Estonian Research and Development and Innovation

3.2.2. Financial resources for RDA

In 2015 the research funding of EAMT constituted only 2.9% of the total operating income of the Academy. This results from the fact that MER and ERC finance only basic and applied research, while the capacity for this kind of academic research in EAMT is rather small. No financing model has been created for supporting artistic research in Estonia yet. Moreover, the prevailing competitive and project-based funding model is favourable for larger institutions and research groups. Obtaining the resources necessary for conducting research by individual or small group projects presents itself as problematic. Therefore, the research funding of EAMT has not increased in years 2011–2015, unlike the overall operating income of the Academy. On the contrary, in recent years one can notice some decrease in the funding (see Table 3.1.). However, on the positive side it should be pointed out that in 2016 the EAMT musicology research group received extra funding for the Estonian Music History project (until 2019) and for being a partner in CEES (until 2022). The research base funding from MER was also increased by
Table 3.1. Research funding allocated to EAMT from major national financing programmes in 2011– 2015 (EUR).

Type of funding	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Base funding	23320	24720	22600	27640	28960
Institutional research funding (incl. overhead costs)	87023	87057	87020	87006	86863
Personal grants and post-doctoral research funding	27493	57514	37418	31559	9007
Research libraries’ funding	89356	89356	87574	89016	89721
Programmes supporting Estonian studies	5750	5800	5800	3000	3000
TOTAL	232942	264447	240412	238221	217551

Table 3.2. Funds allocated for the Concert and Performance Centre from the EAMT budget (EUR).

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Concert and Performance Centre	46743	42483	47226	58518	72130
Table 3.3. Financial support received from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia (EUR).
	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Cultural Endowment of Estonia	58409	41549	35878	39343	17664

38% in comparison to 2015. These decisions will definitely improve the research funding of the Academy in 2016 and in the coming years.
The research budget allocated to the Academy is used to cover the salaries of research fellows (4.25 positions), as well as to cover the travel costs of academic staff to scholarly meetings abroad, the purchase of computers and other equipment for researchers, etc.
To ensure the sustainable development of RDA, EAMT is seeking additional resources from different national and international sources and is encouraging researchers to initiate projects and seek financing individually. In spite of the difficulties mentioned above, EAMT researchers have been rather successful in applying for competitive financing measures (the funded projects are listed in section 3.1.1.; in Table 3.1. only base funding and research libraries’ funding are not competitive financing measures).
EAMT does not receive any regular special financing for artistic activity and artistic research (except financing for doctoral studies). Financial resources for the artistic activity of students are assigned from the state higher education activity support that EAMT receives through MER. The funds allocated for the Concert and Performance Centre are presented in Table 3.2. In addition, EAMT has been quite active in applying for financial support from the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, mainly for the artistic activity of students (see Table 3.3.). RDA activity is also financed from the budgets of the academic departments.