Uudised

Coronavirus is spreading widely and the situation is alarming. It is everyone’s duty to avoid unnecessary contacts. As workplaces are important sources of infection in addition to schools and homes, we must reduce contacts also at the university and ask everyone whose duties allow that to work from home.

Researchers of the University of Tartu invite 370 people who have had COVID-19 to participate in a follow-up study aiming to evaluate the factors associated with the severity and consequences of the disease. The study will involve patients of the family medicine centres with the largest number of coronavirus patients in Tallinn, Saaremaa and Tartu.

To mark the 103rd anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, Rector Toomas Asser and Academic Secretary Tõnis Karki placed flowers at the Estonian War of Independence Memorial to Fallen Students in the university’s assembly hall.

A study by medical researchers of the University of Tartu reveals that Estonian 100-year-olds have a richer and more diverse gut microbiota than the young. Researchers believe that this knowledge could be applied to improve the health of microbiota and thus the health of the person. It is also very likely that the microbial habitats of the elderly can be used for isolating bacteria with high probiotic potential, helping to protect and promote the health of current and future generations.

On 11 February, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is held in Estonia for the first time, led by the Archemy research group of the University of Tartu and the Estonian Young Academy of Sciences.

Outstanding researcher, educator, and raising star in nanomedicine, Prof. Hélder A. Santos, joins the Laboratory of Precision and Nanomedicine of University of Tartu as a Visiting Professor.

Medical researchers of the University of Tartu published the first Estonian data on SARS-CoV-2 antibody persistence after asymptomatic or mild infection – 80% of subjects still had antibodies eight months later.

Yesterday, members of the Rector’s Office discussed the organisation of teaching and studies in February and March, and decided that in both months, teaching will be largely conducted online. However, we are trying to gradually move towards greater openness. We make decisions about teaching and studies in the spring semester for one month at a time – for each month, by the middle of the previous month. The rector’s decree with more detailed guidelines will take effect after passing the bylaw approval process.

A study led by medical researchers of the University of Tartu aims to find currently unknown hereditary factors that affect testicular development and cause a severe disorder of spermatogenesis and testis descent. Nearly 7% of men are infertile and 60% of these cases remain unexplained. Broadly speaking, the causes of male infertility can be divided into two: disorders in spermatogenesis (the development of sperms) and congenital genital or, more generally, urogenital developmental disorders, among which abnormal testis descent is the best known.

This week, the Digital Cleanup Week takes place at the university. Its aim is to declutter one’s personal or the unit’s digital life, and move in small but effective steps towards a greener university. The Digital CleanUp Week ends on 29 January, the nationwide Digital Cleanup Day.

Researchers of the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine are starting a new research project the results of which could lead to developing new biomarkers for drug addiction and open a new path in the treatment of drug addiction. According to the National Institute for Health Development, from 1999 to 2018, as many as 1.678 people died in Estonia as a result of a drug overdose. These deaths are overshadowed by the fact that there is currently no cure for addiction induced by psychostimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine.

To date, none of the so-called British or South African coronavirus strains, presumably more rapidly spreading, have been detected in Estonia, as reveals the whole-genome analysis of coronavirus conducted in the project KoroGeno-EST-2 by medical researchers of the University of Tartu. There has been a lot a talk lately about several new and hypothetically even more infectious strains of SARS-CoV-2. The so-called South African and British strains have received the most attention and been associated with increased infection rates.

The University of Tartu Mentoring Programme is open for applications. The programme, created for the students and alumni of the University of Tartu, was first introduced in 2017 and is now for the first time also available for international students and alumni.

Aune Valk, University of Tartu Vice Rector for Academic Affairs

The Estonian government has decided to support the study on the strains of SARS-CoV-2 with an additional 400,000 euros to allow the early detection of the possible occurrence of the new and potentially more rapidly spreading strains in Estonia.

Researchers and doctors of the University of Tartu, Tartu University Hospital and South-Estonian Hospital are studying how COVID-19 affects patients over the course of three years after infection. At the third- and sixth-month follow-up, more than half of the patients reported various health concerns, although their routine analyses were fine. In the third-month follow-up, the main complaint was a decrease in physical exercise capacity. By the sixth month, the number of patients with complaints had increased and problems with joints were added to the decreased exercise capacity.

In the newly published ranking list of universities from emerging Europe and Central Asia, the University of Tartu has reached the second place, which is also the highest among Estonian universities.

Analysis by medical researchers of the University of Tartu indicates that focusing solely on respiratory symptoms may mean that COVID-19 is diagnosed late or left undiagnosed. For people older than 50, more attention must be paid to diarrhoea and fever without cough or runny nose.

Dear students, lecturer! Thank you for your patience! We are aware that there are many questions about the continuing of contact study and having taken into account the directions from the Government of Estonia, the Rector`s office of the University of Tartu and the instructions from the UT Clinic`s crisis management team the following rules apply from 14.12.2020 [collapsed]

The government of Estonia decided today that as of 14 December, all educational institutions, including universities, will be closed. Therefore, the university leaders decided that no classroom studies are conducted at the University of Tartu at least until the spring semester.