News

Hamza Naseer, a doctoral student and junior researcher in philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics, won third place in the English-language round of the University of Tartu Three-Minute Thesis Competition. His presentation, “Seeing the Unseen”, explored the role of memory in perception and cognition.

On 14 October, the mental health promoter Peaasi.ee awarded the University of Tartu the third-level label in its recognition scheme of mental health-friendly organisations.

Registration is now open for the University of Tartu’s three-minute thesis competition for doctoral researchers, which will take place on 21 October at the University of Tartu Library. The deadline for registration is 12 October.

On 14 October, the University of Tartu Asia Centre will celebrate ten years of activity with a symposium.

Asia Centre at EACS 2026 conference

At the protest, participants highlighted that obtaining a higher education is increasingly becoming a privilege.

In October, the European Cyber Security Month, we encourage members of the University of Tartu to develop secure digital habits and increase their awareness of cyber threats.

In October, a step challenge takes place at the University of Tartu. We invite members of the university community to be more active, log their steps using the StepUp app, and take part in a friendly competition. The six most active participants will receive prize packages, and additional prizes will be drawn among everyone who records at least 200,000 steps during the month.

According to the figures, the university’s total greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by more than 2.7 times. Considering the number of staff and students, emissions per person have decreased by as much as 3.4 times.

From 5 to 23 October, the University of Tartu will take part in the ATEENA 2026 crisis exercise organised by the Tartu City Government. The exercise aims to practise crisis management in a tabletop exercise format and to strengthen cooperation between the institutions represented on the City of Tartu crisis committee.

The journal De Ethica has published a Call for Papers for a 2027 special issue, “Crisis & Recovery: Ethics in Interdisciplinary Dialogue”, guest edited by Thomas-Andreas Põder and Johann-Christian Põder.

From 17 September to 30 September, University of Tartu alumni are invited to take part in a survey aimed at understanding alumni expectations, needs and their sense of connection to the university.

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 University of Tartu Centre for Ethics, 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.

Andrew Huebner will deliver a lecture “Yanks in the Land of the Midsummer: American Foreign Aid and the Estonian War of Independence, 1919–1921”

From the beginning of this academic year, free menstrual pad dispensers have been installed in the university study buildings to ensure that hygiene products are always available when needed. A total of 39 dispensers have been placed in the buildings.

What does literature know, and how does it know it?

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.

On Monday, 31 August at 10:00, the 2026/2027 academic year was opened in front of the university's main building. The programme of the ceremony included a musical performance by Puuluup.