Juri Engelbrecht

Engelbrecht, Juri

Engelbrecht, Juri

Member of Board of the Trustees, Estonian Academy of Sciences and WAAS

Job Title: 

Member of Board of the Trustees, Estonian Academy of Sciences and WAAS

J. Engelbrecht, former President (1994-2004) and Vice-President (2004-2014) of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, is currently a Board member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and Head of the Centre for Nonlinear Studies (an Estonian Centre of Excellence in Research) at the Tallinn University of Technology. His research interests have shifted from mechanics to mathematical physics and biomechanics and are presently related to complexity and nonlinear dynamics. He has authored about 200 papers in refereed journals and several monographs. He served his home Academy as President from 1994–2004. Holding such a key position in national science policy, he initiated quality-based research funding in Estonia, the national programme for centres of excellence in research, etc.

He is one of the authors of the Estonian R&D Strategy for 2002–2006 and chaired the committee for shaping the next R&D Strategy for 2007–2013. He has been actively involved in scientific policy in Europe and worldwide. He was a member of the Governing Council of the ESF, EURAB and the Identification Committee of the ERC, and is an Estonian delegate to ICSU, an OECD expert, etc. An active member of ALLEA since 1995, he served as its President for two periods, chaired several WGs and was a member of the Steering Committee. A recent book published by ALLEA in 2011 describes his ideas about the role and responsibility of academies of sciences and humanities in this complex world. Jüri has received several national and international awards and recognitions, is a Member of several national and international academies including Academia Europaea and WAAS.

ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR

On the Limits to Development in Technology & Knowledge
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The possible development of the world must be considered first from the viewpoint of information about Nature and possible limits to human capability. The main question is whether there are limits to those notions or not. Despite the efforts of philosophers, we do not know the answers although we know the constants of Nature which dictate our existence. Secondly, in structural terms it is possible to distinguish the level of civilizations. Following J.D. Barrow’s...
The Knowledge of Complexity should be a part of Contemporary Education
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract In order to be prepared to face the challenges of the global world, contemporary education should include the knowledge about the complexity of the world. The basis for understanding complexity is to recognize that everything around us is made of interconnected and interdependent elements (individuals, pieces) depending on the scale. In general, it is impossible to predict the properties of a system by simply summarizing the properties of single elements. The...
Complex Society and Values*
Get Full Text in PDF Contemporary society is a highly complex system which involves many constituents starting from alliances and states to individual persons. Like in other complex systems (physics, biology, etc), the links between constituents and the corresponding interactions among them determine the behaviour of a system as a whole. In physical systems such interactions are determined by physical laws, in social systems, however, the properties of links and the characteristics of...
World University: Global Strategy for Higher Education
Get Full Text in PDF Abstract The paper presents some ideas about the development of contemporary universities. Being probably the oldest existing institutions in the modern society, universities are ready to face challenges of globalisation, combining old traditions and new thinking. In principle, universities should always be some steps ahead of the society, both in terms of education and research. Education in universities should not address the current needs alone but equip graduates for...