Broadcast: the ceremony of the 103rd anniversary of Estonia's national university

On Thursday, 1 December, the University of Tartu celebrates the 103rd anniversary of Estonia’s national university. After two years, the traditional ceremony can take place at the assembly hall, where the university’s doctorates and honorary doctorates will be conferred, the University of Tartu “Contribution to Estonian National Identity” award will be presented, and the recipients of the scholarship for the expatriate visiting professor will be announced.

Piret Ehin, Professor of Comparative Politics of the University of Tartu, will give an anniversary lecture on the state of democracy in Europe and beyond. After the lecture, 124 new doctors will get their diplomas, and five honorary doctors will be conferred.

Professor Heinrich Detering from the University of Göttingen has been granted the honorary doctorate in literary studies, Professor emeritus of the University of Helsinki Martti Antero Koskenniemi has been granted the honorary doctorate in law, Professor emeritus Erkki Ruoslahti from Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute has been granted the honorary doctorate in medicine, Professor Joseph S. Krajcik from Michigan State University has been granted the honorary doctorate in science education, and Erik Neuman, long-time director of the Swedish Institute of Coastal Research, has been granted the honorary doctorate in marine ecology.

Also, the University of Tartu “Contribution to Estonian National Identity” award is presented at the ceremony. This award is granted to an individual whose creative work has made an outstanding contribution to promoting the national identity of Estonians and Estonia. The recipients of the scholarship for expatriate Estonian visiting professors will also be announced.

The ceremony marking the anniversary of Estonia’s national university starts at 12:00 and is by invitation only. The ceremony is held at the newly renovated assembly hall of the University of Tartu. UTTV will make a live webcast of the ceremony, the recording of which will be available after the event.

Several other anniversary events take place. The torchlight procession starts after the anniversary ceremony and the evening will be rounded off with the anniversary ball. See the full programme on the university’s website.

Watch it live on UTTV.