Pressiteated

25.01.2024
Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia are launching the fourth wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey
From 1 February until 30 June, Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia will be carrying out research to...
24.01.2024
The Bronštein award for research has this year been given to a series of articles on wealth inequality
Eesti Pank researchers Merike Kukk, Jaanika Meriküll and Tairi Rõõm received this year’s Mihhail...
13.12.2023
Research shows that people and businesses in Estonia have a high opinion of the payment solutions available
Tiina Soosalu, Eesti Pank expert on developing payments Martti Näksi, Head of the Cash Handling...
30.10.2023
The winner of the Eesti Pank research award is Artemi Beljakov
The research award of Eesti Pank has this year been won by Artemi Beljakov of Tallinn University of...
26.05.2023
Survey shows that the wealth of Estonian families has increased substantially over the past decade
Tairi Rõõm, Jaanika Meriküll Eesti Pank Economists The wealth of Estonian families increased...
04.04.2023
Eesti Pank announces the competition for the research award dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp
Eesti Pank has announced the competition for the research prize in economics, which is dedicated to...
06.04.2022
Eesti Pank announces the competition for the research award dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp
Eesti Pank has announced the competition for the research prize for economic research by young...
26.10.2021
Eesti Pank research awards go to Mathias Juust, Pauline Kommer and Danyl Denysenko
The research awards of the central bank were given this year to three pieces of research into the...
19.04.2021
Eesti Pank announces the competition for the research award dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp
Eesti Pank has announced the competition for the research prize for economic research by young...
26.10.2020
Eesti Pank research awards go to Gaygysyz Ashyrov, Krista Tarkmees and Kseniia Kasianova
The research awards given by the central bank have this year gone to work on the behaviour of...
02.10.2020
Eesti Pank is launching a research project into central bank digital currency
Eesti Pank has launched a multi-year project in collaboration with the technology companies...
02.03.2020
Eesti Pank is again surveying the financial behaviour of households
From 2 March until 30 June, Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia will be carrying out research in order...
17.10.2019
Eesti Pank research awards go to Nataliia Ostapenko and Caio Augusto Raduy Koslyk
The Eesti Pank research award for doctoral studies went to Nataliia Ostapenko for her work on the...
16.10.2018
Eesti Pank research awards go to Tarmo Puolokainen, Janely Põllumägi and Mykola Herasymovych
The Eesti Pank research award at the doctoral level was awarded to Tarmo Puolokainen for his...
11.12.2017
People are used to paying with bankcards, but still would not like to see a cashless society
The incomes and pensions of 90% of people in Estonia are paid by bank transfer, and only 4% in...
01.11.2017
The Eesti Pank research award goes to Kerli Lille
The Eesti Pank research award for 2017 has gone to Kerli Lille for her research into how capital...
06.03.2017
Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia are organising research into the financial behaviour and consumption habits of Estonian households
From 6 March until 30 June, Eesti Pank and Statistics Estonia will be carrying out research in order...
09.01.2017
The internationally renowned economist Barry Eichengreen is to give a lecture at Eesti Pank
Barry Eichengreen, Professor of Economics at the University of California, will give a public...
23.11.2016
A presentation will be given on Thursday on the doctoral work that won the Eesti Pank research award
There will be an open seminar in the Eesti Pank museum at 13.00 on Thursday 24 November, at which...
16.11.2016
Research shows that the ability to cope financially and the capacity for monthly saving of Estonian families has improved
Three quarters of families are able to save if they need to, and the number of households with...
02.11.2016
Eesti Pank research awards go to Tarvo Vaarmets, Kristjan Liivamägi, Tõnn Talpsepp and Marianna Rõbinskaja
The Eesti Pank research award of 2300 euros for doctoral studies for 2016 was won by Tarvo Vaarmets,...
12.04.2016
Eesti Pank announces the competition for the research award dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp
Eesti Pank has announced the competition for the research prize for economic research by young...
28.03.2016
Survey shows that roughly half of the assets of private individuals is accounted for by the value of their residence
The primary residence in the most valuable asset of Estonian households as its value accounts for...

Sisuleht

15.04.2021
Economists in the Research Division
Martti Randveer (Head of the Economics and Research Department) Tairi Rõõm (Head of the...
