News

On November 19 from 14:00 to 16:00, the University of Tartu Centre for Digital Humanities will host an English-language seminar titled Large Language Models and the Estonian Language: the State of the Art. The event is organized by the Centre for Digital Text Studies (DigiTS) in cooperation with the Language Data Research Infrastructure (KeTa).

We asked four recipients of honorary decorations to share what makes the University of Tartu special to them.

On 31 October, the senate of the University of Tartu decided to award the University of Tartu Grand Medal to former rector, Professor emeritus Jaak Aaviksoo, Professor Marlon Gerardo Dumas Menjivar, Professor Kalle Kirsimäe, and Professor Ivo Leito. The recipients of the University of Tartu Star of Appreciation, Medal, Badge of Distinction and the decoration “100 Semesters at the University of Tartu” have also been selected.

From 8–10 October, the final conference of MEDAL (Methodological Excellence in Data-Driven Approaches to Linguistics) took place. At the end of the conference, the best young researchers were announced.

The three-minute thesis competition for doctoral researchers, held at the University of Tartu Library on 22 October, featured 13 popular-science short lectures in Estonian and 14 in English.

This year’s Lennart Meri Waterfowl People’s Fund scholarship was awarded to Patrick O’Rourke, a doctoral student at the University of Tartu’s Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics.

The 10th conference will take place on the 27th–28th of November at the University of Tartu Library.

Students who speak Estonian as a second language are invited to a proofreading workshop, where you can improve your text in an open and supportive atmosphere.

The University of Tartu three-minute thesis competition offers everyone the opportunity to learn in simple language how the research of current doctoral researchers contributes to making the world a better place to live in the future. The competition will be held on Wednesday, 22 October at 10:00 in the conference hall of the University of Tartu Library.

The University of Tartu was founded on 25 October 393 years ago. This year, the anniversary was marked by memorial ceremonies, a concert and other events.

Interest in the European Research Council (ERC) programme has grown among University of Tartu researchers. In response, the Grant Writing Unit is organising an ERC Information Event on 4 November 2025, focused on individual ERC Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grants.

From 13 October to 16 November, the university family and all others are invited to complete the orienteering course “160 years of making sense of weather observations”.

On 16 October from 6-9 pm, an autumn Hungarian dance class will be held at Korp! Ugala Hall (J. Kuperjanovi tn 16), where everyone is welcome to dance!

On 30 October 2025 at 14:15, Patrick O'Rourke will defend his doctoral thesis "Lounaisitämerensuomi: lounaisten itämerensuomalaisten kielten murteellinen kehitys".

On 23 October, all Finno-Ugric enthusiasts will have the opportunity to test their writing skills at the Finno-Ugric Wikipedia Workshop. Write an article in a Finno-Ugric language or on a Finno-Ugric topic – either contribute to an existing article or create a brand new one!

Our institute's Hungarian lecturer Krisztina Tóth has curated the Hungarian Film Nights program for the seventh autumn in a row.

The institute's autumn party will take place on 19 September at 6:00 PM at the Tartu Society of Ingrian Finns' building, Veski 35. All students, employees and lecturers of our institute are welcome to the event.

All university staff and students are invited to nominate candidates who deserve to be awarded the university’s honorary decoration for their outstanding achievements.

All in all, there are 16,052 students at the university.

We welcome first-year students to the Estonian and General Linguistics curriculum information sessions in August and September 2025.