News

Today, on 19 June, Rector Toomas Asser handed over the Badge of Distinction and letter of appreciation of the University of Tartu to Professor of Medical Microbiology Irja Lutsar. The university appreciates her commitment to evidence-based counselling of the university and state leaders during the emergency situation.

This year, traditional graduation ceremonies bringing together hundreds of people are not held at the University of Tartu, but ceremonies take place online. The university also makes a gift to the graduates: they now have their own tree and a bench in Tartu city centre. Also, the university main building and the sculpture on the Town Hall Square will be decorated.

On Tuesday, 2 June, student of the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science Mykhailo Nitsenko defended his thesis Quantum Circuit Fusion in the Presence of Quantum Noise on NISQ Devices, the first master’s thesis defended in the field of quantum computing at the University of Tartu.

In the reputable QS World University Rankings, published today, the University of Tartu has risen to its highest ever ranking, the 285th position. The result is sixteen places higher than last year. Since 2014, the university has climbed 176 places in the rankings.

The results of the third wave of a monitoring study conducted by the University of Tartu presented today to the government committee working to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 disease-causing coronavirus and addressing public health and economic problems confirm that the continued easing of restrictions in Estonia is justified. The third wave of the monitoring study was conducted from 22 May to 31 May to assess whether the easing of restrictions on movement in shopping centres and other public institutions has had an impact on the spread of the virus.

This year marks 250 years from the birth of Johann Karl Simon Morgenstern, founder of the University of Tartu Art Museum, long-time director of the university library and professor of rhetoric, classical philology, aesthetics, literary and art history. To celebrate the anniversary of the birth of the professor who spent 50 years of his life in Tartu, an exhibition titled “The enchanting art of stone cutting. Morgenstern 250” will be opened at the University of Tartu Art Museum on 11 June.

Estonian scientists are developing a DNA-based method of analysis that enables them to identify food components and specify the origin of a foodstuff.

On 5 June, Rector Toomas Asser planted a lime-tree Tilia ledebourii at the pond of the botanical garden. The name of the species comes from the name of a professor who was connected with the University of Tartu.

Medical researchers of the University of Tartu and doctors of Tartu University Hospital have an ambitious plan to take their novel combination of stereotactic body radiotherapy and immunotherapy to treatment guidelines and thus reach suitable patients suffering from lung cancer. Up to 20 lung cancer patients will be included in the study SynAct Lung to assess the safety and efficiency of the new combination.

For the first time, the top 10 teams to compete in the Kaleidoskoop finals were selected based on video pitches. The teams were given a free hand in producing and editing their three-minute video, and as a result, a remarkable number of interesting and engaging videos were submitted. Since As the presentation of an idea in the form of a video pitch is a necessary skill in both studies and at work, Maret Ahonen, the Leader of Starter programme and Startup Lab at the University of Tartu, gives some useful tips for a convincing video pitch.

In autumn, the current Professor of Liberal Arts of the University of Tartu Kärt Summatavet will hand the position over to Olga and Priit Pärn, who are both internationally recognised filmmakers. This is the first time there will be two professors of liberal arts at the University of Tartu at the same time – so far, there has been only one per academic year.

Estonian 12-year-olds who get enough sleep are more satisfied with their life compared to their peers who sleep less, as was shown by a recent international survey on children’s subjective well-being. Given the recommendation that 12-year-olds should sleep at least nine hours, only about a third of Estonian children get enough sleep. 14% of Estonian 12-year-olds sleep less than seven hours.

On 29 May, the senate of the University of Tartu made a decision to award the Skytte Medal to the Minister of Social Affairs, Tanel Kiik. The university recognises Kiik for his substantial contribution to promoting evidence-based governance in Estonia and involving the University of Tartu and its researchers in the management of the emergency situation.

On 28 May, the Information Technology Foundation for Education (HITSA) organised the festive online recognition seminar to introduce high-quality e-courses created in Estonian higher education institutions, vocational and general education schools, to acknowledge the authors of e-courses awarded with the quality label and announce the best e-course of the year.

The EU-funded project FLOW has published a new toolkit and guide to help companies prevent the exploitation and trafficking of people in their subcontracting chains. The project aims to improve the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate trafficking in human beings (THB) and to raise awareness among businesses of the risks of THB in supply chains and their ability to prevent THB.

Estonia became the world’s centre of mycology against all odds. Tartu hosts some of the brightest minds in modern mycology, a scientific study of fungi. Fungi refers to organisms like molds, rusts, mildews, smuts, mushrooms, and yeasts. Nine Estonian scientists were listed among the top 1% of most cited scientists in the world by Clarivate Analytics at the end of 2019. Other Baltic and Polish scientists combined are not as visible as Estonians.

Green mindset is the common feature of the teams S-Kub and Sorter, winners of the 14th Kaleidoskoop business ideas competition. Both have a bigger goal of saving the planet and promoting environmentally friendly behaviour.

The project I.N.T.I.T (Integrated Trauma Informed Therapy for Child Victims of Violence), funded by the European Union's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, runs from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2022. The project aims to map the best practices in integrated trauma informed therapy for child victims of violence, to develop a training programme for professionals and to teach trainers.

Studying the inflammatory and metabolic markers in the different stages of schizophrenia spectrum disorders is of great importance. At the University of Tartu, a study on this topic was completed and the results will help diagnose the disease, and monitor and avoid the manifestation of side effects of the treatment.

From May 11, family doctors in Saaremaa and Õismäe started to invite volunteers to take part in the study on coronavirus antibodies KoroSero-EST organised by the University of Tartu. Based on random sampling, the vein blood of 1,080 participants from both communities will be analysed for the presence of antibodies to estimate the number of people having been exposed to coronavirus. After the pilot study, a larger study across Estonia is planned.