News

On Tuesday, 1 December, the University of Tartu celebrates the 96th anniversary of the national university with the traditional ceremony, torch-light procession and ball. Two honorary doctorates and 112 doctorates will be conferred at the ceremony and the University of Tartu Contribution to Estonian National Identity award will be presented. The ceremony is broadcasted live on www.uttv.ee.

The Mobility Lab of the University of Tartu Department of Geography participates in the European Union major project SmartEnCity to develop the Tartu city centre area with a Soviet-era planning into a smart city. The project is a “lighthouse project” in the European Union research and innovation framework Horizon 2020 which has inspired other similar initiatives.

The project European Joint Doctorate in Law and Development, which is coordinated also by the University of Tartu, was selected as an Erasmus Mundus success story. Five other universities are involved in the project. Together with the University of Edinburgh, Oslo University, Tilburg University, Deusto University and North-West University, the University of Tartu is part of the EDOLAD (European Joint Doctorate in Law and Development) consortium, which offers an Erasmus Mundus three-year joint doctorate programme in the field of Law and Development.

Professor of Finnish history at Turku University Timo Myllyntaus will hold a public lecture entitled "A gap, a step or a subtle difference? Comparison of living standards between Estonia and Finland, 1900–1939" on Thursday the 3rd of December at 10:15 in Jakobi 2-230.

The Medal of the Baltic Assembly was awarded to the University of Tartu Faculty of Philosophy’s Professor Valter Lang and Teacher of Latvian Ilze Zagorska for their outstanding contribution to strengthening cooperation of the Baltic States. Member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences and one of the leading archaeologists in the Baltic States Professor Valter Lang said that the medal is a great recognition of years-long work which in retrospective does not even seem as actual work.

The third event in the series is titled “Christmas” and it will introduce the variegated Christmas traditions in Germany and Poland. The event will take place in the Tartu Nature House, at Lille 10, Tartu on 3 December at 19:00 and is hosted by the UT staff and students from Germany and Poland together with UT Personnel Office and Tartu Nature House. You will get a chance to learn interesting things about German and Polish christmas customs and traditions. You will be offered some traditional German and Polish dishes and drinks.

Last week the dean elections of the four new faculties of the University of Tartu came to an end. The new deans will take office on 1 January 2016 when the university units will continue as four faculties in the new structure.

On December 1, the University of Tartu celebrates the 96th anniversary of Estonia’s national university. The highlights of the celebrations include a traditional ceremonial meeting in the university’s assembly hall, a torchlit procession of students and the traditional university ball. See the program and enjoy the events! Thursday, 26 November

On 9 November, the electoral compass Societly.com was launched in the USA for the presidential elections. The electoral compass has been developed for the American presidential elections in cooperation with partners from Europe and the USA.

Lecture by Professor Tamas Bartfai (USA) takes place at University of Tartu Assembly Hall on 25 November 2015 at 16:00.

During his visit to Tartu, the president, creator and founder of the European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) Michael Cotter assured that Estonia is ready and capable to organise one of the biggest science contest for pupils of the European Union member states. The vision of the olympiad’s founder Michael Cotter for teaching natural sciences is that it should be integrated. Integrated studies of biology, chemistry and physics helps understand how the different fields are connected and give a broader understanding of what happens in nature and society.

The University of Tartu’s teacher education action plan for 2016–2020, which was adopted last week, sets development goals and is an important source document for further cooperation in teacher education at the University of Tartu

We are glad to announce that the 2016 admission is officially open to the Excellence in Analytical Chemistry (EACH) Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree programme!

One of the driving forces of economic development is knowledge transfer which Ukraine is currently developing. In order to help Ukraine create the system, the University of Tartu as the development cooperation partner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is contributing to the promotion of cooperation between Ukrainian research institutions and entrepreneurship.

The quick development of information technology has brought the development of several geographic regions and created knowledge–based peripheries and centres. On 9 November at 14:15 in the University of Tartu’s assembly hall, Professor Mark Graham of the University of Oxford will talk about uneven geographies of power and participation in the internet era and ask why the digital divide has not been reduced more.

UT Professor of Physical Geography and Landscape Ecology Ülo Mander was elected member of the pan-European academy Academia Europaea in the field of Earth and cosmic sciences. The membership of the academician recognises the professor’s international research work and continuing contribution to European science.

The Day of Gustavus Adolphus and Academia Gustaviana 383 takes place on Tuesday, 10 November 2015. Everybody are welcome to attend lectures at 1pm Jakobi 2-114

Orthodox culture has become an important part of life in Estonia as Terra Mariana (St. Mary’s Land) and this year marks the 800th anniversary of Terra Mariana. The conference, which takes place at the UT Faculty of Theology, evaluates the historic, social, cultural and political impact of Orthodoxy in the Baltic States.

During the 10 years that e-voting has been conducted in Estonia, it has constantly been updated to meet the demands of the changing environment. On November 5-6, 2015, a high-level forum to discuss the Estonian electronic voting experience, its challenges and solutions, will be held in Tartu.

A 430-page collection of articles on the developments of Soviet Estonia in the context of the Cold War, edited by UT Professor of Estonian Contemporary History and academician Tõnu Tannberg, has been published. 14 Estonian researchers wrote on the topic.