News

A master’s thesis defended at the University of Tartu revealed that in 2018 in Estonia, the burden of disease associated with smoking totalled to 23,634 years of life, that is 38.9 years per 1,000 inhabitants. Men lost more than four times more years of life than women due to smoking, and most years of life were lost outside Tallinn and Tartu.

In 2020, the number of continuing education learners of the University of Tartu increased by almost 11% compared to the year before. There were nearly three continuing education learners per student. According to the 2019 data of the Ministry of Education and Research, the University of Tartu is the largest continuing education provider in Estonia.

The Centre for Arts of the University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy will cease its activities from 31 August 2021. The professorship of liberal arts and the courses of the master’s curriculum of Teacher of Arts and Technology taught at the centre will continue.

This semester, the Mentor Feedback Carousel of the Starter idea development programme was held online and lasted for a whole week. The Mentor Feedback Carousel is a stage in the programme ran by the Startup Lab and gives student teams a great chance to get honest feedback and recommendations on their business idea.

Estonia has used the ID card system as a means to identify its citizens for almost 20 years. During those years, several security issues have emerged. A new PhD dissertation from the University of Tartu has shed light on those issues and pointed out possible lessons for the future.

Researchers from the University of Tartu and the Wellcome Sanger Institute (UK) carried out the largest and most exhaustive genetic study to date looking at Y-chromosome-linked infertility in men. Analysing the DNA of patients with spermatogenic impairment at the Andrology Centre of Tartu University Hospital, researchers found a previously undescribed subtype of the Y chromosome, which, in a substantial number of men of European ancestry, increases the risk of fertility issues nearly nine times.

This week the results of the wastewater study led by the University of Tartu show again an increase in the spread of the coronavirus. The amounts of virus have increased most of all in samples collected from southern and western Estonia.

The University of Tartu invites everyone to participate in a photo contest to get photos by talented amateur and professional photographers depicting the University of Tartu buildings, students, events, studies, and everything else related to the University of Tartu. The contest takes place from 29 March to 30 September and all participants enter a draw to win prizes.

From 1 March to 4 April, the website peaasi.ee invites the university staff to undergo a mental health vitamin plan. Each week, the focus is on one of the components that ensure mental health. University staff can assess their emotional well-being and get recommendations on how to improve their mental health. The five mental health vitamins are

Researchers of the University of Tartu studied the strong medical mineral water of Värska resort for one year and confirmed that it can effectively support the treatment of upper respiratory diseases. Associate Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry Uno Mäeorg, Associate Professor in Geology Enn Karro and Head of the Institute of Pharmacy, Professor in Pharmacognosy Ain Raal studied the mineral water of the bore well no. 6 in Värska, coming from 595 metres deep, to find out whether it could be used in the fight against upper respiratory diseases.

This week’s results of the wastewater monitoring survey led by the University of Tartu show that the spread of the coronavirus has slowed to some extent. The situation continues to be serious in the counties of northern Estonia and in Tartu. In wastewater samples from central and southern Estonia, the virus concentration has decreased.

University of Tartu researchers participate in a European-wide cooperation project aiming to reduce inequalities related to cervical cancer screening. The goal is to increase the screening ratios among vulnerable women from 26% to 45% which could save the lives of 6,000 to 7,000 women each year. In Europe, over 61,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and almost 26,000 of them will die of it. Each such death is a tragedy, considering that cervical cancer is today a preventable and treatable disease.

The study on the prevalence of coronavirus led by the University of Tartu reveals that every 40th adult in Estonia is infectious. About one fifth of the adult population has developed coronavirus antibodies. The large proportion of asymptomatic virus carriers and the underestimation of exposure to the infected makes the situation even more complicated.

Studies will continue largely online and classroom studies should be kept to a minimum in April As the epidemiological situation in Estonia is very serious and the Estonian government has imposed additional restrictions on educational institutions, the University of Tartu will continue with similar organisation of studies as in March.

The universities of Goettingen and Tartu are holding a virtual conference on the impact of digitisation on internationalisation on 23–24 March 2021 within the framework of the European University ENLIGHT, bringing relevant stakeholders from higher education experts and policy makers to internationalisation practitioners together with academics and students.

This week’s results of the wastewater study led by the University of Tartu confirm a continued spread of the coronavirus. In the coming weeks, the number of infections is expected to rise in both southern and western Estonia.

With the European Commission about to reinforce widening and to revive the European Research Area, researchers in central and eastern Europe weigh in on the promise the innovation gap will narrow under Horizon Europe, writes the Science Business.

In cooperation between Estonian companies and the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences, technology has been developed for producing nasal and throat spray based on antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Initial studies have shown that it may help prevent infection with the coronavirus.

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Visiting Professor of Democracy in the Digital Age at the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies of the University of Tartu, will be giving four public lectures on “Security, Democracy and the Digital World” in the spring semester 2021. This century has seen rapid technological developments and emerging possibilities for governance, such as more precise and faster decision-making and better public services.

This week’s results of the waste water analysis led by the University of Tartu reveal high concentration of coronavirus in the samples taken from nearly all larger cities. According to researchers, this indicates that the number of infections is not expected to decrease in the next week or two.