News

This year, 10,808 people applied for first and second-level studies at the University of Tartu, submitting 14,863 applications.

Submission deadline: July 23, 2025 We invite submissions from scholars across disciplines interested in how laws and regulations are interpreted, implemented, and transformed in real-world institutional settings.

In Arvo Pärt’s jubilee year, the lectures from his year as a University of Tartu professor of liberal arts have become accessible to an international audience, as English subtitles have been added to the recordings of the lecture series.

We hope the graduation ceremony created many joyful moments you would like to share with your loved ones or even the world. To help you express this wonderful feeling, feel free to use the photos from the ceremony.

On 16 June, the council of the University of Tartu approved the new strategic plan, which sets the direction for the university’s activities for the next ten years.

In collaboration with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various partners at Stanford University, Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom has announced the 2026 Short-Term Research Fellowships for Estonian scholars. Two of the Stanford University Fellowships for Estonian Security and Foreign Policy Experts were awarded to researchers from the University of Tartu, semioticians Mari-Liis Madisson and Andreas Ventsel.

Call for applicants: Professor of Semiotics of Culture. Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics, University of Tartu, Estonia. The application deadline is 1 July 2025.

On 25–26 August, the workshop on the ethics of artificial intelligence, "Ethics of AI: Navigating Challenges to Values, Society, and Human Welfare," will be held at the University of Tartu.

On Thursday, 5 June, a new board for the University of Tartu Student Union (UTSU) was elected during a meeting of the student parliament.

On 23 May 2025, Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas approved the results of the external evaluation of Estonian research and development. The University of Tartu was the only institution in Estonia to receive a positive evaluation in all six fields: natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agriculture and veterinary sciences, social sciences, and humanities and the arts.

What do psychedelic experiences, sports leagues, AI language models, post-Soviet nostalgia, teenage rebellion musicals, and brand-driven slang have in common? Each reflects a facet of meaning-making in the contemporary world — and each was explored through the lens of semiotics during the master's thesis defences at the University of Tartu's Department of Semiotics on 30 May 2025.

On Monday, 2 June at 16:15 an English-language colloquium will take place at the University of Tartu Delta Centre (Narva mnt 18–1008) and on Zoom, discussing the adoption of generative AI in medicine as a large-scale social experiment. The presentation will highlight the need for ethical conditions that support responsible and gradual implementation.

On 29 and 30 May 2025, students of the English-taught Philosophy MA programme at the University of Tartu defended their final theses, addressing topics that reflect the practical relevance of philosophy — from legislation and medical ethics to the financial sector and experiences of war.

We invite engaging presentations from all fields of research, delivered in clear language, in Estonian or English.

On Tuesday, 27 May at 16:15 at the University of Tartu Delta Centre (Narva mnt 18–1025), an English-language colloquium will take place, exploring how surveillance capitalism and AI algorithms restrict individual autonomy by turning human behaviour into data that is predicted, directed, and monetised.

On Monday, 26 May 2025 at 16:15, Professor Emeritus of philosophy, Bengt Molander (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), will hold a colloquium. In his presentation, Molander will address alternative forms of knowledge that are often overlooked in standard epistemology. The colloquium is in English and takes place in Jakobi 2, room 336.

Estonian researchers have created the AI Barometer where users can compare the responses of language models and assess their proficiency in Estonian. Everyone is welcome to try out the barometer at baromeeter.ai. The researchers aim to collect at least 50,000 comparisons by the end of June.

Next academic year, the professorship of liberal arts will be held by poet, children’s author and prosaist Viivi Luik.

Monday, 19 May 2025 at 4:15-6:00pm in the rotunda at the Old Anatomical Theatre, 10 Uppsala Street (Dome Hill) Isaac Nakhimovsky (Yale University) will be in discussion with Eva Piirimäe, Pärtel Piirimäe and Hent Kalmo (University of Tartu)

On 5 May from 16.15–17.45 in Jakobi 2 room 336, Daniel Novotný from the University of South Bohemia will deliver a colloquium exploring Francisco Suárez’s influential work "Disputationes metaphysicae“ (1597).