News

At the annual meeting of the Coimbra Group in Kraków, the Duke of Arenberg presented the Arenberg – Coimbra Group Prize for Erasmus students to alumna of the University of Tartu, Janeli Harjus. The selection committee unanimously nominated Harjus for the 2019 prize.

On Monday, 28 September, the International Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC) of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) announced the winner of the UMAC Award 2020. The University of Tartu Museum won the award for the photo exhibition and book “A Hundred Faces of the University of Tartu” – the university’s largest art project to date.

This seems to be what politicians from the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) have asked. As an answer, they have proposed a draft legislation aiming to prevent young people from Ukraine, Georgia, Russia or another non-EU country from coming here to study unless they pay for their studies. The draft legislation turned up at the beginning of September, without any analysis or legislative intent, without notifying the parties concerned or coordinating the draft with them.

The Simulation Centre of the University of Tartu has started to use a virtual reality device allowing future doctors to experience trauma situations they will have to face in their job and solve them in a safe environment. Riho Runnel, Specialist of Simulation Studies of the University of Tartu Institute of Clinical Medicine, says that many doctors, especially young ones, do not see trauma situations every day and may thus find them intimidating and stressful.

The university announces a design contest for the UT cap badge, chest badge and ring. All members and alumni of the UT are welcome to submit their design projects. General principles of the design of the cap badge, chest badge and ring:

14% of elderly with dementia living at home think about suicide, as revealed by a study carried out in eight European countries, including Estonia, with the participation of researchers from the University of Tartu. It is essential to identify suicidal thoughts to give the patients appropriate treatment and support their caregivers. According to the World Health Organization, suicide and the related ideation and behaviour are a great problem across the globe. Both old age and mental disorders are considered as risk factors.

The University of Tartu’s Startup Lab launched the new season of its business idea development programme Starter Tartu on 17 September with an Idea Hackathon at the Delta X Ideas Festival. The opening event brought together over 120 entrepreneurship-minded students from high schools and universities who presented their ideas and joined teams.

The Estonian wood industry creates over a million tonnes of wood waste each year, which is mainly used as heating material. In addition to that, we have an abundance of low-value wood and pulpwood, which often do not have any application in the local industry. In business terms, this is a considerable amount of raw material that is lost to Estonian economy.

Studies have shown that a third of adolescents’ close relationships involve violent behaviour patterns, such as checking the other person’s phone, restricting meeting with friends, intimidation and influencing. Researchers of the University of Tartu are launching online courses to help teachers and hence adolescents to recognise different forms of violence as soon as possible and prevent the patterns of dating and relationship violence.

Immune-mediated diseases form a large group of diseases of more than one hundred diagnoses. These diseases continue to be researched by scientists and doctors across the world. We must not overlook any other medical problem while fighting against coronavirus, emphasised Professor of Immunology of the University of Tartu Raivo Uibo, who is leading a research group that contributes to research into the onset of immune-mediated diseases as a part of the major Horizon 2020 initiative HEDIMED.

David Ilmar Lepasaar Beecher, the first expatriate Estonian visiting professor of the University of Tartu, teaches a course on the history of Russia and Europe in the autumn semester. The English-taught course aims to offer a broader understanding of the history of Russia in the European context, discussing the mutual cultural and intellectual approaching of Russia and Europe from the reign of Peter the Great until today.

The Times Higher Education (THE), the provider of the most reliable university rankings in the world, published the most recent ranking of the best universities yesterday. For the first time, the University of Tartu is ranked in the top 300 universities (in the range 251–300).

In a live interview on Tuesday, 1 September at 13:00, Rector of the University of Tartu Toomas Asser spoke about the organisation of studies and work at the university this autumn. The interview focused on what to keep in mind in this academic year in the circumstances of the spread of coronavirus and to what extent regular classroom studies will be replaced by e-learning. In addition, the rector once again reminded viewers how to keep oneself and others safe at work and during studies and what to do in case of illness.

Dear members of the university, To recover from the extraordinary situation that hit the world in spring, a summer holiday is vital for all of us. However, we must remember to exercise caution when returning to work to make sure our life at the university and in the country as a whole could continue as normally as possible.

At the session today, the senate of the University of Tartu elected Robert Krimmer, one of the most influential e-governance experts in the world, as Professor of E-governance of the University of Tartu. A research group with Professor Krimmer in the lead will be established at the university to bring research in the field of e-governance and public e-services to international excellence and foster the development of e-governance in Estonia.

It is always a special pleasure for me to welcome our first-year students and those who start their studies at the University of Tartu for the first time. Congratulations on admission and thank you for choosing the University of Tartu! This year the competition was tighter than in the last five years and therefore you deserve to be proud. Welcome back to all our returning students!

On 15 February at 12:00, the popular Career Day will take place in the main building of the University of Tartu for the sixth time already. This year the event focuses on traineeships and labour market needs.

Futulab, the university-wide platform for mediation of internship, invites students of all curricula to join an internship project of interest. Registration is open until 20 September. Project-based internship provides students with project work experience and therefore, a labour market advantage. It also helps expand their horizons, bring them out of their comfort zone, and forces them to develop. Project-based internship enables students to

Futulab, the university’s platform for mediating internships, invites enterprises and organisations of the public, private and third sectors to propose ideas or problems for project-based internship until 20 August to praktika.ut.ee/projektipraktika. Project-based internship offers the companies who submit project ideas an opportunity

On Friday the University of Tartu Library and the University of Tartu Museum celebrate the 250th birthday of Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern, the founder or the art museum and library of the University of Tartu, the professor of rhetoric, classical philology, aesthetics and history of literature and art. In the morning the restored monument of Karl Morgenstern will be opened in Toomemägi, also excursions will be organised to the placed related with the great man. At 2:15 p.m. a ceremony in the memory of Morgenstern will take place at Raadi cemetery.