News

Centre for Ethics, University of Tartu is pleased to invite you to the conference “Researching with Integrity”, which will take place on the 10 February 2017 in the Main Building of the University of Tartu.

From 9 February the Mummy Chamber will be open in UT Art Museum – it is a room filled with stories and inviting to adventures in Ancient Egypt.

Within the Estonian-Finnish joint project Plan4Blue “Maritime Spatial Planning for Sustainable Blue Economies”, UT researchers are studying the possibilities for planning and developing marine and maritime economies in the era of high and rapidly increasing demand for maritime space.

One of the major European research and development projects EUROfusion, established to achieve the production of fusion electricity, has given work to a research group consisting of Estonian and French researchers. The group will have the possibility to create radiation-resistant optical materials, which in future could be used in diagnostics equipment monitoring the operation of fusion reactors.

On February 17-19th the Garage48 Hardware & Arts 2017 is happening again at the Institute of Physics, University of Tartu in Tartu, Estonia. The hackathon gathers electronics, mechatronics and software engineers, UI/UX and product designers, marketers and other professionals for 48 hours under the same roof. The goal is to turn a pitched idea into a working physical prototype. The annual event is taking place already for the 4th time, being it one of the most awaited prototyping boot-camps in the Baltic region.

From 28 December to 10 January, students from UT’s partner university participated in the continuing education programme “Russia and Estonia in the European Dimension” which gave them an overview of Estonian-Russian relations, history, cooperation and future perspectives. Particular attention was paid to security in the region.

Today and tomorrow rector Volli Kalm will host colleagues from Vilnius University and the University of Latvia. The rectors are going to discuss the specific development problems and challenges faced by universities of smal countries.

The new official video for the university creates a vivid picture of the inspiring environment of Tartu and UT. It creates interest in studying and working in Tartu and cooperating with the University of Tartu. The main target group of the video is foreigners with no previous knowledge of the university.

In future, skilful regulation of the intestinal microflora may help to postpone the onset of type 1 diabetes in children. Extensive research in which the Children’s Clinic of Tartu University Hospital has participated over the recent half a century reveals the effect of intestinal microbes on the development of type 1 diabetes.

ESTCube-1, Estonia’s first satellite to be sent to the Earth’s orbit in cooperation with the University of Tartu, Tartu Observatory and other research institutions, took images of such excellent quality, as experts say, that now the Tartu researchers are getting first orders from the space industry. In January 2017 the first custom-made space camera will be mounted to the students’ satellite of the European Space Agency.

On 30 November the rector of the University of Tartu Volli Kalm and head of Swedbank in Estonia Robert Kitt signed a framework agreement which lays down the goals for long-term cooperation in the area of economics, IT and mathematics, by developing curricula, contributing to studies and teaching, and supporting the implementation of interdisciplinary projects.

Researchers of the University of Tartu won the first prize for the best smart solution in education in the Golden Apple 2016 competition organised by Archimedes Foundation, for UT’s science-promoting Instagram account.

On UT IdeaLab stage at sTARTUp Day business festival on 9th December the finals of Kaleidoskoop business ideas competition took place. The main prizes were given to the student company Festera who produces recycle bins that eliminate biodegradable waste using special bacteria, and UT IdeaLab’s STARTER program graduate Triplecase who has developed a practical three-zipper pencilcase.

Based on students’ feedback, the recipients of the 2016 Best Teaching Staff Award of the University of Tartu are Reet Alas, teacher of French of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Liina Lepp, lecturer in didactics of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Marko Murruste, lecturer of surgery of the Faculty of Medicine, and Ivo Leito, professor of analytical chemistry of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Thursday, 1 December 2016 the University of Tartu marks the 97th anniversary of Estonia’s national university. To celebrate the anniversary, the traditional ceremonial meeting is held in the university’s assembly hall, where honorary doctorates and doctoral degrees are conferred and thereafter the UT award for Contribution to Estonian National Identity is presented. See live webcast of the ceremony on www.uttv.ee.

The senate of the University of Tartu at its meeting on 25 November 2016 elected Kristina Kallas the new director of UT Narva College. Since 1 September 2015, Kristina Kallas was the acting director of the college.

Admission to the innovative Excellence in Analytical Chemistry (EACH) master’s degree programme created to meet labour market needs will be open until 11 January 2017. According to Ivo Leito, professor of analytical chemistry and the programme director of this master’s degree curriculum, considerable changes have taken place in this field in recent years, “Measurements in various policies, but also in the course of legal cases have become more and more common.”

On 21 November the opening event of the new network of European research-intensive universities GUILD took place in Brussels. The gathering of 18 leading research-intensive universities is focused on science and innovation policy issues and seizing a leading role in the middle of the economic, cultural and social changes in the society.

A student team from the University of Tartu is the only one from Estonia to get through to the ACM programming contest held December 3-4 in Russia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Recently the same team was also awarded third place in the International IEEE Xtreme programming contest, which so far is the best result in Estonia and the whole of Baltics.

At a meeting on Monday, the University of Tartu and the construction company AS YIT EHITUS agreed that the contractor will complete the second stage of works on the university library by 30 November this year. Thereafter the request for getting a permit for partial use is filed, and after the request is satisfied, the university can open a part of the library for readers.