03.04.2020
Eesti Pank research award 2021
Eesti Pank has announced a competition for a research prize dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp to...
23.11.2020
Visiting researcher programme
Eesti Pank / Bank of Estonia hosts candidates with a Ph.D. in Economics or Finance as visiting...
28.02.2020
Research into the financial behaviour and consumption habits of Estonian households
The fourth wave of the Estonian Household Finance and Consumption Survey starts on 1 February 2024...
03.04.2020
Eesti Pank research award
The Eesti Pank research award dedicated to the memory of Urmas Sepp is intended to promote economic...
28.02.2020
Research seminars of Eesti Pank
Economists and people interested in economics are kindly invited to attend the research seminars of...
28.02.2020
Alari Paulus
Research interests Firm dynamics Taxation Public finance Fiscal microsimulation Economic...
09.01.2020
Research areas
Fields Subfields Research projects in...
18.01.2019
Natalia Levenko
Economist E-mail: [email protected] Research interests: Economic development...
20.03.2018
Christmas seminars
A research seminar led by Eesti Pank has been held since 2015 for young Estonian economics...
04.01.2017
Previous research seminars of Eesti Pank
Research seminars in 2023 19 January Karsten Staehr (Eesti...
14.12.2017
Aleksei Netšunajev CV
14.12.2017
Nicolas Reigl CV
Economist E-mail: [email protected] Research interests: International...
03.01.2017
Lecture series dedicated to Ragnar Nurkse
Public lecture dedicated to Professor Ragnar Nurkse on 4 November 2022 The President of the...
23.09.2016
Merike Kukk Curriculum Vitae
Senior Economist, Ph.D. E-post: [email protected] Research topics: Household...
13.07.2016
Economic Research at Eesti Pank
The economic research produced at Eesti Pank gives a scientific basis for taking decisions about...
09.10.2012
Tairi Rõõm Curriculum Vitae
Head of the Research Division E-mail: [email protected] Research interests: Labour...
29.09.2012
Research and education
Project Notes Eesti Pank’s visiting researcher program Eesti...
08.04.2016
Juan Carlos Cuestas
Senior Economist E-mail: [email protected] Research...
29.10.2012
Dmitry Kulikov Curriculum Vitae
Senior Economist E-mail: [email protected] Research interests: Theoretical and...
29.10.2012
Karsten Staehr Curriculum Vitae
Research Supervisor E-mail: [email protected] Research...
08.05.2012
Jaanika Meriküll Curriculum Vitae
Senior Economist E-mail: [email protected] Research interests: Labour...
29.09.2012
Martti Randveer Curriculum Vitae
Head of the Economics and Research Department E-mail: [email protected] Research...
24.09.2012
Library
Eesti Pank library contains more than 7,000 documents on economics and finance, mostly in English....
12.09.2012
The statute for the Eesti Pank research prize
1. The goal of awarding the prizes 1.1. The Eesti Pank research prize in memory of Urmas Sepp is...

Publikatsioonid

12.02.2024
2/2024 Natalia Levenko. Monetary policy transmission in different credit markets
05.02.2024
2/2023 What explains wealth inequality in Estonia? The role of wealth components, household size and regions
29.01.2024
1/2024 Konstantīns Beņkovskis, Jaanika Meriküll, Aurelija Proškutė. The transmission of trade shocks across countries: firm-level evidence from the Covid-19 crisis
01.12.2023
7/2023 Merike Kukk, Jan Toczynski, Christoph Basten. Beyond the Headline: How Personal Exposure to Inflation Shapes the Financial Choices of Households
13.10.2023
6/2023 Dmitry Kulikov, Nicolas Reigl. The natural rate of unemployment in Estonia: empirical determinants and a new semi-structural model
27.07.2023
5/2023 Eva Branten. Income expectations, risk attitudes and household borrowing decisions
13.06.2023
4/2023 Merike Kukk, Natalia Levenko, Nicolas Reigl. Measuring the Effects of Borrower-based Policies on New Housing Loans in Estonia
16.05.2023
3/2023 Karsten Staehr, Oļegs Tkačevs, Katri Urke. Fiscal Performance under Inflation and Inflation Surprises: Evidence from Fiscal Reaction Functions for the Euro Area
20.04.2023
2/2023 Łukasz Wiktor Olejnik. Economic growth and military expenditure in the countries on NATOʼs Eastern flank in 1999–2021
26.01.2023
1/2023 Karsten Staehr. Economic Growth, Current Account Dynamics and Growth Regimes in the Baltic States
13.09.2022
7/2022 Merike Kukk, Natalia Levenko. Interest rate spreads in Estonia: Different stories for different types of loan
17.06.2022
6/2022 Gerda Kirpson, Martti Randveer, Nicolas Reigl, Karsten Staehr, Lenno Uusküla. Macroeconomic News and Sovereign Interest Rate Spreads before and during Quantitative Easing
08.06.2022
5/2022 Jaanika Meriküll, Alari Paulus. Were jobs saved at the cost of productivity in the Covid-19 crisis?
