News

On 30 October, the University of Tartu senate decided to award the Johan Skytte medal to President Alar Karis. The recipients of the highest award for university members, the University of Tartu Grand Medal, are Ruth Oltjer, Liina Lindström and Maris Laan. Also, the recipients of the University of Tartu Star of Appreciation, Medal, Badge of Distinction and the decoration “100 Semesters at the University of Tartu” were announced. We have asked four laureates of honorary decorations what the University of Tartu means to them.

Nine University of Tartu employees and students have been selected to take part in all events of the Tartu Maraton series in 2027 and share their journey with the university community. The role models – Arabella Petmanson, Lilian Kreevald, Tuuli Trikkant, Yaroslav Opanasenko, Mariana Kukk, Triin Gede, Renee Stamberg, Maria Sarv and Margus Pedaste – will show, through their experiences, how to start and maintain a regular exercise routine. The aim of sharing their journeys is to inspire other university members to be more active and demonstrate that you do not need to be an experienced athlete to do so.

As many as 622 university members participated in the University of Tartu step challenge in October, completing a total of 170.09 million steps. That would be enough to walk around Estonia approximately 31 times. The step challenge encouraged participants to pay closer attention to their daily physical activity and to collect steps either individually or together with colleagues and fellow students.

On 17 November at 18:00, the University of Tartu assembly hall will host the pianists’ gala “Romantic piano music” as part of the “Harmonia Universitatis” concert series.

On 30 October, the council of the University of Tartu Institute of Mathematics and Statistics elected Professor of Mathematical Statistics Krista Fischer as the new head of the institute.

On 30 October, the University of Tartu senate decided to award the Johan Skytte medal to President Alar Karis. The highest award for university members, the University of Tartu Grand Medal, is given to Ruth Oltjer, Liina Lindström and Maris Laan. Also, the recipients of the University of Tartu Star of Appreciation, Medal, Badge of Distinction and the decoration “100 Semesters at the University of Tartu” have been selected.

UPDATED: Teams and Outlook are available again now. If you continue to experience problems using these services, please contact IT helpdesk via the portal or by email [email protected].

On Thursday, 29 October, the University of Tartu will conduct a crisis exercise simulating a cyber incident affecting the normal work, study and communication arrangements of the university’s staff and students. As part of the exercise, there will be interruptions to MS Teams and Outlook services during the working day.

In October, the European Cyber Security Month, we encourage members of the University of Tartu to develop secure digital habits and increase their awareness of cyber threats.

In October, a step challenge takes place at the University of Tartu. We invite members of the university community to be more active, log their steps using the StepUp app, and take part in a friendly competition. The six most active participants will receive prize packages, and additional prizes will be drawn among everyone who records at least 200,000 steps during the month.

On 20 October 2026, a seminar entitled "Research Assessment Reform in Europe: What Does It Mean for the University of Tartu?" was held at the University of Tartu Library. The aim of the seminar was to provide participants with an overview of the objectives of the international Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and to discuss the changes needed to implement its principles in practice at the University of Tartu.

On 26 October, ticket sales for the 107th anniversary ball of the national university began. The celebration, which will take place on 1 December at the Vanemuine Concert Hall, will bring together the students, alumni and staff of the University of Tartu. The headline performer of the ball is the band SADU, and the theme of the evening is "Patterns".

There can never be too much dancing and laughter. We look forward to celebrating the 107th anniversary of the beginning of Estonian-language higher education on 1 December 2026!

In the Latvian–Estonian Basketball League game played in Tartu on Saturday, 24 October, Tartu Ülikool Maks & Moorits defeated TalTech/ALEXELA 65–41. The duel between the two universities attracted a large crowd to the University of Tartu sports hall, and, backed by strong home support, Tartu secured the win.

On 21 October, the University of Tartu welcomed Finland’s newly appointed ambassador, Hannu Heinonen, who met with Rector Toomas Asser.

On 22 October, the Ministry of Education and Research announced that the Harno Moodle environment had been temporarily shut down due to security risks. This does not apply to the University of Tartu Moodle (moodle.ut.ee).

From debugging code to riding in a self-driving car, Varun’s summer in Tartu brought autonomous driving to life and gave him new confidence on his first trip to Europe.

On 14 October, the mental health promoter Peaasi.ee awarded the University of Tartu the third-level label in its recognition scheme of mental health-friendly organisations.

21. oktoobril toimus doktorantide kolme minuti loengute konkurss.