Nordic Baltic Meeting in Tallinn
Two exciting days with Academic career trajectories and AI on the agenda in the Estonian capital
The Young Academy of Norway sent a large delegation to attend the annual Nordic Baltic meeting, taking part in two exciting days in Tallinn. This year’s meeting was the first meeting in the network taking place in the Baltic countries
We had the pleasure of visiting our friends in The Estionan Young Academy of Sciences (EYAS) in the Estonian capital. The meeting was hosted in the grand building of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, located in the beautiful old town in Tallinn. Six people from The Young Academy of Norway attended the meeting, along representatives from all the young academies in the Nordics and Baltics.
The chair of The Young Academy of Norway – Guro Nore Fløgstad – presented the work of our academy, our strategies, goals and political work. As did the other academies present.
Day one – Academic career trajectories from the perspective of early-career researchers
On the 8th of May, the meeting was devoted to career trajectories. Alongside several interesting perspectives, Maja Nordtug from AYF held the talk “Betting on multiple horses – and ideally going all in on all of them”, looking into why only 1 in 5 postdocs in Norway would recommend a researcher career to others. The talk also delved into the fact that many temporally employed academics are either burned out or worry about burnout.
Day two – Panel discussion on academic trajectories and focus on ethics and AI
On the 9th of May, the theme from day one was elaborated on further through a panel discussion with representatives from the young academies of Sweden, Estonia, Finland and Lithuania. Even if though young academics in the different countries face different difficulties relating to the political and academic environments in their own countries, many challenges are in common to all the academies, leading to interesting and important reflections.
The day continued with a broad focus on ethics and AI from many different fields. The lectures touched upon a multitude of perspectives, from autonomous AI, practical challenges related to AI ethics, exploring biases in Generative AI, AI in a world of imaginative people, and AI in industri. Aksel Braanen Sterri from The Young Academy of Norway held a talk about the unprecedented acceleration of AI capabilities and how scaling laws provide a roadmap for forecasting future developments. Drawing on experience as Research Director at Langsikt, the presentation examined both the possibilities and challenges facing countries in Europe as they navigate their role in the emerging landscape of AI governance.
Looking forward
The Nordic Baltic meeting has proved a significant arena for exchanging ideas and best practices. It is an important arena to address important issues facing all the academies, as well as looking into the future and things that the young academies may achieve.
Latvia Next
We thank the Estionian Young Academy of Science for hosting us, and we look forward to the next meeting in Riga, Latvia.
Read more about previous Nordic-Baltic Meetings here: