News

As a result of more than 20 years of research by the scientists at the University of Tartu, the lactic acid bacteria strain ME-3, known for the last 15 years as the bacteria Hellus added to the dairy products of Tere, has now reached Estonia’s pharmacies.

Until March 28, the University of Tartu is inviting its members’ to ask questions from the rector candidates, Toomas Asser and Margit Sutrop. All university employees and students can ask questions via the special form (anonymously) or by sending an email to [email protected]. This is an excellent opportunity to hear the rector candidates’ opinions on university life and on the development of the area that interests you most in the University of Tartu.

At the end of February, the prominent QS World University Rankings published its World University Rankings by Subjects 2018, covering 48 subjects. This year 18 subjects taught at the University of Tartu are represented in the rankings, five more than last year.

Estonian Academy of Sciences organised a national competition in Estonia in autumn 2017 and based on the results, submitted three candidates to the international final round. 1. Uku Haljasorg, PhD, Research Fellow of Molecular Immunology; 2. Kristi Huik, PhD, Research Fellow of Medical Virology and Microbiology; 3. Liis Lemsalu, doctoral student, Junior Researcher at the National Institute for Health Development.

EstLat-Accelerate pre-acceleration program for Estonian and Latvian early-stage start-ups invites all new business owners to apply for its second season before March 11. The program suits best early-stage startup projects, who need to validate their idea and test the team before diving into the process with full speed. EstLat-Accelerate consists of joint workshops both in Tartu and in Riga on topics such as business development, marketing, and pitching, followed by one-on-one mentoring speed sessions and meetings with a coach to monitor your process.

Until March 12, all students of the University of Tartu are invited to send in photos and videos from their time spent studying or interning abroad as part of our My Adventure Abroad contest. The only requirement for the photo or video to be taken during an overseas study or interning experience, meaning short tourist trips do not count. The winner of the contest will be rewarded with an aerial adventure – a unique sightseeing flight over Tartu. The runner-up will receive University of Tartu memorabilia and souvenirs.

At an extraordinary meeting on 1 March, the council of the Faculty of Medicine decided to submit professor Toomas Asser as a candidate to the post of the rector of the University of Tartu. All members the council of the Faculty of Medicine who attended the meeting voted for nomination of professor Toomas Asser as the rector’s candidate.

The Danish LEO Foundation supports researchers of the University of Tartu with 220,000 euros to conduct laboratory studies to discover the causes of atopic dermatitis, a frequent skin disorder. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, which in many cases is of allergic character, but the causes of which are not exactly known. Researchers participating in the project want to study how the early molecular events in atopic dermatitis are influenced by the specific small RNA molecules, known as microRNAs.

The government of Estonia has announced the laureates of this year’s national research awards. The award for outstanding lifetime achievement in research and development, 40 000 euros, was granted to professor emeritus of the University of Tartu, academician Agu Laisk. In addition, three projects won the award for best research work. Minister Mailis Reps congratulated all the awardees and expressed gratitude for their contribution to Estonian science. “The laureates are committed scientists and determined trailblazers in their field,” said Reps.

The Marketing Office of the University of Tartu conducted a survey among international degree students in summer 2017. The purpose of the survey was to help understand how current international students made their decision to come to study in Estonia. Total number of respondents was 176, 84% of whom were master’s and 16% bachelor’s students. Most of the respondents came from Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Finland, USA, Nigeria, Germany, Latvia or Azerbaijan.

Estonian Olympic Committee recognises eighteen regional multifunctional sports centres, which stand out for their high-quality infrastructure and offer services and conditions that enable to promote youth and amateur sports in the region.

Cooperation between researchers in the United States and Estonia helps to discover changes in brain tissue, which are associated with the very early stages of dementia. The cause of nearly half of all cases of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. It is estimated that 47 million people are suffering globally from Alzheimer’s – nearly the population of Spain. Due to the ageing of the population, it is predicted that 131.5 million people will be suffering from Alzheimer’s by 2050 – this is slightly less than the entire population of Russia.

With great sorrow, the University of Tartu announces the unexpected death of Rector Volli Kalm on Saturday, December 23. Volli Kalm was born on February 10, 1953 in Vändra. He graduated from the University of Tartu in 1976 with a degree in geology. In 1984, Kalm earned his PhD in geology from the Estonian Academy of Sciences after successfully defending his doctoral thesis "Formation, composition and usage of glaciofluvial deposits in Estonia." From 1988-1989, he attended postdoctoral studies in the geology department of the University of Alberta.

At the extraordinary senate session on 27 December, the senate of the University of Tartu unanimously appointed professor Tõnu Lehtsaar as the acting rector. In his speech to the senate, Lehtsaar said that his primary goal as the university’s acting rector is to maintain stability and find a new rector. “We will keep the university going. I asked members of the Rector’s Office at the meeting this morning if they were willing to continue in their office. I didn’t expect them to answer right away, but they confirmed that we will go forward together,” he said.

Professor Volli Kalm, Rector of the University of Tartu (10 February 1953 – 23 December 2017)

Friday, December 1 2017 marks the 98th birthday of the Estonia’s national university in Tartu. To celebrate the event, several events take place during the week-long celebrations – honorary doctorates and doctorates are conferred, the University’s honorary member named and the laurate of The University of Tartu Award for Contribution to Estonian National Identity named.

Based on student feedback, the recipient of the 2017 Best Teaching Staff Award of the University of Tartu from the Faculty of Medicine is Margot Peetsalu. In addition, ten best teaching staff members of the faculty were recognised (see the complete list below).

On Thursday, the 7th of December, the biggest business festival in the Baltics takes off with over 2500 attendees from 27 countries. The sTARTUp Day 2017 business festival is happening only for the 2nd time, but just as last year, the event has been sold out. The theme of this year’s event “From Zero To Hero” focuses on how to work oneself to the top with limited resources. During the opening day there will be numerous side-events around the city of Tartu: trainings and seminars on production, education, biotechnology, business and export topics.

UT award for improving the quality of teaching was granted to the Institute of Clinical Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine for developing clinical practice in medical education. The award is a prize of 30,000 euros. According to Anti Kalda, vice dean for academic affairs of the Faculty of Medicine, the teaching quality award is a great recognition, as it is the first time the faculty has received the award.

The University of Tartu doctoral student of medicine, junior research fellow Helen Hermann was granted the 2017 Eastern Europe Dermatology Research Fellow Award by the European Society for Dermatology Research (ESDR). At one of the world’s most important dermatology research conference, the 47th Annual ESDR Meeting in Austria, the Eastern Europe Dermatology Research Fellow Award was presented to doctoral student of medicine, junior research fellow Helen Hermann of the University of Tartu Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine.