Thesis topics and supervisors 2025
Dear student,
Here you’ll find a selection of thesis topics proposed by our institute’s supervisors. Choose the one that suits you best and get in touch with the supervisor. Do this as soon as possible, as multiple students may be interested in the same topic.
If you have another idea you’d like to pursue together with our researchers, feel free to let us know as well — just keep in mind that due to busy schedules, it may take some time to respond.
Topics:
- Genetic determinants of anti-obesity drug response
- Genetic and phenotypic analyses of post-infection chronic diseases
More information: Contact ASAP > Analyses should start in October-November > Writing the thesis will start April-May
Supervising and writing in English | Master´s students
Topic: Studying the trajectories and subtypes of chronic kidney disease
More information: Writing thesis should start in 2025-2026
Supervising and writing in English | Master´s students
Topics:
- Population genetics, archaeogenetics, Eastern Europe
- Genotype imputation in ancient genomes, haplotype-based analyses
More information: Writing thesis should be started in Autumn 2025
Supervising and writing in English | Master´s and Bachelor´s students
Topic: The demographic 'manosphere' of Estonia – determining Y-chromosomal paternal lineages in the Estonian Biobank and mapping their regional distribution pattern.
More information: Work with the data must begin in autumn 2025. Writing can be done in spring
Supervising and writing in English or in Estonian | Bachelor´s students
Topic: Development and evolution of the cerebellum; links to autism spectrum disorders. We combine mouse models and human iPSC-derived cerebellar organoids with single-cell omics. Students seeking experimental, computational, or blended projects are invited to apply.
More information: Inquiries welcome year-round; experimental projects begin January 2026.
Supervising and writing in English or in Estonian | Bachelor´s, Master´s and PhD students
Topic: Our DNA carries clues about where our ancestors came from and how populations have changed over time. I study these questions using DNA sequences from the Y chromosome (passed from fathers to sons) and mitochondrial DNA (passed from mothers to children). Students can take part in projects such as:
- Reconstructing the population history of Estonia and neighboring regions;
- Exploring ancient connections between Europe, West Asia, and South Asia;
- Comparing maternal and paternal lineages to study differences in male and female migration patterns.
These projects are well suited for students curious about human evolution, ancestry, and the use of genetic data in understanding our past.
More information: Students should contact supervisor by December 15th, 2025
Supervising and writing in English | Bachelor´s and Master´s students
Topic: Projects exploring the evolutionary dynamics that shaped phenotype variation in human history.
More information: Students can contact all around the year
Supervising and writing in English | Bachelor´s and Master´s students
Topics:
- Genetic architecture of sleep and chronotype
- Characterization of sleep and chronotype in the Estonian Biobank population
- Genetic and metabolic basis of eye diseases
- Investigation of associations between eye diseases, lifestyle factors, and systemic diseases using artificial intelligence method
More information: Students should contact before the end of December 2025
Supervising and writing in English or in Estonian | Bachelor´s and Master´s students
Topic: The evolutionary mismatch hypothesis in South Asia - a multi-layered approach to link genetic variation, evolutionary history, and diseases
More information: Students should contact before the end of December 2025
Supervising and writing in English | Bachelor´s and Master´s students
Topic: Participation bias in the Estonian Biobank
More information: Students should contact in October 2025
Supervising and writing in English | Bachelor´s students
Psychiatric Genomics Research Team website
Topics: We offer a range of interdisciplinary projects related to omics and prediction of mental health and wellbeing (psychiatric conditions, symptoms, risk- and protective factors). Our current focus is specifically on (but not restricted to): ADHD in adults, eating disorders, depression, dementia, bipolar disorder, personality disorders. We use the Estonian Biobank resource with existing data from the electronic health records and questionnaires.
For example we use genomic methods to ask: Why some people develop mental problems and others do not? Why people with mental problems are in higher risk for physical health problems? How to use genomics in personalized medicine to aid clinical decision-making?
We welcome students from different fields, including data science, psychology, statistics and math, informatics, neuroscience, gene technology etc. The work is computational by nature. We expect some previous experience with data analysis.
More information: Students can contact all around the year.
Supervising and writing in English or in Estonian | Bachelor´s and Master´s students