23.03.2022
4/2022 Merike Kukk, Alari Paulus, Nicolas Reigl. Credit market concentration and systemic risk in Europe
23.03.2022
3/2022 Karsten Staehr, Katri Urke. The European Structural and Investment Funds and Public Investment in the EU Countries
23.02.2022
2/2022 Alari Paulus. Business investment, the user cost of capital and firm heterogeneity
22.02.2022
1/2022 Olivier Damette, Karolina Sobczak, Thierry Betti. Financial Transaction Tax, macroeconomic effects and tax competition issues: a two-country financial DSGE model
27.12.2021
8/2021 Luca Alfieri, Diana Gabrielyan. The Communication Reaction Function of the European Central Bank. An Analysis Using Topic Modelling
28.10.2021
7/2021 Natalia Levenko, Karsten Staehr. Tax compliance in post-transition: You and your friends matter, not the government
26.10.2021
6/2021 Mathias Juust. Trade effects of a negative export shock on direct exporters and wholesalers
15.09.2021
5/2021 Eva Branten. The role of risk attitudes and expectations in household borrowing in Estonia
08.09.2021
4/2021 Jaanika Meriküll, Maryna Tverdostup. The gap that survived the transition: the gender wage gap over three decades in Estonia
05.04.2021
3/2021 Anita Suurlaht. The Asymmetric Effect of Monetary Policy on European Financial Markets
Working Papers of Eesti Pank 3/2021 This paper analyses the impact of unanticipated changes...
05.04.2021
2/2021 Nicolas Reigl. Expectational Errors and Business Cycle Fluctuations in Europe
Working Papers of Eesti Pank 2/2021 Published in Nicolas Reigl (2022). Noise shocks...
18.01.2021
1/2021 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Merike Kukk, Natalia Levenko. House price misalignments and economic growth in Europe
29.12.2020
8/2020 Tairi Rõõm and Orsolya Soosaar. The gender gap in pension wealth in Europe: Evidence from twenty countries
29.12.2020
7/2020 Merike Kukk, Jaanika Meriküll and Tairi Rõõm. The gender wealth gap in Europe: A comparative study using a model averaging methodology
10.11.2020
6/2020 Merike Kukk, Natalia Levenko. Alternative financing and the non-performing loans of the corporate sector in Estonia
07.10.2020
2/2020 The impact of negative interest rates on the Estonian economy and financial sector
30.07.2020
5/2020 Nataliia Ostapenko. Macroeconomic Expectations: News Sentiment Analysis
21.07.2020
4/2020 Karsten Staehr. Export performance and capacity pressures in Central and Eastern Europe
16.06.2020
3/2020 Orsolya Soosaar, Allan Puur, Lauri Leppik. Does raising the pension age prolong working life? Evidence from pension age reform in Estonia
08.06.2020
1/2020 Impact analysis of the changes to the pension system
28.04.2020
2/2020 Natalia Levenko. Elevated survey uncertainty after the Great Recession: a non-linear approach
06.04.2020
1/2020 Merike Kukk, W. Fred van Raaij. Joint and individual savings within families: evidence from bank accounts
06.01.2020
9/2019 Cécile Couharde, Olivier Damette, Rémi Generoso, Kamiar Mohaddes. The Effects on Growth of El Niño and La Niña: Local Weather Conditions Matter
06.12.2019
8/2019 Dmitry Kulikov, Nicolas Reigl. Inflation Expectations in Phillips Curve Models for the Euro Area
18.10.2019
7/2019 Juan Carlos Cuestas. On the evolution of competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe: is it broken?
