The senate is the university's academic decision-making body chaired by Rector Toomas Asser. It is responsible for the university's teaching, research and development activities and ensures their high quality. The senate adopts the statutes of the university and submits these to the council for approval. The senate has the power to exercise a one-time veto in respect of a council resolution by which the university's budget is adopted.
The senate is composed of the rector as its chair and of up to 21 members. The university's academic staff elect four representatives from each faculty. At least 1/5 of the senate members are students, elected by the Student Union.
Toomas Asser
Rector of the University of Tartu
Professor of Neurosurgery
Raili Marling Professor of English College of Foreign Languages and Cultures | Renate Pajusalu Professor of General Linguistics Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics |
Pärtel Piirimäe Professor of Intellectual History Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics | Urmas Nõmmik Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Studies School of Theology and Religious Studies |
Veronika Kalmus Professor of Sociology Institute of Social Studies | Maaja Vadi Professor of Management School of Economics and Business Administration |
Eiki Berg Professor of Sociology Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies | Marju Luts-Sootak Professor of Legal History School of Law |
Aare Märtson Professor in Orthopedics Institute of Clinical Medicine | Ana Rebane Professor of Molecular Medicine Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine |
Anneli Uusküla Professor of Epidemiology Institute of Family Medicine and Public Health | Maris Laan Professor of Human Genetics Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine |
Krista Fischer Professor of Mathematical Statistics Associate Professor of Biostatistics Institute of Mathematics and Statistics Institute of Genomics | Jaak Vilo Professor of Bioinformatics Institute of Computer Science |
Evelyn Uuemaa Professor in Geoinformatics Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences | Heikki Junninen Professor in Environmental Physics Institute of Physics |
Karolin Allikas Faculty of Arts and Humanities | Karl Erik Piirimees Faculty of Social Sciences |
Renar Kihho Faculty of Medicine President of the Student Union | Liisa Marie Kerner Faculty of Medicine |
Hanna Britt Soots Faculty of Science and Technology |
The mandate of the academic staff representatives runs from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026. The mandate of the student representatives runs from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.