.

2. Workshop “Practical AI tools for researchers – current landscape” Kari Kuulman (EST)
Artificial intelligence is no longer futuristic hype – it’s a daily tool that can reshape how we do research. But which tools should we use, and how can we smoothly integrate AI into research, teaching, and supervision workflows?

15.00 Coffee break

15.30 PhD student session (ENG) / Open Council Meeting

17.00 End of conference