18.10.2019
6/2019 Merike Kukk, Natalia Levenko. Macroeconomic imbalances and loan quality in panels of European countries
09.10.2019
5/2019 Jaanika Meriküll, Tairi Rõõm. Are survey data underestimating the inequality of wealth?
09.10.2019
2/2019 Juha Kilponen et al. Comparing Fiscal Consolidation Multipliers across Models in Europe
01.10.2019
1/2019 Jaanika Meriküll, Tairi Rõõm. Estonian Household Finance and Consumption Survey: Results from the 2017 wave
12.07.2019
4/2019 Jaanika Meriküll, Merike Kukk, Tairi Rõõm. What explains the gender gap in wealth? Evidence from administrative data
01.07.2019
3/2019 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Yannick Lucotte, Nicolas Reigl. The evolution and heterogeneity of credit procyclicality in Central and Eastern Europe
29.04.2019
2/2019 Thomas Y. Mathä, Stephen Millard, Tairi Rõõm, Ladislav Wintr and Robert Wyszyński. Shocks and labour cost adjustment: evidence from a survey of European firms
18.01.2019
1/2019 Jacopo Bonchi. Asset Price Bubbles with Low Interest Rates: Not All Bubbles are Alike
28.12.2018
10/2018 Tibor Lalinsky, Jaanika Meriküll. The effect of the single currency on exports: comparative firm-level evidence
20.12.2018
9/2018 Natalia Levenko. Actual and perceived uncertainty as drivers of household saving
10.12.2018
8/2018 Kersti Harkmann, Karsten Staehr. Current account dynamics and exchange rate regimes in Central and Eastern Europe
31.10.2018
7/2018 Nicolas Reigl, Lenno Uusküla. Alternative frameworks for measuring credit gaps and setting countercyclical capital buffers
04.10.2018
6/2018 Juan Carlos Cuestas. Changes in sovereign debt dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe
19.07.2018
5/2018 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Estefania Mourelle and Paulo José Regis. Real exchange rate misalignments in CEECs: Have they hindered growth?
09.07.2018
4/2018 Merike Kukk, Alari Paulus and Karsten Staehr. Income underreporting by the self-employed in Europe: A cross-country comparative study
29.05.2018
3/2018 Eva Branten, Ana Lamo, Tairi Rõõm. Nominal wage rigidity in the EU countries before and after the Great Recession: evidence from the WDN surveys
26.02.2018
1/2018 Gerhard Rünstler (ed.) et al. Real and financial cycles in EU countries: Stylised facts and modelling implications
01.02.2018
2/2018 Wenjuan Chen and Aleksei Netšunajev. Structural vector autoregression with time varying transition probabilities: identifying uncertainty shocks via changes in volatility
24.01.2018
1/2018 Sang-Wook (Stanley) Cho and Julian P. Diaz. Skill Premium Divergence: The Roles of Trade, Capital and Demographics
05.01.2018
12/2017 Liina Malk et al. How do firms adjust to rises in the minimum wage? Survey evidence from Central and Eastern Europe
03.11.2017
11/2017 Theologos Dergiades, Costas Milas and Theodore Panagiotidis. An assessment of the inflation targeting experience
16.10.2017
10/2017 Karsten Staehr, Lenno Uusküla. Forecasting models for non-performing loans in the EU countries
31.08.2017
9/2017 Aurélien Leroy and Yannick Lucotte. Competition and credit procyclicality in European banking
30.08.2017
8/2017 Natalia Levenko, Kaspar Oja and Karsten Staehr. Total Factor Productivity Growth in Central and Eastern Europe before, during and after the Global Financial Crisis
29.08.2017
7/2017 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Yannick Lucotte and Nicolas Reigl. Banking sector concentration, competition and financial stability: the case of the Baltic countries
21.07.2017
1/2017 Mario Izquierdo et al. Labour market adjustment in Europe during the crisis: Microeconomic evidence from the Wage Dynamics Network survey
21.07.2017
6/2017 Alfred V. Guender. Credit Prices vs. Credit Quantities as Predictors of Economic Activity in Europe: Which Tell a Better Story?
