Uudised

In each semester, students start developing their ideas in the Startup Lab to gain entrepreneurial experience. A key role in this process is played by mentors who, based on their experience, give feedback to teams, share valuable advice and help them make useful contacts.

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.

Today, on 4 November, a day after the US presidential election, a seminar takes place in the Delta Centre to analyse the election results. The seminar is in English and open to everyone interested in politics. It is also possible to attend the event on Zoom.

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!

Archimedes Foundation recognised the project of the UT Narva College “Multilingual Higher Education: Cooperation for Innovation and Exchange of Good Practices” with the award for Erasmus+ strategic cooperation projects – the 2020 Golden Apple cooperation award.

The Estonian start-up company GuavaHR in cooperation with the Institute of Psychology of the University of Tartu have started an R&D project to develop an employee engagement monitoring system. In the course of the project, they will create an employee engagement model and organise a wide-ranging engagement survey, which will be completed by the middle of next year.

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.

International research group studying the digital competence of European adolescents in the course of the ySKILLS project reported unequal access to digital tools and uneven level of digital literacy across countries.

On Friday, 2 October, a college and dormitory building jointly administered by the University of Tartu, the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences (EASS) and the Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) was opened on Paul Keres street in Narva. About a quarter of the 9,708 m2 building will be used by students of the University of Tartu.

The Institute of Education of the University of Tartu and the Lithuanian start-up company BitDegree have started a cooperation project that is expected to significantly increase the effectiveness of e-learning. To this end, they research and develop an open learner model.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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