News

On Wednesday, 29 March, the fourth Student Fair will take place in the sports hall of Estonian University of Life Sciences, giving an opportunity to the students to meet their future employers and colleagues and find out something new about themselves.

On Friday, 24 March, the University of Tartu is celebrating the Skytte Day and UT rector Professor Volli Kalm will award the Skytte medal to rector of Estonian Academy of Security Sciences, former director of the University of Tartu Narva College, Katri Raik. Katri Raik is recognised with the medal for her mission-driven work in integrating Estonian education and developing teacher training, strengthening the position of the Estonian national university in Narva and internationalisation of higher education in Estonia.

University of Tartu Natural History Museum and Estonian Museum of Natural History invite people of all ages to participate in the photography contest “Wild City”. The aim of this contest is to guide people to notice and value wildlife in the urban space and inspire them to capture it.

This year, 2438 applications were submitted to the 20 international master’s curricula of the University of Tartu. The amount of applications filed by Estonian candidates increased by a fifth.

Professor of higher education of Auburn University James Groccia is in Tartu in March, giving lectures, consulting doctoral students and counselling supervisors of doctoral students of the University of Tartu at an open seminar.

From 20 to 27 March, the University of Tartu in collaboration with Dresden and Olomouc universities host the Tajik delegation who are coming to Estonia to explore the organisation of studies and curricula in our university.

It is with deep sadness that I have to inform you that Professor Peeter Tulviste, Rector Emeritus of the University of Tartu, passed away on Saturday, 11 March. We mourn the loss of a great scholar and a great man who served as the Rector of the University of Tartu from 1993 to 1998.

On today’s Mother Language Day, the comprehensive Wikipedia development project Million+ is launched, in which everyone who wants to contribute to the future of the Estonian language and culture can join.

The master’s thesis “The Mobile Phone in the Hands of the Nepalese People: A Humanistic Perspective of Technology", defended in the Department of Ethnology of the University of Tartu in January, demonstrates clearly that the phone has become our inseparable companion, cure for loneliness and best friend.

On 7 and 8 March, researchers from the universities of Estonia and other Baltic Sea countries get together in the assembly hall of the University of Tartu to discuss different spatial planning possibilities for universities at the Liveable City Forum.

The University of Tartu Student Council has asked the student body to express their ideas on what they expect of the rector. Above all, students want the university to be led by a person who is forward-looking and has a clear vision for both the society and the university.

This spring the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies conducts an online course “SVJS.TK.003. Diffusion and Impact of Internet Voting” in English. The course duration is eight weeks from 13 March 2017 to 07 May 2017. The course is targeted primarily at non-ICT students and professionals who are active on the labour market, studying or working in Estonia and interested in broadening their knowledge of the e-government in general and internet voting in particular. During the course the following topics will be dealt with:

The University of Tartu and Nordic Automation Systems (NAS), developer and manufacturer of LoRaWAN products, launched the first public free-to-use LoRaWAN gateway, thereby offering the companies in this area an excellent opportunity to test their products and later bring them to the market.

As new facts have become evident in the case of discrimination covered in Eesti Päevaleht and Eesti Ekspress, the university has decided to initiate additional internal investigation and for that period temporarily reorganise the work of the professor in question as head of laboratory and supervisor of doctoral students.

From 26 to 28 February the 95th anniversary of the world-famous scientist professor Yuri Lotman is celebrated with an international seminar in the University of Tartu.

Scientific publishing company Springer published the book by Estonian semiotician Timo Maran titled “Mimicry and Meaning: Structure and Semiotics of Biological Mimicry”, in which the author analyses existing mimicry models and suggests semiotic methods for the comparative research of mimicry cases.

At their session on 16 February, the Government of the Republic of Estonia approved the new composition of the council of the University of Tartu. The rector will convene the first council meeting on 13 March 2017. Members of the council from outside the university:

The “Garage48 Hardware & Arts” hackathon, happening already for the 4th time on 17-19th of February in Tartu, brings together skilled individuals all across the Baltics to build ideas into working prototypes.

Researchers of the University of Tartu and Icosagen Cell Factory OÜ have published an article in PLOS Pathogens journal, which introduces the new cellular monitoring system for evaluating the growth of human papillomavirus (HPV) and the effect of drugs. The new drug screening system could considerably speed up the development of a new HPV drug.

On Monday, 6 February president Kersti Kaljulaid handed over the Young Scientist Award of the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic to Tõnu Esko, and the Special Young Scientist Award for the popularisation of scientific thinking to Heli Lukner.