News

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.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 will be opened Ene Ustav’s painting exhibition „Before and after the coronavirus” at the ground floor gallery of the Omicum building Riia 23b/2.

The exhibition can be visited until January 3.
Everyone is welcome!
The exhibition is organized by UT Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, director of the vivarium Sulev Kuuse.
 

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.

Five new applied research projects are about to start at the University of Tartu with the aim to study and develop materials and surface treatment agents inhibiting the transmission of the virus, technological solutions for reducing virus particles in indoor air, and automated solutions reducing the workload in the healthcare sector.

Materials inhibiting the spread of the virus

Estonian Research Council supports projects that seek solutions to problems caused by the spread of coronavirus and to mitigate its consequences.
A total of 2.1 million euros is distributed and the projects must be completed by the end of 2021.

The call for proposals was aimed at further developing existing research results or finding and testing new uses. The development of prototypes for innovative solutions, products and services will be supported in five areas:

On 2 October at 15, the new Estonian-English-Estonian dictionary of genetics is presented in the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), University of Tartu.

The authors of the dictionary, comprising 541 pages and more than 7500 terms and definitions of genetics, are Professor Emeritus Ain Heinaru and Head of the Vivarium Sulev Kuuse, IMCB, both well-experienced textbook and dictionary authors. 

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, October 5 at 15:15 PM, Indrek Teino, a doctoral student in cell biology at the University of Tartu, will defend his doctoral thesis entitled „Studies on aryl hydrocarbon receptor in the mouse granulosa cell model”.
PhD defence takes place in the auditorium of the Estonian Biocentre of the Institute of Genomics (Riia 23b-105).
Supervisor is professor in cell biology Toivo Maimets, PhD, the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology.
Opponent is professor Jason Matthews, PhD, University of Oslo, Norway.

Time and place: Friday, September 18, 2020 at 14:15 in the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology/Institute of Genomics, UT (auditorium 105, Riia 23b/2, Tartu/and video-conference form)
Thesis: "Signals and responses of ColRS two-component system in Pseudomonas putida''
Curriculum: Molecular and Cell Biology
Speciality: Genetics

On September 4, Sirje Piirʼs exhibition „Patterns from Nature” will be opened at the ground floor gallery of the Omicum building Riia 23b.

The exhibition can be visited until October 30.
Everyone is welcome!

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.

Time and place: Friday, 4.09.2020 at 11:15 in the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology/Institute of Genomics, UT (auditorium 105, Riia 23b/2, Tartu)
Thesis: "Mutagenic effect of transcription and transcription-coupled repair factors in Pseudomonas putida"
Curriculum: Molecular and Cell Biology
Speciality: Genetics
DSpace
Supervisor: Professor Maia Kivisaar, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu

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.

On Thursday, September 3 at 4:15 PM, professor of Molecular Biology, Tiina Tamm will give an inaugural lecture in the hall of the University of Tartu on the topic „Protein Biosynthesis or how a molecular nanomachine translates information“.

The inaugural lecture will be given in Estonian.
The lecture can be watched in real time on UTTV.
Everyone is welcome!

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.

Time and place: Thursday, 27.08.2020 at 11:15 in the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology/Institute of Genomics, UT (auditorium 105, Riia 23b/2, Tartu)
Thesis: "Exploring the genetics of adverse events in pharmacotherapy using Biobanks and Electronic Health Records"
Curriculum: Molecular and Cell Biology
Speciality: Molecular Biomedicine
DSpace

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