Kristi Viiding takes over as the Acting Director of the Under and Tuglas Literature Center

With the decision of the Presidium of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, the Research Professor Kristi Viiding will take up the position of Acting Director of the Under and Tuglas Literature Centre (UTLC) from September 1, 2025. The current director of UTLC, member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Jaan Undusk, will continue as a Senior Researcher at the Centre.

The international evaluation conducted last year ended negatively for the UTLC. Although the Literature Centre received a positive assessment from the evaluation committee in terms of both scientific and social impact, it failed to meet the required threshold for sustainability.

„There is no doubt that UTLC has a high scientific level and has gathered very strong researchers. The position of the Estonian Academy of Sciences is that the Literature Centre should continue as an independent institution until the new evaluation. Preparing for the external evaluation, which is expected to take place in two years, and eliminating the shortcomings identified in the evaluation committee’s report will require, among other things, the implementation of several important changes, including the preparation of the Centre’s strategic plan and statue and the formation of the new research council,“ said the President of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Mart Saarma. He remarked that Kristi Viiding’s seven years as Secretary General of the International Association of Neo-Latinists (IANLS) have provided her with an excellent preparation for making the necessary changes and managing the Centre.

Kristi Viiding said that during the preliminary work, UTLC has been rethinking the current gaps in Estonian literary studies and the Centre’s competencies for filling them. „The internal structure of the institution needs to be modernized, and based on the new substantive objectives, the current research council will be replaced by a slightly smaller one, but an international advisory board will be added. Advancing forward will be based on the strengths mentioned in the evaluation report, especially the knowledgeable and interdisciplinary research community, but also on participatory management and greater internationalization,“ she said.

Kristi Viiding’s term as the Acting Director will last until the end of 2027. The public competition for the position of UTLC Director will be held after a new evaluation.

The first head of UTLC was Piret Kruuspere, followed by Toomas Liiv in 1996 and Jaan Undusk in 2000.