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EstWell Annual Conference
The annual grand gathering of the members and friends of the Centre of Excellence for Well-Being Sciences
EstWell Annual Conference Programme*
*Sessions marked with ENG are held in English; all others are in Estonian. The programme may have changes.
Moderator Merike Sisask 10.30 Welcome coffee and snacks 11.00 Introduction to the conference 11.30 Introduction to the Centre of Excellence, Andero Uusberg 12.00 Keynote of the day: Kaytlin Werner – Self-Regulation in Context: Why Managing Our Emotions and Behaviors Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All (ENG) Whether we’re managing stress, resisting temptation, or working toward long-term goals, self-regulation is rarely as simple as choosing one strategy, using it, and then disengaging – instead, success often depends on context. In this talk, I share findings from my research on three key processes: strategy repertoire (the tools we have available when pursuing our goals), regulatory flexibility (the benefits of selecting the right tool for the right moment), and polyregulation (combining multiple strategies within a single regulation episode). Together, these studies reveal that there is no single “best” way to regulate our emotions and behaviour. Instead, effective self-regulation comes from matching the right strategies and tactics to the situation at hand. I’ll close by discussing how these insights can inform the development of personalized, real-time interventions designed to support people’s regulation efforts in daily life. Kaytlin Werner’s research integrates the fields of emotion and motivation regulation using experience sampling and experimental methods. After postdoctoral fellowships in Toronto, Oregon, and Stanford, and before starting her professorship in Adelaide, Kaytlin will join the University of Tartu’s Affective and Regulatory Processes Lab for a year. 13.00 Lunch 14.00 Breakthrough projects, session chair Andero Uusberg What are the breakthrough projects (LMP) of the Centre of Excellence? How are the ongoing projects progressing, and what new ones could be initiated? This session serves as an introduction to the LMP workshops on Tuesday. 15.00 Coffee break 15.15 New applications, session chair Taavi Tillmann What new useful applications have EstWell researchers launched this season? 16.15 Poster conference, session chair Merike Sisask (ENG) What research results have EstWell PhD students taken out into the world this season? 18.00 Dinner 19.00 Outdoor landscape game 21.00 Board Games
Moderator Uku Vainik 7.30 Well-being Run & Walk – starting in front of Pühajärve Spa 9.30 Keynote of the day: Anu Realo (ENG) Anu Realo (PhD in Psychology) is a personality and cross-cultural psychologist. She is a Professor at the University of Warwick and Tallinn University, as well as a Visiting Professor at the University of Tartu. Her research focuses on cultural and individual variation in personality traits, subjective well-being, values, and social capital. She currently leads a major project on sustainable futures, funded by the European Commission. In her talk, she will discuss her research on subjective well-being both within and between individuals and cultures. 10.30 Coffee break 10.45 New data collections, session chair Kelli Lehto What new data collections are being developed by researchers and partners of the Centre of Excellence? 12.05 Lunch 13.00 Workshops This interactive 1.5-hour workshop explores key tools for analysing policies in welfare and education. It’s designed not just for political scientists, but for all social researchers interested in real-world effects. We’ll ask: No matter your disciplinary angle – sociology, education, economics, public health – policy questions will find you. This workshop helps you think more clearly about what counts as good evidence, how to ask sharper questions, and how to turn insights into useful policy advice. 2. Workshop “Human-centred and personalised prevention – recipe for success or shortcut to failure?” Karin Streimann, Triin Vilms (EST) How does the lens of justice and equity relate to human-centred preventive solutions? 3. Workshop “Inclusive Research Design in the Field of Mental Health and Well-Being” Merike Sisask (EST) The Social Health Research Group invites you to take part in a workshop where we will explore how to make research in the field of mental health and well-being inclusive throughout the entire research process – from shaping research questions and designing the study to interpreting the results and achieving societal impact. We will discuss the role of target groups in preparing and conducting the research, interpreting data, and disseminating findings. The workshop draws on specific experiences from international projects (DigiGen, MENTBEST, MINDWORK) as well as doctoral theses that have employed creative and participatory approaches. We will address the benefits and limitations of participatory research, and highlight the importance of researchers’ creative and reflective thinking. The workshop offers space for exchanging experiences and supports participants in exploring questions and dilemmas that have emerged in the context of their own research. 14.30 Break 15.00 New insights into well-being from a micro perspective, session chair Jekaterina Reut What have we newly learned about the psycho–physiological mechanisms of well-being? 16.30 Coffee break 16.45 Breakthrough project meetings Parallel discussions for those interested in breakthrough projects, sign-up during the conference 18.30 Dinner 20.00 Party
Curious about what makes a policy work? Wondering how to study not just what happens, but why – and for whom?
