Estonian Research and Development and Innovation

3. RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ARTISTIC ACTIVITY
The development of the research, development and artistic area (hereinafter referred to as RDA) follows the objectives established in DP2020 and is based on academic competence as regulated in accordance with Regulations for Recruitment for Academic Positions and internal and external collaboration. Besides the Development Plan, the organisation of RDA is based on various external and internal legal acts and strategy documents, first of all, Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014–2020and General Principles of Cultural Policy until 2020.
Research at EAMT is carried out mainly in the Department of Musicology, the Music Education Institute, the Institute for Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy, the Cultural Management and Humanities Centre and the Drama School, whereas the other departments focus on artistic activity and promote the “artistic research”-type of RDA. 24 members of the permanent academic staff were directly engaged in research activity as of the end of 2015.

EAMT is the centre of Estonian musicological research, as the Department of Musicology is the only academic unit in Estonian universities that directs research in the specialised disciplines of musicology. The department conducts and supports research in all major areas of musicology in Estonia; in collaboration with the Estonian Musicological Society it issues a peer-reviewed yearbook Res Musica; it funds publication of research materials, organises conferences, seminars, courses, etc. relevant to promoting and advancing musicological life, and communicates with other national and international musicological organisations. Research into Estonian musical practices, either current or from earlier periods, and Estonian traditional music is a prime focus of the activities of the musicology research group. This is a sizeable contribution to the research in humanities and studies of Estonian culture, the lasting importance of which is emphasised in the Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2014–2020 (article 1.4).
The Drama School focuses especially on research into theatre history and research into contemporary theatre practices. Another important direction of RDA activity at the Drama School is bringing theatre pedagogy up to date, which implies not only the elaboration of a theoretical approach, but also publishing original studies and translations of seminal foreign studies, compiling learning materials and arranging interdisciplinary learning workshops. The latter imply the practice-based artistic research model and take place as a part of doctoral studies.
It is important to emphasise that EAMT provides education in areas related to music and theatre, which means that artistic and other creative activities are central to its curricula. The main part of the teaching and learning process is artistic work: EAMT produces around 200 student concerts and/or stage productions each year. The majority of the academic staff lead an active artistic life, although EAMT is not necessarily the organiser of their artistic activity.