News

From 1 to 5 March, the ENLIGHT European University network organised its official kick-off week. All students and staff of the University of Tartu, as well as the wider public, was invited. Recordings of some of the exciting international lectures and discussions about the environment, digital solutions, healthcare, equity, energy and teaching are available to watch on YouTube.

Applications to international master’s studies at the University of Tartu can be submitted until the midnight on Monday, 15 March. The application period to international bachelor’s studies is one month longer and ends on 15 April.

The latest results of the waste water study led by the University of Tartu still show high virus concentration in samples collected everywhere in Estonia. According to researchers, there are no signs of stabilisation yet.

In one of the most reputable subject ranking lists, the recently published QS World University Rankings by Subject 2021, the University of Tartu is represented by 17 subjects.

Today, 26 February, the Senate of the University of Tartu elected Ana Valdmann, Research Fellow of Science Education of the Centre of Natural Science Education of the Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, as the new director of the University of Tartu Youth Academy.

This year, the university decided to finance 15 experimental development projects with the total amount of 462,350 euros. For 2021, the university’s development fund received experimental development grant applications for 34 projects in the amount of approximately 1.2 million euros.

This year, 38 new schools from all across Estonia joined the education programme Schools in Motion. By now, despite the corona pandemic, more than 40% of pupils of Estonian general education schools go to a School in Motion.

The University of Tartu invites international students interested in international bachelor’s and master’s studies to submit their applications in DreamApply. Studies start at the end of August 2021.

The University of Tartu School of Law continues its Tartu International Law Conversations. The third event of the series entitled “China’s Rise and International Law” will take place online on 8 March 2021 at 10–11 (GMT +2). The aim of this series is to invite academics and practitioners from Estonia and abroad to talk about various aspects of international law. Depending on the circumstances, the events take place in person or online.

Coronavirus is spreading widely and the situation is alarming. It is everyone’s duty to avoid unnecessary contacts. As workplaces are important sources of infection in addition to schools and homes, we must reduce contacts also at the university and ask everyone whose duties allow that to work from home.

The University of Tartu School of Law continues its Tartu International Law Conversations. The second event of the series entitled “Russia’s Views on the Regulation of Cyber Operations in International Law” will take place online on 26 February at 17–18 (GMT+2). The aim of this series is to invite academics and practitioners from Estonia and abroad to talk about various aspects of international law. Depending on the circumstances, the events take place in person or online.

The most recent results of the waste water analysis by the University of Tartu indicate that the number of waste water samples with a high concentration of coronavirus has increased even more since last week. The waste water index illustrating the overall situation in Estonia confirms the increased spread of the virus.

Researchers of the University of Tartu invite 370 people who have had COVID-19 to participate in a follow-up study aiming to evaluate the factors associated with the severity and consequences of the disease. The study will involve patients of the family medicine centres with the largest number of coronavirus patients in Tallinn, Saaremaa and Tartu.

The recently ended stage in the coronavirus prevalence study conducted by the University of Tartu shows an even spread of the virus in all counties throughout Estonia. At the same time, it revealed that nearly half of the adults who gave a positive coronavirus test had coronavirus antibodies and are probably not contagious.

To mark the 103rd anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, Rector Toomas Asser and Academic Secretary Tõnis Karki placed flowers at the Estonian War of Independence Memorial to Fallen Students in the university’s assembly hall.

To mark the 103rd anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, you can hear the musical greeting of the national university to its country: Evald Aav’s “Me oleme Põhjamaa lapsed” (“(We Are) Children of the North”) to Anna Haava’s text performed by the Academic Women’s Choir of the University of Tartu and Tartu Academic Male Choir. Conductor Triin Koch. Drone photos by Ragnar Vutt. The recording is from the ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of Estonia’s national university on 1 December 2019.

To mark the Independence Day of Estonia, the expatriate Estonian visiting professor of the University of Tartu, David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher reflects on the intelligentsia and its role in the Republic of Estonia and in the world. What are or what should be the social duties and responsibilities of the intelligentsia, and do intellectuals today have different tasks from the ones they were facing in the early years of the Republic of Estonia?

A study by medical researchers of the University of Tartu reveals that Estonian 100-year-olds have a richer and more diverse gut microbiota than the young. Researchers believe that this knowledge could be applied to improve the health of microbiota and thus the health of the person. It is also very likely that the microbial habitats of the elderly can be used for isolating bacteria with high probiotic potential, helping to protect and promote the health of current and future generations.

The University of Tartu has joined the Ülemiste City training credit project that brings companies of the community together with higher education institutions. It is a cooperation project between AS Mainor, Ülemiste City and six Estonian higher education institutions which allows the companies of Ülemiste City to take a certain number of courses from higher education institutions during the year.

In the first week of March, all students and staff of the University of Tartu, as well as everyone else, are invited to take part in the kick-off week of the European university network ENLIGHT. The programme offers inspiring international lectures and discussions about the environment, digital solutions, health care, equity, energy and teaching. Presenters include the former Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova and former President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.