Senate

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.

Senate Chair

Toomas Asser
Rector of the University of Tartu
Professor of Neurosurgery

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Renate Pajusalu
Professor of General Linguistics
Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics

Aivar Kriiska
Professor of Laboratory Archaeology
Institute of History and Archaeology

Raili Marling
Professor of English
College of Foreign Languages and Cultures

Ave Matsin
Lecturer in Estonian Native Textile
Viljandi Culture Academy

Faculty of Social Sciences

Urmas Varblane
Professor of International Business
School of Economics and Business Administration

Veronika Kalmus
Professor of Sociology
Institute of Social Studies

Maaja Vadi
Professor of Management
School of Economics and Business Administration

Marju Luts-Sootak
Professor of Legal History
School of Law

Faculty of Medicine

Külli Kingo
Professor in Dermatology and Venereology
Institute of Clinical Medicine

Mihkel Zilmer
Professor of Medical Biochemistry
Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine

Pärt Peterson
Professor of Molecular Immunology
Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine

Tanel Laisaar
Associate Professor in Thoracic Surgery
Institute of Clinical Medicine

Faculty of Science and Technology

Krista Fischer
Professor of Mathematical Statistics
Associate Professor of Biostatistics
Institute of Mathematics and Statistics
Institute of Genomics

Tõnu Meidla
Professor of Palaeontology and Stratigraphy
Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences

Peeter Burk
Professor of Chemical Physics
Institute of Chemistry

Marco Kirm
Professor in Experimental Physics
Institute of Physics

Students

Joosep Heinsalu
Faculty of Social Sciences

Stella-Maria Kangur
Faculty of Medicine

Imar Yacine Koutchoukali
Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Kertu Liis Krigul
Faculty of Science and Technology

Katariina Sofia Päts
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
President of the Student Union