Professor Peeter Tulviste Memorial Fund scholarship awarded to Dmitri Rozgonjuk

The 5,000-euro scholarship goes to Dmitri Rozgonjuk, a University of Tartu researcher and master's student in Data Science, whose academic research focuses on the impact of the use of smart devices on people's thinking, mood and behaviour. 

The chair of the evaluation committee Jaan Tulviste said that through his research, Dmitri Rozgonjuk has contributed to the understanding of the cultural nature of the modern human being, addressing the manifestation, entrenchment and consequences of addiction to smartphones on human behaviour. The laureate skilfully combines methodologies and disciplines in his research and actively participates in international collaborations, as evidenced by the frequent publication of high-level research papers and the citation impact of published articles. 

According to Dmitri Rozgonjuk, receiving the Peeter Tulviste memorial scholarship is an important and, for a psychology graduate of the University of Tartu, a personally moving recognition. He adds that the opportunity to work with great people from different disciplines and cultures has contributed to his successes in many ways. "Collaborating with researchers from different disciplines supplements and diversifies the toolbox of thinking, which greatly contributes to creativity and problem-solving in research. Therefore, I am very grateful to my colleagues." 

Dmitri Rozgonjuk defended his doctoral degree in psychology in 2019, after which he was a senior specialist at the University of Tartu Centre for Mathematics Education until August 2022. In 2020, he went to Germany for his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Ulm, focusing on psychoinformatics, i.e. the study of the links between the digital footprint and psychology and behaviour. 

In 2021, Rozgonjuk started his master's studies in Data Science at the University of Tartu to diversify and strengthen the methodological skills needed to work with the volumes of data generated in today's world. In the last three years, he has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers that have been cited almost 2,000 times. He has contributed to research communication by writing popular-science articles based on recent research for local media outlets and by giving presentations and training courses to various audiences. 

The Peeter Tulviste Memorial Fund was established in the autumn of 2017 by the University of Tartu, the Tartu City Government, Tartu Rotary Klubi, the Union of Estonian Psychologists and the University of Tartu Foundation. The scholarship is awarded for the fifth time, this year with the support of the City of Tartu.  

The memorial fund aims to support and recognise socially active students and young researchers who contribute to the advancement of Estonian society through their outstanding teaching and research. The scholarship is awarded to a person holding a master's or a doctoral degree and studying or working at the University of Tartu whose research has largely contributed to understanding the cultural nature of the human being. 

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