Topic: recognition 

Academy members Jaak Vilo (bioinformatics) and Martin Zobel (ecology) have been elected Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).

At the European Student Card Initiative conference, the University of Tartu received recognition in the Erasmus Without Paper category and was appointed an ESCI Champion for the period 2025–2027.

On 10 June, the University of Tartu announced its new teaching excellence ambassadors, who serve as role models for the entire university community. The title is given to recognise 14 academic staff members who develop their teaching based on evidence and support an open teaching culture that values learning.

On 13 May, the reputable Baltic Awards 2026 ceremony took place in Riga to recognise outstanding representatives of science, culture, the arts and public life from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The award for significant contribution to science was presented to Vice Dean for Research at the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine, academician and Professor of Human Genetics Maris Laan.

How does international research cooperation begin? How do new research methods emerge, and how are connections forged that last a lifetime? Sometimes, it all starts with a scholarship. This year’s recipients of the University of Tartu Seventh Pillar Fund scholarship, history master’s student Marie Anna Blehner and pharmacy student Janeli Lember, will use the grant to go abroad to study and represent Estonia, and later bring the knowledge and experience back home.

The Academy of Europe, Academia Europaea, has elected the University of Tartu Professor in Community Ecology and Vice Rector for Research, Mari Moora, and Professor of Bioinformatics at the Institute of Computer Science, Jaak Vilo, as new members.

The recipient of the Young Scientist Award of the Culture Fund of the President of the Republic is Anni Allikalt, the Young IT Scientist Award was granted to Marharyta Domnich, and the Young Environmental Scientist Award went to Jeffrey Carbillet.

Bachelor’s and master’s students of the University of Tartu are invited to apply for the ENLIGHT Inclusion and Sustainability Awards that will be presented at the Teaching and Learning Conference in Bern on 22-24 October 2026. The awards acknowledge students who have demonstrated dedication to promoting diversity, inclusion, accessibility and sustainability through their projects, initiatives or research.

Essays written in Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian earned Bridget Frances Moran-Nae, a University of Tartu Junior Research Fellow in Finno-Ugric Studies, the Three Rectors’ Scholarship. What makes the achievement particularly remarkable is that none of these three languages is her mother tongue.