Topic: university

On 1 June, Lukas Pukelis is defending his doctoral dissertation titled “Informal mutual oversight mechanisms in coalition governments: Insights from the Baltic states for theory building”. The public defence takes place at 14.15 at the Senate Hall of the University of Tartu (Ülikooli 18-204). The supervisor of the dissertation is Professor Vello Pettai (University of Tartu). The opponent is Professor Emeritus Rudolf Bastiaan “Rudy” Andeweg (Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Leiden). Synopsis of the dissertation:

Three years after its launch in 2015, the Erasmus+ NEETU project – “Re-mobilizing experienced and resourceful seniors as NEET brokers to help young people change depressed NEET situations” has ended. The project facilitated interactions between senior citizens and NEET youth.

Anete Ilves, a graduate of the European Union-Russia Studies programme, proposed measures in her MA thesis to overcome shortcomings in Latvia’s legislation on the rights of people with disabilities. These measures have now provided the basis for amending Latvian law to grant full participation rights to people with disabilities.

On 14-16 March, 18 students from the MA programmes of International Relations and Regional Studies (IRRS), EU-Russia Studies (EURUS) and Democracy and Governance (DG) visited Vienna for a study tour. The trip – led by Prof. Eiki Berg and Dr. Stefano Braghiroli – was centred around a visit to the OSCE headquarters, where the students had the opportunity to learn about the organization’s structure and activities. As a highlight of the day, the group was also able to observe a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.

One year after the launch and Kick Off Meeting of the WHOSEFVA Project in Greece, the 3rd Partner meeting was held in Vienna, Austria from 1 -3 March 2018 to share and discuss key results and outputs of the project to date. This two-year project, co-funded by the European Commission under the Daphne programme, aims to increase the capacity of domestic violence organizations to better represent the interests and voices of older female victims of violence in healthcare and healthcare policy, thus helping to better comply with the desires of the EU.

The Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, the University of Lund and the University of Copenhagen are holding a one-week intensive course for MA and advanced BA students, focusing on Theories and Methodologies in Area Studies. The course will take place on 12-17 March in Tartu. The aim of the course is to provide practical training on methods for MA and BA students who are writing their theses.

This fall marks the first time a course by the researchers of the University of Tartu goes live on Udemy, one of the largest international online learning platforms. Online course “Introduction to Internet Voting”, developed by the Senior Researchers in Technology Studies Kristjan Vassil and Mihkel Solvak, is available on Udemy - an online teaching platform with 15 million active learners. Currently, this is the only University of Tartu MOOC, massive open online course, offered at such a scale on the international online platform.

On April 4, students interested in the Estonian e-governance experience met with various experts in Tallinn. The main aim of the trip was to introduce students to the institutions and practitioners who are in charge of developing, designing and supervising Estonian e-services.

On October 29-30, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies hosted the first international autumn school in Kääriku, bringing together more than 50 students, lecturers and guests. The school combined lectures with informal activities, providing for socialization and networking among students and teaching staff.

The First Annual Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies taking place from 12 to 14 June brings nearly 200 researchers and experts from around the world to Tartu to introduce the most recent research work in the field and discuss topical subjects, such as political and economic developments, culture and society in East Europe.