Skytte news

An interdisciplinary research team of the University of Tartu is actively collecting, modelling and analysing data on the spread of coronavirus. The researchers invite people to participate in a study on the prevalence of COVID-19 to create a database for mapping and modelling the spread of the virus. The research group includes computer scientists, statisticians, mathematicians and medical, genetic and social scientists of the University of Tartu.

In the forthcoming issue of Polity (the University of Chicago Press), the symposium focuses on the transformation of the liberal international order through studies of regions located at Europe’s margins, where new dynamics of power relations are on the rise and the appeal of illiberal ideas and forms of governance is growing. The symposium has been put together by Professor Andrey Makarychev from the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies (JSIPS) at UT.

Six tenants of UT residence hall confirmed to have coronavirus. In connection with this we publish the address of the Rector of the University of Tartu in both text and video. Today we have received alarming news both for the University of Tartu and the entire Estonia. Students of the University of Tartu, who are tenants of the residence hall in Raatuse street, have been infected with coronavirus.

The University of Tartu will not hold graduation ceremonies this summer because these events usually attract crowds of people and close contact is impossible to avoid. Graduates receive their diplomas in their institute/unit in the second half of June. Detailed information on the time and place will be sent to all graduates and posted on the university’s website. If necessary, you can authorise another person to collect your diploma, or have the diploma sent to you by mail.

Dear students and members of the teaching staff, On 15 April, several media channels wrote about the court case between a UT alumnus and a member of the teaching staff over an insulting comment in the confidential course feedback questionnaire. Understandably, this has shaken the trust in the feedback system and pointed to problems we want to avoid in the future. On the other hand, it is clear that the university cannot develop without substantial feedback.

All courses in which online teaching can be organised will continue in this format until the end of the semester. If coronavirus recedes, we hope we can resume classroom teaching for small groups, similarly to schools, in the second half of May. This concerns practical classes and, if necessary, exams – i.e. activities that are difficult or impossible to perform over the computer.

The admission period for the next 2020/2021 academic year in the University of Tartu for international master's degree programmes ended on March 15, as planned. According to preliminary statistics, the Faculty of Social Sciences as a whole received 1,023 applications, of which more than a third, or more precisely 389, were applications to the MA programmes of the Johan Skytte Institute for Political Studies.

In a Teams Live Event on 31 March at 14, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Aune Valk spoke about teaching and studies during the emergency situation and answered the questions posted by UT staff members and students.

From 2 April to 4 May, all doctoral students of the UT are invited to share their opinion on their studies to help the university plan changes in doctoral studies. The University of Tartu is planning major changes in doctoral studies in the coming years. The vision for the development of doctoral studies has been prepared. The requirements for doctoral theses are being updated. Besides, the university has supplemented the doctoral students’ income by the performance stipend.

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Although the University of Tartu Library is closed due to the emergency situation, users can again request books via the e-catalogue ESTER starting today, 25 March. The requested books can be picked up from smart lockers in the lobby of the library.

We are happy to announce the launch of an online course as part of the continuing education offering by the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, University of Tartu! The course is titled ‘Security in the Baltic Sea Region’, and has been designed as an introduction to ideas of security by focusing on this very interesting region.

On Friday, 20 March, at 14:00 there will be a video broadcast on the university website, where the rector and members of the Rector’s Office of the University of Tartu give an overview of the reorganisation of work at the university during the emergency situation, and answer questions sent by university members. In the broadcast, Rector Toomas Asser, Academic Secretary Tõnis Karki and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs Aune Valk will speak about the new organisation of work.

From Monday, 16 March, all UT buildings are closed for visitors and students. The buildings are not alarmed and staff members can enter using their university ID card. Visitors and students are not allowed in the buildings. If visitors need to get in, an employee must personally meet them. Receptionists and information secretaries in the buildings will continue work as usual, cloakrooms are closed.

Aune Valk, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of the University of Tartu, confirms that life at the university goes on despite the emergency situation and high-quality teaching and research activities continue. The university is ready to provide individual solutions to difficulties students may face.

Update on 13 March 2020: We regret to inform you that the lecture has been postponed. We will make an attempt to reschedule to a later date and will communicate this as soon as possible.

Update on 13 March 2020: We regret to inform you that the lecture has been postponed. We will make an attempt to reschedule to a later date and will communicate this as soon as possible.

We are glad to announce a guest lecture from Dr. Thomas Schaller from the University of Maryland in the frame of a course “Elections and Political Behaviour”. Dr. Schaller will focus mostly on the US presidential elections, as well as the state of the US political system as a whole. The lecture will take place on Monday, 9 of March at 10:15 in Lossi 36-214, and we welcome everyone interested US politics.

Over the past Friday and Saturday more than 50 participants, from different walks of life and from every corner of the world, attended that Tartu grass-root event of the “Schuman 2.0” project.

The University of Tartu (UT) and the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) have signed a memorandum of cooperation to strengthen the capacity of the Estonian foreign service. The agreement includes collaboration in the fields of R&D, applied research as well as degree studies and training courses.