17.07.2017
5/2017 Konstantin A. Kholodilin, Aleksei Netšunajev. Crimea and punishment: The impact of sanctions on Russian and European economies
29.03.2017
4/2017 Jaanika Meriküll, Tairi Rõõm. The financial fragility of Estonian households: Evidence from stress tests on the HFCS microdata
27.03.2017
3/2017 Gregory Levieuge, Yannick Lucotte and Florian Pradines-Jobet. Central banks’ preferences and banking sector vulnerability
13.03.2017
2/2017 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Merike Kukk. Asymmetries in the interaction between housing prices and housing credit in Estonia
09.02.2017
1/2017 Barry Eichengreen. Ragnar Nurkse and the international financial architecture
18.01.2017
2/2016 Pierre Lafourcade et al. Labour market modelling in the light of the financial crisis
23.01.2017
11/2016 Georgios Bampinas, Theodore Panagiotidis. Oil and stock markets before and after financial crises: A local Gaussian correlation approach
06.01.2017
10/2016 Karsten Staehr. Capital Flows and Growth Dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe
18.11.2016
9/2016 Merike Kukk. What are the Triggers for Arrears on Debt? Evidence from Quarterly Panel Data
06.09.2016
8/2016 Nicolas Reigl. Forecasting the Estonian Rate of Inflation using Factor Models
24.08.2016
7/2016 Lenno Uusküla. Monetary transmission mechanism with firm turnover
18.07.2016
6/2016 Simona Ferraro, Jaanika Meriküll and Karsten Staehr. Minimum wages and the wage distribution in Estonia
15.07.2016
5/2016 Svetlana Makarova. ECB footprints on inflation forecast uncertainty
12.07.2016
4/2016 Punnoose Jacob and Lenno Uusküla. Deep habits and exchange rate pass-through
08.06.2016
3/2016 Jaanika Meriküll et al. Export characteristics and output volatility: comparative firm-level evidence for CEE countries
28.03.2016
1/2016 Jaanika Meriküll, Tairi Rõõm. The assets, liabilities and wealth of Estonian households: Results of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey
10.03.2016
2/2016 Alessandra Cepparulo, Juan Carlos Cuestas and Maurizio Intartaglia. Financial development, institutions and poverty alleviation: an empirical analysis
11.02.2016
1/2016 Merike Kukk. Debt repayment problems: what are the implications for consumption?
25.01.2016
8/2015 Dmitry Kulikov and Aleksei Netšunajev. Identifying shocks in structural VAR models via heteroskedasticity: a Bayesian approach
11.01.2016
2/2015 Alistair Dieppe et al. Public Debt, Population Ageing and Medium-Term Growth
21.12.2015
7/2015 Manuel Buchholz. How effective is macroprudential policy during financial downturns? Evidence from caps on banks leverage
10.12.2015
6/2015 Jaanika Meriküll et al. Assessing European firms exports and productivity distributions: The CompNet trade module
23.11.2015
5/2015 Merike Kukk and Karsten Staehr. Macroeconomic factors in corporate and household saving. Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe
18.11.2015
1/2015 Liina Malk. Labour Cost Adjustment in Estonia During and After the Crisis
22.07.2015
4/2015 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Fabio Filipozzi and Karsten Staehr. Uncovered interest parity in Central and Eastern Europe: Expectations and structural breaks
25.06.2015
3/2015 Kadri Männasoo and Jaanika Meriküll. The impact of firm financing constraints on R&D over the business cycle
10.06.2015
2/2015 Andres Kuusk, Karsten Staehr and Uku Varblane. Sectoral change and labour productivity growth during boom, bust and recovery in Central and Eastern Europe
23.01.2015
1/2015 Lenno Uusküla. Firm turnover and inflation dynamics
09.01.2015
10/2014 Dmitry Kulikov. Law of One Price in the euro area: an empirical investigation using Nielsen disaggregated price data
05.01.2015
9/2014 Jaanika Meriküll and Pille Mõtsmees. Do you get what you ask? The gender gap in desired and realised wages
18.12.2014
8/2014 Liina Malk. Determinants of reservation wages: Empirical evidence for Estonia
29.09.2014
7/2014 Jaanika Meriküll and Tairi Rõõm. One currency, one price? Euro changeover-related inflation in Estonia
22.09.2014
6/2014 Tairi Rõõm and Katri Urke. The Euro changeover in Estonia: Implications for inflation
18.09.2014
5/2014 Fabio Filipozzi and Kersti Harkmann. Currency hedge – Walking on the edge?
