Topic: for society

On 2 October, as part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu invites everyone interested to the public international conference ‘Ethics in a Changing World: New Directions in Ethics, Education and the Age of Artificial Intelligence’.

A working group at the Centre for Ethics of University of Tartu, has completed an independent analysis, commissioned by the AI Leap Foundation, of the risks associated with the AI Leap educational programme and its AI-based learning application. The analysis describes the risks involved in using AI in education and assesses how AI Leap, the state, schools, research institutions and technology providers can mitigate them.

A recently completed study on conspiracy theories, the most extensive one ever conducted in Europe, found that narratives circulating across national borders adapt to local history, cultural memory and social tensions. A book presenting the study’s findings has now been published, co-edited by Mari-Liis Madisson, Associate Professor of Semiotics at the University of Tartu.

On 1–2 October 2026, the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu will celebrate its 25th anniversary. This quarter-century milestone provides an opportunity to bring together the Centre’s friends, partners, and experts from Estonia and abroad to reflect on the questions and issues shaping the role of ethics today and in the future.

The Viljandi Repair Festival, celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, has announced its programme of 35 hands-on workshops.

Twelve interdisciplinary doctoral positions will be created at the University of Tartu to explore potential applications of artificial intelligence, including, for example, addressing mental health issues, reducing food waste, assessing the overall impact of spatial planning, and facilitating sign language interpreting.

The updated Estonian Code of Ethics for Teachers aims to support teachers’ professional development, reflection on ethical choices, and the maintenance of a shared values-based culture in education.

In the next academic year, the professorship of liberal arts at the University of Tartu will be held by one of the most distinctive creators of audiovisual works in Estonia, the film director, stage director and screenwriter Rainer Sarnet.

At the end of April, the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu organised an international staff training week for employees of universities within the Enlight network. The programme focused on the development of values in education, research, and society.

On 21 April at 18, all students and staff of higher education institutions in Tartu are invited to join a group cycle ride, “Rattaga saab!” (“Cycling works!”), starting from Town Hall Square.