When and why use Difference-in-Differences?
What is a Regression Discontinuity Design, and when does it shine?
What’s configurational analysis (like QCA) – and is it for those who think policy is messy? (Spoiler: yes)
How can we assess feasibility – and predict whether a policy can or should work?
What do Street-Level Bureaucrats have to do with it – and how do they shape what policies actually become?
National and international strategies, development plans, and funding schemes increasingly highlight the need for novel, human-centred solutions to prevent and address complex societal problems. Preventive research has also focused largely on the individual or micro-level environment and on developing and testing solutions in those contexts. This approach assumes that complex problems can be prevented or mitigated without changing the surrounding systems. This workshop will discuss:
What are the disciplinary and level-based differences in approaching and influencing problems?
Which types of solutions are current research and development focused on, and where should the future focus lie – on influencing individual competencies and behaviour or on systemic factors such as environmental restructuring, pricing and tax policies, or regulations?
How can we shift the perspective from human-centred to system-focused prevention? Do we see a need for this, and what role can we play in this transition?
Moderator Uku Vainik 7.30 Well-being Run & Walk – starting in front of Pühajärve Spa 9.30 Keynote of the day: Henk van Steenbergen (ENG) Henk van Steenbergen studies the interplay of emotion, motivation, stress, and cognitive control using both psychological and neuroscientific methods. He is Associate Professor at Leiden University and head of the Affective, Motivation and Action Lab. Research in health psychology has long suggested that positive emotions have numerous beneficial effects on health and cognition, which may be partially attributed to their stress-buffering capabilities. In this talk, I will highlight recent studies from my lab that demonstrate how positive emotions can mitigate stress and expand the mind. I will show how exposure to virtual nature positively impacts stress-related physiology and helps buffer stress reactivity when participants face stressful tasks. In line with the idea that positive affect can open the mind and broaden the scope of attention, I will then present evidence for the role of endogenous opioids in this modulation. Finally, I will demonstrate how a unique micro-level perspective on studying stress can enhance our understanding of the temporal dynamics of integral affect triggered by cognitive tasks. This approach aids in comprehending how stress arises and potentially predicting and understanding resilient functioning. 10.30-10.45 Coffee break 10.45-12.15 New approaches to familiar problems, session chair Rene Mõttus What have we newly learned about the large-scale patterns of well-being? 12.15 Hotel check-out 12.30 Lunch 13.30 Workshops Most real-world cases land somewhere in between – with opportunities to test what works. Digital interventions allow us to run multiple agile experiments in quick succession due to short feedback cycles. Taavi will share a case of running four agile trials within four weeks during a London digital service rollout, showing how tweaks to SMS and postal messages (including “final reminder” phrasing) dramatically improved uptake. The workshop invites participants to explore how we could apply such agile methods when introducing new services. 2. Workshop “Practical AI tools for researchers – current landscape” Kari Kuulman (EST) 15.00 Coffee break 15.30 PhD students networking session (ENG) / Open Council Meeting 17.00 End of conference
Digital health and well-being services can be implemented on a spectrum. On one end, we have rigorous evidence-based purists who want large trials before any roll-out. On the other, there are those advocating for earlier implementation based on public demand, political momentum, expert opinion, or perceived low risk.
Artificial intelligence is no longer futuristic hype – it’s a daily tool that can reshape how we do research. But which tools should we use, and how can we smoothly integrate AI into research, teaching, and supervision workflows?
