Marju Raju

Marju Raju is a Researcher and Research Ethics Adviser at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT), where she has worked since 2016 (full-time since 2020). She holds a PhD in Musicology from EAMT (2015), an MA in Musicology from EAMT (2008), and an MSc in Psychology from Tallinn University (2007). Prior to academia, she served as a Research Advisor at Estonia's Ministry of Social Affairs (2015-2020), developing evidence-based policies in health and social domains.

Her research bridges cognitive psychology and musicology, focusing on:

• Singing acoustics and text intelligibility
• Music's impact on mental health and identity formation
• Performance anxiety in musicians
• Evidence-based policymaking frameworks

Her recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate strong emphasis on empirical studies of vocal techniques, LGBTQ+ choir well-being, and cultural policy capacity-building in post-pandemic Europe.

Awards & Honors:

• Nationally recognised science populariser award (2023)
• Young Researcher Grant, Estonian Academy of Sciences (2021)
• Multiple national student research competition prizes (2004-2008)

Supervision & Projects: Advises PhD candidate Veeda Kala and has supervised 3 Master's students. Leads research projects on:

• Subcultural music's impact on youth mental health (€216K grant)
• Vocal text intelligibility improvement (€700K grant)

Chairs the Estonian Musicological Society (2024-) and serves on EAMT's Ethics Committee. Member of International Association for the Study of Popular Music and International Society for Ethnology and Folklore.