Monday, 04 October 2010 13:48
STATUTES
In the context of the President of the Republic’s Special Physical Sciences Award, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, bioinformatics and gene technology are considered physical sciences.
As an exception, the supervisory board of the President of the Republic’s Cultural Foundation may decide to give the award for work in another educational discipline that corresponds to the nature and intent of the special award.
For this purpose, the applicant for the special award shall submit an application to the supervisory board with the required documents, which includes relevant argumentation that affects the assignment of the award.
The President of the Republic's Special Physical Sciences Award may be presented to people:
who have excelled as teachers and/or faculty members of physical sciences at any educational stage;
whose students have been recognized in international competitions or achieved good results in physical sciences competitions;
who have compiled physical sciences textbooks and methodological materials;
who in the course of teaching physical sciences have initiated and implemented practical innovations.
Nominations can be submitted by the people who correspond to the aforementioned requirements themselves, or by their employers, educational institutions, as well as associations dealing with the field of education. Candidates can also be submitted by students or university students, as well as student and university student organizations or councils. Suitable candidates can also be submitted by the members of the Cultural Foundation’s supervisory board.
In order to nominate a candidate, the following must be submitted:
a written application with personal information (name, address, education, and work experience);
a detailed description of the activities being submitted for the special award along with recommendations from the candidate's employer or working collective, professional, occupational or specialized association(s).
These documents should be sent to the President of the Republic's Cultural Foundation at A. Weizenbergi 39, 15050 Tallinn, or with a digital signature by e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The supervisory board of the Cultural Foundation has the right to ask for additional information about the candidate from the applicant’s school, educational institution, professional association or other such organizations.
If necessary, the Cultural Foundation may ask experts from other fields of activity for advice and recommendations on assigning the award.
The supervisory board of the Cultural Foundation shall choose the recipient of the special award from among the nominated candidates. The decision shall be coordinated with Skype Eesti.
The special prize is awarded every autumn.
It is valued at 4,000 euros. The award is sponsored by Skype Estonia, which has undertaken to continue doing so for at least the next three years.
The special awards shall be presented by the President of the Republic.
Laureates to date:
2009
Mikhail Gusev – teacher of mathematics at Tallinna Tõnismäe Secondary Science School
2010
Allar-Reinhold Veelmaa - teacher of mathematics at Loo Secondary School
2011
Hilja Afanasjeva – the School of Science of the University of Tartu, methodologist
2012
Elmu Mägi – Physics teacher at Pärnu Koidula Secondary School
2013
Jaan Kalda – physicist, Senior Researcher of the Institute of Cybernetics at the Tallinn University of Technology, pedagogical leader of the Estonian team at international physics Olympiads
2014
Indrek Peil – physics teacher and educational methodology specialist at the Saaremaa Coeducational Upper Secondary School. He initiated and has been tirelessly organising the nationwide pupil conference Saaremaa Mini Days of Science, which has greatly boosted the interest in science among 6-12th form pupils.
2015
Erkki Tempel teaches chemistry and physics at Miina Härma Upper Secondary School on the basis of the Estonian national curriculum and chemistry in English to pupils studying on the basis of an international curriculum.
