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 | Ester Oras Professor of Archaeochemistry Institute of History and Archaeology |
Pärtel Piirimäe Professor of Intellectual History Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics | Liina Lindström Professor of Modern Estonian Language Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics |
Eva Piirimäe Professor of Political Theory Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies | Maaja Vadi Professor of Management School of Economics and Business Administration |
Äli Leijen Professor of Teacher Education Institute of Education | Triin Vihalemm Professor of Communication Studies Institute of Social Studies |
Anti Kalda Professor in Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine | Kristi Huik Associate Professor in Medical Microbiology and Virology Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine |
Anneli Uusküla Professor of Epidemiology Institute of Family Medicine and Public Health | Priit Kaasik Professor in Functional Morphology Institute of Sport Sciences and Physiotherapy |
Krista Fischer Professor of Mathematical Statistics Associate Professor of Biostatistics Institute of Mathematics and Statistics Institute of Genomics | Hedi Peterson Professor of Bioinformatics Institute of Computer Science |
Evelyn Uuemaa Professor in Geoinformatics Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences | Kristiina Tambets Professor of Archaeogenomics Institute of Genomics |
| Ove Averin doctoral researcher of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities | Maria Paavel bachelor’s student of the Faculty of Social Sciences |
Anet Ilustrumm master's student of the Faculty of Science and Technology | Estin Rand student of integrated bachelor's and master's studies in the Faculty of Medicine |
Eneken Riin Salong President of the Student Union |
The mandate of the academic staff representatives runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2029. The mandate of the student representatives runs from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.