News

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.

On 28 October, the ceremony to celebrate the 70th birthday of rector emeritus of the University of Tartu Peeter Tulviste took place in the university assembly hall and it was followed by the opening of a bench to his name at Toome Hill. At the ceremony, Tulviste was given the highest award of the Defence League—the White Cross I class decoration.

The Institute of Government and Politics of the University of Tartu opens a photo exhibition “Cultivating Democracy beyond the EU” to introduce the role of electoral observers and the organization of elections in different parts of the world. The exhibition is unveiled on Tuesday, November 3 at 16.00.

On 29 October at 14:00, US entrepreneur Lawrence Wright will give a public lecture at the University of Tartu’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. At the lecture targeted to entrepreneurs, citizens and students, the business angel investor, entrepreneur and mentor will talk about customer development and the principles of learn start-up methodology.

The new edition of the QS World University Rankings places the University of Tartu on the 400thplace. The humanities of the University of Tartu moved up in the ranking of research subjects and are this year on the 286th place. The list which is compiled by the international consultancy company Quacquarelli Symondsi (QS) is one of the two most important rankings of the world’s universities. The University of Tartu is also included in the Times Higher Education (THE) world universities ranking, placing in the section 351–400.

According to the plan of the University of Tartu and Tartu Art College, first level higher education in painting would continue at Tartu Art College. At the University of Tartu it will be possible to study in master’s programmes of Teacher of Arts and Handicrafts, and Culture Management but a separate master’s programme of Painting will not continue. This restructuring will enable better quality and competitiveness of arts studies in Estonia and on an international level.

The 15th anniversary of signing the partnership agreement between the University of Tartu and the University of Konstanz was celebrated with the University of Tartu days on 14–17 October 2015 in Konstanz.

Tartu is an international town with more than a thousand nice and talented people having arrived all over the world to study or work here. We warmly invite you to take part in the culture evenings where we showcase worldview, traditions, art and nature of people living in a certain country or region. Seminars are held in Tartu Nature House (Lille 10) from October till May. First seminar takes place on 16 October, at 19-22.

Do you have a science-based business idea but you do not have any money to start? Do you want to help to launch next revolutionary product or service? Vega fund, created in co-operation between SEB bank and the Universiy of Tartu, supports early stage science-based innovative business ideas with 36 000 euros. Applications are opened to: 1. A team of students or scientists who already have an innovative science-based solution to a common problem.

On 6 October 2015 in Riga, the Joint Jury of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science awarded Eva-Clarita Pettai, Senior Researcher at the University of Tartu, and Vello Pettai, Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Tartu, with the Prize for Science for the book “Transitional and Retrospective Justice in the Baltic States”.

For the first time the Ministry of Education and Research presented the title Lecturer of the Year at the “Eestimaa õpib ja tänab (Estonia studies and expresses gratitude)” award gala and it was awarded to University of Tartu’s Professor of Analytical Chemistry Ivo Leito.

University of Tartu Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore and Native Crafts Department of the Viljandi Culture Academy, together with Tartu Nefa Group and the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore (Vilnius), will host the 5th International Conference of Young Folklorists, “Folklore of Connections, Folklore of Conflict”, on October 7-9, 2015, at the Viljandi Culture Academy.

On October 7th 2015, 14.00-16.00, Ülikooli 16-102 guest lecturer Charlotte Hagström from Lund University will give a public lecture “Wheels of Change: Reflections on Doing Applied Cultural Analysis at Lund University”. Bicycle is not just related to doing sports or getting from the point A to B. Cycling is culture, even more – it is a variety of cultures at different times and places.

On October 10 the 1st Baltic Seminar on Korean studies takes place at the University of Tartu. Seminar is held on Jakobi 2-114 and it starts at 9. Everybody who is interested on Korean Studies, Culture and Country are welcome to attend! See the programme: 09:00 - 09:10 Opening words 09:10 - 09:20 Greeting words. Liina Lukas, Vice-dean of the faculty of philosophy of University of Tartu. 09:20 - 10:00 - Introduction of Korean Studies at the University of Sofia. Kim Soyoung. University of Sofia

The Idea Lab starts their autumn season and invites students from all specialisations to the workshop “Kick-off Ideation” on Friday, 9 October at 16:00 (at Narva mnt 4) where Amid Moradganjeh, interaction designer with international experience, will give advice on how to recognise ideas with potential and how to find suitable team members.

After a one year gap, the University of Tartu is once again in the world university ranking compiled by the Times Higher Education (THE) journal, placing at the position 351-400. THE ranking, which was published for the 12th time this year, is considered the world’s most reputable and objective university ranking which evaluates world’s research universities by all the core activities. The ranking is based on three sources: an annual reputation survey, the Elsevier publishing house’s data base Scopus, and the data submitted by universities themselves.

University of Tartu Professor emerita Heidi-Ingrid Maaroos is the first Estonian to receive the prestigious Marshall&Warren medal in recognition of her international research in the field of gastroenterology and the helicobacter.

On October 8-9 Department of German Studies at the University of Tartu in cooperation with the Seminar für deutsche Philologie at the University of Göttingen will hold a conference "Estonian – German – Russian. Representations in literature and media of a tense cultural relationship." Conference takes place at Lossi 3, 207-209.

The Centre for EU-Russia Studies (CEURUS) at the University of Tartu invites you to participate in a two-day conference “Russians and Russian Speakers in the Post-Soviet Space: Comparative Approaches” held on October 8-9, 2015 (venue: University Café, Ülikooli 20, 2nd floor). The conference brings together specialists with expertise in numerous national contexts (Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, the Caucasus, the Baltic states, Russia) to discuss several interrelated topics, including: