Tiia-Triin Truusa was elected president of the European Research Group on Military and Society

Our analyst Tiia-Triin Truusa was elected president of European Research Group on Military and Society (ERGOMAS) at the biennial conference of the society. This gives Institude of Social Studies the oppurtunity to involve more international scientists in our work and organize ERGOMAS conference in Tartu in 2021.

ERGOMAS is an international voluntary and apolitical union of scientists founded in 1986. The society is focused on military and civil society studies. Over time Europe-centered organisation has grown into a world wide one. The membership of the society has also widened - the society used to consist of sociologists and political scientists but now it has grown into a multidisciplinary research group with a vast variety of topics. 

The institute of Social Studies has also conducted research on military and society for many years. We have co-operated with Estonian Defence Forces and Ministry of Defence from 2014 and will continue to do so. Tiia-Triin Truusa has been the project manager of these research projects. 

The election took place in Lisbon in June touring the ERGOMAS conference. There were two candidates for the seat - Professor Claude Weber from the Saint-Cyri Military Academy and Tiia-Triin Truusa. Many of our scientists and doctoral students also gave presentations at the conference, including: 

• Taavi Laanepere and Kairi Kasearu on the topic „Cohesion As A Predictor For The Military Preparedness Of Reserve Soldiers”;
• Tõnis Männiste, Margus Pedaste and Roland Schimanski on the topic „Measuring Military Tactical Decision Making Skills to Support Training and Enhance Personnel Selection;
• Kairi Talves and Tiia-Triin Truusa on the topic „Positive attitude, fast adaptation, calmness...? Traits and skills for successful completion of service among Estonian conscripts“;
• Andres Siplane on the topic „Coping of Female Conscripts. A Content Analysis“;
• Andres Siplane and Tiia-Triin Truusa on the topic „Conflicting values and ethics in veteran policy“.

Tiia-Triin Truusa also participated in the panel discussion „Military Studies in a Post-Truth Society: Visions from Around the World“.