Meist meedias

In the newly published ranking list of universities from emerging Europe and Central Asia, the University of Tartu has reached the second place, which is also the highest among Estonian universities.

The government of Estonia decided today that as of 14 December, all educational institutions, including universities, will be closed. Therefore, the university leaders decided that no classroom studies are conducted at the University of Tartu at least until the spring semester.

On Tuesday, 1 December, the university members celebrate the 101st anniversary of Estonia's national university.

So far, the university has favoured preferring face-to-face learning to distance learning. However, as the coronavirus infection rate is increasing, the Rector’s Office decided at its today’s meeting that it is reasonable to rapidly reorganise studies wherever possible to safeguard the health of all university members.

View the video address of Rector Toomas Asser focusing on coronavirus prevention at the university on UTTV and read revised coronavirus guidelines at the university. This week the Government of Estonia announced new coronavirus measures and based on the government’s recommendations, members of the UT Rector’s Office have laid down the following guidelines.

The University of Tartu announces a design contest to find a mascot to represent the university’s visual identity. All students, staff and alumni of the university are welcome to submit their design projects until 22 November. The winner will be selected in two rounds: in the first round, a committee comprising the representatives of students, alumni and staff will choose three best projects that will be put to a public vote in the second round. The public vote among students, alumni and staff of the University of Tartu takes place in December.

On 30 October, the University of Tartu Senate decided to award the Johan Skytte Medal to the President of the Republic of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid. The highest award for university members, the University of Tartu Grand Medal, will be given to four long-term high-calibre researchers. Also, the recipients of the University of Tartu Star of Appreciation, Medal, Badge of Distinction and the decoration “100 Semesters at the University of Tartu” have been selected.

The university invites all staff members, students, alumni and their families to city orienteering in Tartu from 19 October to 1 November. Do you know the buildings and sites connected with the university? Do you know what was in these places in the past? Grab a map and find out!

Researchers of the Centre for Applied Social Sciences of the University of Tartu have conducted a survey to analyse how the university as an organisation responded to the crisis, and to what extent it is possible to use the gained experience to plan future work.

The earth’s crust in Estonia contains valuable mineral resources that have not been thoroughly studied so far, yet demand for such resources on the world market is growing. An applied research study led by the University of Tartu sheds new light to both these natural resources and the socio-economic impact of their potential use.

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.

On Monday, 7th September, 2020, at 16.15, an inaugural lecture titled „Affective Computing: Human Behavior Analysis Using Computer Vision and Machine Learning“ will be held at the UT Assembly Hall by dr Gholamreza Anbarjafari, UT Professor of Computer Vision.

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.

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

University gradually returns to the normal organisation of work. Below, the units have described their organisation of work starting from 18 May. The page will be updated as needed. [collapsed]

The 7th mobility research conference Mobile Tartu will be held today on 30 June, bringing together leading human mobility researchers from around the world. More than 240 participants from 48 countries have registered already. This year’s event is a virtual conference, and participation is free.

The graduation ceremonies of the University of Tartu are held from 15 to 20 June. All ceremonies are held in an online environment, meaning that all who wish can participate. Online graduation ceremonies can be watched live in UTTV at the announced time. Links to recordings will be added to the table below after each ceremony. Read how students can receive their diplomas.

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.

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.