News

In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, published yesterday evening, UT holds the highest place of all times—it placed 301–350.

A genomic study published in Nature online on 21st of September this year, suggests Papuans harbour traces of an additional early dispersal out of Africa, highlights genetic gradients in Eurasia and reveals new genetic candidates underlying the local adaptation to the various diets and environments.

Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies is opening a new online course (MOOC) this autumn semester - ‘Diffusion and Impact of Internet Voting’, which will be taught in English and will last from 17.10.2016 to 11.12.2016. All interested can resister to the course at: https://goo.gl/5VVDan. The registration deadline is 14.10.2016.

Five projects have currently received funding from the Archimedes smart specialisation measure, UT is a development partner in three of these. Two projects received funding in the last round, the first studies population mobility on the basis of mobile data and the second aims to create lactic acid bacteria with specific characteristics.

The Baltic region holds a key position in terms of “education”. More than 70 presentations will discuss about the topic at the „Baltic Educational Histories. Interdisciplinary conference“ at the University of Tartu on 19.-22.09.2016. Everybody is welcome to attend! See the live broadcast of the opening ceremony www.uttv.ee.

Scientists of UT Institute of Physics won first place among 36 research groups in an international competition for creating super-resolution microscopy software in the 3D microscopy category. Second and third place in this category went to the teams of Harvard University. UT was represented in the competition by scientists and doctoral students of the Institute of Physics: Ardi Loot, Marko Eltermann, Andreas Valdmann, Mihkel Kree and Martti Pärs.

Visiting Professor Archana Upadhyay from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, have two public lectures in September in the University of Tartu. Wednesday, 21 September, 18:15-19:45, University Main Building (Ülikooli 18) room 228 Religion and Politics in Contemporary India

University of Tartu Faculty of Arts and Humanities Associate Professor Tõnu Seilenthal has been a member of the association since 1977. In August this year he was named vice president of the association. The new position highlights Seilenthal’s contribution to developing Hungarian studies in Tartu and Estonia.

The new director of the Centre for Migration and Urban Studies at the UT is Professor of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York and Research Fellow of the University of Tartu Dr Daniel B. Hess. The Centre explores contemporary challenges facing urban regions including migration, residential mobility, housing and neighbourhood change, as well as the integration of immigrants and ethnic minorities across multiple life domains (such as places of residence and work, as well as intermarriages).

It is extremely difficult to succeed in Asia without knowing the local language and culture. University of Tartu Asian Centre brings together Asian expertise which has until now been rather dispersed in Estonia, shares its experience and uses contacts of an international cooperation network to help the private and public sector, organisations or private persons with matters related to Asia. The centre’s work is not limited to China, Japan, Korea or India, it also includes Middle Eastern countries and Turkey.

University of Tartu placed 347 in the QS World University Rankings—this is the highest position an Estonian university has held since the first ranking was published in 2012. Last year UT placed 400 in the ranking. This year UT improved its position for five of the six QS indicators, including academic reputation which improved 22 places, employer reputation which improved more than 50 places and citations per faculty which improved two places.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a neoplastic disease of bone marrow and accounts for approximately 13% of all hematologic cancers. In Estonia the survival of MM is only 30 months whereas in the US it is considerably higher. This difference is mainly explained by different access to anti-myeloma agents in the US and Europe. On 9 September, experts of the subject from Estonia, the US and elsewhere will meet at the University of Tartu to discuss the latest developments of the disease and increase research cooperation with the US to improve the survival of MM patients in Estonia.

On 7 and 8 September, coordinators of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) space science and robotic explorations Professor Alvaro Giménez Cañete and Dr Fabio Favata will visit the University of Tartu, Tartu City Council and Ministry of Education and Research to discuss the future of new European space missions.

Under the leadership of the University of Tartu medical researchers, a 958,804 euro grant was received in tight competition from the European Commission to develop medical education in Vietnam in cooperation of four European and four Vietnamese medical universities. European researchers will support creating the first doctoral programme of medicine which is also supported by the government of Vietnam.

The opening ceremony of the new academic year begins on 29 August at 10am in the UT assembly hall. In the new academic year more than 3,900 new students, incl. nearly 700 international (visiting) students, begin studies in all study levels at UT.

From 27 August to 1 September the UT Institute of Physics organises Vibronic Coupling and Electron-Phonon Interactions in Molecules and Crystals: XXIII International Symposium on the Jahn-Teller Effect.

On 28 and 29 August, international research conference “Reflective Minds and Communities” takes place at the University of Tartu. The conference introduces the objectives and methods of reflection and presents ways to apply these to solve the key issues in modern education. Reflection is a systematic process of thinking where you learn from experience. Reflective thinking helps integrate knowledge and makes it better accessible and applicable. This way reflection also supports deep learning.

Marta Tarkanovskaja, doctoral student of materials science at the University of Tartu and University of Turku and the best young Estonian scientist, was one of the 400 young people representing 80 countries who participated in the reputable Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. This year’s Lindau Meeting was dedicated to physics. In six days young scientists over the world had the opportunity to participate in inspiring lectures, master classes and meetings in an informal atmosphere with more than 30 Nobel Laureates.

On 26–29 August, the international game developing event Ludum Dare 36 brings to Tartu people with a desire to learn about game development and find a long-term development team with whom to continue working. The event takes place at the same time also in France, Spain, Malaysia, Brazil and the USA. In Estonia the meeting is organised by UT Institute of Computer Science together with Tartu Art School’s 3D specialisation which are united by the organisation for computer game development enthusiasts APT Game Generator.

Tomorrow, on 23 August the conference “Estonia AND the Nordic countries—Estonia AS a Nordic country?”, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Estonia’s re-independence, takes place at the Art Museum of Estonia. The conference focuses on the narrative of Estonia as a Nordic country, its historical background and real perspectives. Authors of the best works of the preceding essay and photography contest on the same topic will also be awarded at the conference. The patron of the contests is President of the Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves.