Rector Toomas Asser: university education comes with a responsibility towards society

Speech by Professor Toomas Asser, Rector of the University of Tartu, at the opening ceremony of the academic year on 31 August 2026.

Dear students, dear colleagues,

Happy new academic year to the whole university family!

Today, 2,690 first-year bachelor’s students start their studies at the University of Tartu. I welcome you, and I wish you a smooth transition into university life and many new experiences: new knowledge and skills, new questions and doubts, new friends and colleagues.

Across all levels of study, we have more than 15,500 students at the University of Tartu. I wish the entire student body a dedicated yet sufficiently carefree academic journey.

Around 4,700 people work at the University of Tartu, teaching, conducting research and supporting these activities. Dear colleagues, I wish you, too, a new academic year filled with motivation, inspiration and wellbeing at work.

Dear first-year students!

In fact, we already know something about you. Many of you belong to the cohort whose knowledge and skills were assessed in the PISA study. At the age of 15, you were among the best in Europe and the world in mathematics, science and functional reading. Your generation was also studied in the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study. In that study, Estonian basic school pupils ranked fourth in the world for civic knowledge.

You are a generation that can solve complex problems and has a good understanding of how societies work. However, while Estonian young people are among the best in terms of knowledge, we could do better in civic engagement. Voter turnout among young people here remains low, unfortunately.

That is why I encourage you not only to focus on your personal development but also to have your say in society. The most direct opportunity to do so is in the parliament elections next spring. At the university, we do not tell you what the right choices are; our role is quite the opposite. Here, you will learn to think critically and to question; you will learn to distinguish good arguments from poor ones, and, most importantly, to distinguish conviction from knowledge.

You are probably also well aware of the ongoing discussions about the future of higher education. In these discussions, we often hear claims that people in Estonia study too much, that studies are too academic, or even that students study the “wrong” subjects. Yet the university’s admissions data show that the greatest interest is precisely in those fields where specialists are most urgently needed. So, dear young people, trust your choices and make the most of your time at university. Be curious. Demand meaningful effort from yourselves and from us. Take care of your mental wellbeing and support one another.

Dear colleagues! It is our duty to do everything we can to ensure that these young people become highly competent in their chosen fields. Let us treat them all fairly, with trust and high expectations, and let us be equally mindful of what we teach, how we teach it, and how we treat our students. At the same time, let us also take care of our own mental health.

Our ability to teach, conduct research and provide sufficient student places inevitably also depends on the government’s decisions. Exactly one year ago, I spoke that in the coming years, larger cohorts of upper secondary school graduates would soon be coming to universities. The problem has gone away in the meantime. At the same time, Estonia needs more medical doctors, teachers, engineers, IT specialists and many other highly educated people. It would be strange to tell prospective students that Estonia urgently needs them while we cannot create more study opportunities. I hope that in the coming weeks we will receive confirmation that this need, and the agreement between universities and the ministry, will be backed by the necessary funding.

Alongside providing educational opportunities, we must continue to ensure that students can make ends meet. This applies to all students, including those who may not need financial support themselves. However, if students’ ability to study with dedication comes to depend on their financial circumstances, educational stratification will deepen, and this is detrimental to Estonia as a whole. Therefore, the voices of young people themselves should be heard much more clearly here. After all, university education also comes with a responsibility towards society as a whole.

To sum up, I’d like to give a piece of advice as a former medical doctor. Great academic ability does not change the simple fact that the brain works better when the body is active. So walk, run, cycle, dance, exercise! We have the “Active University of Tartu” initiative, which aims to support all these activities. I also recommend that every student find a student organisation to join outside of their studies. One such opportunity is right here in front of you today: the Solaride team with their solar-powered car. So go and talk to them! And not only here – explore the numerous other opportunities the university has to offer.

Happy new academic year!

Vivat academia!