News

On Friday, 14 March, from 14:15 to 15:45, there will be an English-language colloquium on Zoom discussing the definition of pregnancy, the ambiguity of its beginning and end, and the philosophical and societal implications of pregnancy loss.

On 1–2 April 2025, the Philosophy Graduate Workshop in Tartu will be hosted by the Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Ethics at the University of Tartu. The event will bring together experienced philosophers from across Europe.

Now, the internal reporting channel of the University of Tartu in FaceUp can be used to send breach reports confidentially and, if requested, anonymously. It is no longer possible to report by email.

On March 3 at 16:15, at Delta building, room 1008 (Narva mnt 18), Dr. Nikhil Mahant will deliver a talk titled “Two Dogmas of AI Doomsayers”. The lecture can also be followed live via Zoom. Dr. Nikhil Mahant is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Uppsala University and is currently a resident at Susimetsa Philosophicum.

On Monday, 3 February, at 4:15 PM, a lecture on medical artificial intelligence will take place in the University of Tartu Delta Study Building (Narva mnt 18-2048). The speakers are Dr Frank Ursin and Dr Cristian Timmermann from Germany. The lecture, titled “Levels of Explicability: How to Overcome Epistemological and Normative Barriers in Medical AI”, is organised by the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu, Department of Philosophy, and the Estonian Centre of Excellence in AI (EXAI).

On 20 January, the council of the Institute of Philosophy and Semiotics unanimously elected Professor Bruno Mölder as head of the institute. His third term of office will run from 1 February 2025 to 31 January 2028. The council also elected Professor of Practical Ethics Kadri Simm as the new head of the Department of Philosophy. Her term of office starts on 1 February 2025 and ends on 31 January 2028.

On the 30th and 31st of January 2025, the University of Tartu (Jakobi 2, Tartu) will host a two-day intensive seminar on research ethics for doctoral students from all fields. The workshop will be in English, and participants can earn 1 EAP.

29–31 January sees the 9th Startup Day business festival. The University of Tartu will showcase its entrepreneurial research activities in the demo area, discuss the myths of the deep tech business on the main stage, and lead and organise seminars and side events.

As part of the main programme of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024, the Tartu World University series of events organised 47 meetings that connected scientists and communities, attended by 17,966 people. Together, they sought solutions to global problems using local examples and vice versa. Communities will continue to address World University themes and organise events in the future.

The Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu has established a nationwide network to foster collaboration in artificial intelligence ethics.

On 2 December at 14:15, Urte Laukaityte (UC Berkeley) will give a talk titled "Symptom Perception as Inference: The Scope of Functional Neurological Disorder" in Jakobi 2-336. Urte is completing her doctoral dissertation on the philosophy of psychiatry at UC Berkeley and is currently Prof. Dr. Theda Rehbock’s Philosophy Resident at Susimetsa Philosophicum. 

Department of Philosophy and the Centre for Ethics cordially invite you on Monday, 25 November at 16:15, Jakobi 2-336 to attend a talk by Dr. Ruth Rebecca Tietjen “Variations on loneliness: existential, social, political”. Dr. Tietjen is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy at Tilburg University and Pof. Dr. Theda Rehbock’s Philosophy Resident at Susimetsa Philosophicum.

1 December marks 105 years from the opening of the Estonian-language University of Tartu. Traditional anniversary events will be held on that occasion.

On 25 October, the University of Tartu senate decided to award the University of Tartu Grand Medal to Professor of International Business Urmas Varblane. Also, 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 been announced.

The discussion game developed by researchers at the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu has received a remake – the game is now available in English.

On October 3, 2024, the Centre for Ethics of the University of Tartu held the conference “Trust = Survival?! - Where does trust come from, where does it go, and how to survive?”. Experts gathered to explore the multifaceted concept of trust, examining it from the perspectives of survival in crisis, community and collaboration, and the role of science in building public confidence.

On 5 September, one of the world’s leading moral philosophers, Professor Jeff McMahan from the University of Oxford, will give a public lecture on the ethics of killing and just war theory. His lecture marks the publication of a special issue of a philosophy journal focused on the Russia-Ukraine war. The event will be held from 16:00 to 18:00 in White Hall at the University of Tartu Museum.

On 29 May, the Estonian Human Rights Centre presented the "Respecting differences" label to the University of Tartu for the second time at the joint building of ministries in Tallinn.

A multidisciplinary student exhibition emerged under the leadership of Timo Maran, Professor of Ecosemiotics and Environmental Humanities, as a result of an interdisciplinary research project and a semiotics master's course. The course combined semiotics, natural sciences, and methods of creative inquiry. The exhibition, opened on 9 May, presents the Umwelten of animals to the public. It is also part of the Prima Vista and the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programmes and will remain open until 20 June.

On Friday, April 5, at 16:15 - opening of the exhibition "Kant 300 in Tartu: from manuscripts to heaven" at the university library. The exhibition features original manuscripts of the philosopher's lecture courses and correspondence, as well as first editions of his works from the collections of the University of Tartu Library.