08.09.2014
4/2014 Juan Carlos Cuestas and Karsten Staehr. The Great (De)leveraging in the GIIPS countries. Domestic credit and net foreign liabilities 1998–2013
04.09.2014
3/2014 Juan Carlos Cuestas, Luis A. Gil-Alana and Paulo José Regis. On the changes in the sustainability of European external debt: What have we learned
23.07.2014
2/2014 Merike Kukk. Distinguishing the components of household financial wealth: The impact of liabilities on assets in euro area countries
29.01.2014
1/2014 Jaanika Meriküll and Tairi Rõõm. Are foreign-owned firms different? Comparison of employment volatility and elasticity of labour demand
13.09.2013
9/2013 Dmitry Kulikov and Aleksei Netšunajev. Identifying monetary policy shocks via heteroskedasticity: a Bayesian approach
10.09.2013
8/2013 Boris Blagov. Financial crises and time-varying risk premia in a small open economy: A Markov-switching DSGE model for Estonia
15.08.2013
7/2013 Gertrud Errit and Lenno Uusküla. Euro area monetary policy transmission in Estonia
25.07.2013
6/2013 Merike Kukk and Karsten Staehr. Income underreporting by households with business income. Evidence from Estonia
28.06.2013
5/2013 Guido Baldi and Karsten Staehr. The European debt crisis and fiscal reaction functions in Europe 2000–2012
03.06.2013
4/2013 Liina Malk. Relaxation of employment protection and its effects on labour reallocation
21.05.2013
3/2013 Michael Ehrmann, Chiara Osbat, Jan Strasky and Lenno Uusküla. The Euro exchange rate during the European sovereign debt crisis – Dancing to its own tune?
06.05.2013
2/2013 Philip Du Caju, Theodora Kosma, Martina Lawless, Julián Messina and Tairi Rõõm. Why firms avoid cutting wages: Survey evidence from European firms
10.04.2013
1/2013 Ardo Hansson and Martti Randveer. Economic adjustment in the Baltic countries
25.01.2013
8/2012 Jaanika Meriküll, Tairi Rõõm and Karsten Staehr. Perceptions of unreported economic activities in Baltic firms. Individualistic and non-individualistic motives
07.01.2013
7/2012 Aurelijus Dabušinskas, Dmitry Kulikov and Martti Randveer. The impact of volatility on economic growth
19.12.2012
6/2012 Aleksei Netšunajev. Reaction to technology shocks in Markov-switching structural VARs: Identification via heteroskedasticity
06.12.2012
5/2012 Hubert Gabrisch and Karsten Staehr. The Euro Plus Pact: Competitiveness and external capital flows in the EU countries
30.11.2012
4/2012 David Seim. Job displacement and labor market outcomes by skill level
01.03.2012
3/2012 Merike Kukk, Dmitry Kulikov and Karsten Staehr. Consumption sensitivities in Estonia: Income shocks of different persistence
02.01.2012
2/2012 Jaanika Meriküll. Households borrowing during a creditless recovery
01.10.2011
10/2011 Martti Randveer, Lenno Uusküla and Liina Kulu. The impact of private debt on economic growth
01.01.2012
1/2012 Kadri Männasoo. Determinants of bank interest spread in Estonia.
01.07.2011
7/2011 Kadri Männasoo and Jaanika Meriküll. R&D in boom and bust: Evidence from the World Bank financial crisis survey

Kalender

22.02.2024
RESEARCH SEMINAR. Off the books, on the books? Employment, wages, and labour tax audits
20.10.2022
Open seminar. How do natural disasters affect fiscal policy?
03.11.2021
Winners of Eesti Pank research awards introduce their research works at a virtual seminar