News

The University of Tartu’s new laboratory of computer graphics and virtual reality provides computer scientists and students with world-class hardware to conduct various research projects related to computer graphics and neuroscience. For example, the laboratory creates environments which differ from reality as much as possible to study how the human brain reacts in an unusual situation.

One of the most important tasks of the centre of excellence planned in Estonia is to accelerate the development of new ICT technologies and applying them in the industry by including the private and public sector. On 30 May in Tallinn, during the ICT Week, the public sector, enterprises and university representatives discussed the future plans of the ITEE Centre of Excellence in Digital Connected Economy.

Professor Emeritus at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies Rein Taagepera receives Karl Deutsch Award from the International Political Science Association (IPSA). As an award recipient, he is invited to the IPSA World Congress to present a prize lecture on July, 27 2016.

UT medical researchers, under the lead of Professor Sulev Kõks, received 700,000 pounds of funding to study the rare Wolfram syndrome. The research group has worked on this for already 13 years. Researchers believe that the funding provides an opportunity for an applicable breakthrough, which would be a ray of hope for the so far untreatable disease.

On 9 December 2016, at the University of Tartu’s initiative, the international business conference sTARTUp Day takes place in Estonia for the first time. Around a thousand guests from Estonia and abroad are expected to come and enjoy an eventful day with renowned performers from around the world. Registration and ticket sales have begun.

The winner of the University of Tartu business and project idea competition Kaleidoskoop was team Konku, whose web and mobile application (www.konku.ee) provides rental ads without estate agent fees. The winning team has kept in mind people looking for a home and apartment owners and uses a very personal approach in both cases.

French Ambassador to Estonia Michel Raineri awarded University of Tartu Professor of Estonian as a Foreign Language Birute Klaas-Lang the French National Order of Merit for promoting cultural and academic cooperation between France and Estonia.

The energy and resource conservation competition Negawatt for students elected its winners: recycling plastic, quitting cups and saving heat. The first place went to the UT team “Box Spinners” who make the boxes of pipette caps used in labs into thread for 3D printers.

The 3-day mini festival starts on the 26th of May at the UT College of Foreign Languages and Cultures. At 12.30 the Ambassador Extraordinary of Georgia to the Republic of Estonia Tea Akhvlediani is opening a photo exhibition dedicated to the Georgian alphabet.

On 27 May 2016, fifteen teams compete in the University of Tartu business and project idea competition Kaleidoskoop to find the business ideas with the greatest potential and implement them with the help of development advisors. Ideas competing in the finals range from catering and computer games to new materials. The 15 finalists were selected from among 28 teams who represented the University of Tartu, Tartu Vocational Education Centre, Tartu College of Tallinn University of Technology, Tartu Art School and Hugo Treffner Gymnasium.

Conference takes place on May 26 at Nordic Hotel Forum, Tallinn. ICT has become an inseparable part of our everyday lives both in personal and professional sphere. Technology both challenges and advances all business sectors. Legal sector is not untouchable to the effect of ICTs. However, it is more conservative than many other fields of consultation business as lawyers seem to be less inviting regarding change to their billable-hour-oriented business models.

A student of the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, American Alina Clay received a scholarship from the US Department of State that trains students to become diplomats. Clay considers her experience-rich time at UT an important factor in receiving one of the most reputable scholarships in the US.

UT Institute of Chemistry and engineering design and consultation company NT Bene begin cooperation to develop the production of hydrogen—fuel of the future. By the end of 2018, the first hydrogen refuelling and production station in Estonia will be established in Pärnu. The idea is to apply unique solutions which enable to fuel buses and automobiles with hydrogen.

After signing the contract, AS YIT Ehitus begins with the reconstruction works of the UT Library, which includes renovating the inside and outside of the library. The library will be closed from 23 June to around 4 October 2016. Until then, the library offers users their digital collections, as of August also ordering from the open collections, online consultation and other online services. Books can be returned during the renovation.

At the Estonian Night of Museums “Waves in the Night” on 14 May, UT Museum, Art Museum, Old Observatory, Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum will also open their doors to visitors. Visitors can see permanent exhibitions and there is also an exciting special programme. At the Night of Museums at UT Museum waves of nearly all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum are present, because UT Museum, Art Museum and Old Observatory focus on some part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The platform NomadCard by UT computer science students enables access to co-working spaces which can be used for remote working. This idea brought the bachelor’s students first place in this year’s final of the TransferWise Hacktathon, the topic of which was money without borders.

The university reputation survey by TNS Emor assured that, for already the eighth year, the most reputable university in Estonia is the University of Tartu. The recent survey outlines the attitudes of young people regarding UT: 15–19-year-olds, the current and future applicants, valued highly the university’s success and quality of education.

The Kick-Off Meeting of the Baltic Fracture Competence Centre (BFCC) took place on the 21st and 22nd of April in Hamburg. The BFCC is a Baltic Sea region-wide collaborative project which got awarded with €3.6 M from the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme last December. It will foster an international approach to face the challenges of fracture management. UT is represented by the research group of the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics of the Faculty of Medicine's Institute of Clinical Medicine, led by Associate Professor Aare Märtson.

With the aim to develop Tartu’s university campus into an open, higher quality environment which supports innovation, the University of Tartu Department of Geography’s Mobility Lab uses smart phones and interviews to study how students, employees of the university and other creative establishments use the urban space in relation to the location of academic buildings or the workplace.

On Wednesday, 11 May Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, will visit Tartu and the University of Tartu as part of his official visit to Estonia. At 12:15 he will give a public lecture to all those interested on “The diplomatic activity of the Holy See at the service of peace”. Parolin will hold a mass in Tartu and meet Rector of the University of Tartu Professor Volli Kalm before the public lecture.