In recent years research on these topics has been funded through grants of the Estonian Research Council through the projects titled "Creation, Transmission and Interpretation of Folklore: Process and Institutions" (2003−2007), "Folklore and Folklore Collections in Cultural Changes: Ideologies, Adaptation and Application Context (2008−2013) and "Folklore in the Process of Cultural Communication: Ideologies and Communities (2014−2019). EFA researchers work to understand poetics, pragmatics and linguistics of runic songs ("regilaul"). Their aim is to uncover the worldview these songs represent, the ways the songs were performed and collected as well as who were the singers. Researchers of the Archives contribute actively to the academic source publications on runic songs such as (Old Harp) and participate in complementing the database of Estonian runic songs. By the year 2020, thirteen regional volumes of Vana Kannel have been published - these editions cover runic songs from the parished of Põlva, Kolga-Jaani, Kuusalu, Karksi, Mustjala, Haljala, Kihnu, Jõhvi, Iisaku, Lüganuse, Paide, Anna, Kodavere, and Laiuse. Folklorists of the Estonian Literary Museum are currently compiling editions of songs from Peetri and Kullamaa parishes. Since 2000, the Archives has organised biennial runic song conferences that have been open to international communities of researchers in recent years. Papers of the conferences have been developed into collections of articles published in the Archives’ publication series "Commentationes Archivi Traditionum Popularium Estoniae". A special issue of the journal "Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore" with a focus on Finnic runic song traditions, was published in 2014 after the conference on "Regilaulu teisenemised ja piirid" (Transformations and Borders of "Regilaul)." Members of the runic songs research group are currently , Helen Kõmmus, , , Ingrid Rüütel, Liina Saarlo, Mari Sarv and Taive Särg. Their research questions have concerned regional characteristics of runic songs including lexical and poetical devices, variety of discourses and ideologies reflected in songs, historical background of songs, relationships between runic songs and other folklore genres, stereotypes in songs, reflections of gender and singer's life in song texts, aspects of individual and collective creativity as well as the features used by particular singers.