OREANDA-NEWS.  October 01, 2012. The Ethics Centre of the University of Tartu, the University of Tartu Foundation and Swedbank Estonia will be signing an agreement for the awarding of business ethics scholarships to doctoral students, reported the press-centre of Swedbank.

The scholarship programme is designed to foster business culture in Estonia which is both sustainable and socially responsible and to generate debate on the issue of business ethics.

“From the point of view of the sustainable development of society, stability is critical – it affects us all, individuals and companies alike,” said Priit Perens, the director of Swedbank Estonia. “It’s much better to live in a stable society, which also helps companies do business more successfully over the longer term. Social stability is based on social cohesion and behaviour that’s accepted by members of that society. That can be called ‘ethics’, and the accepted norms of business relations ‘business ethics’. And there are different business ethics in different environments. What the business ethics of our environment are and what the role of companies is in shaping a sustainable society are issues that need to be investigated and discussed. So in creating the scholarship programme we’re hoping to support debate on business ethics and responsible enterprise and deeper analysis of the subjects in business environments and among the public generally.”

On the academic side, the scholarships will be managed by the Ethics Centre of the University of Tartu. The director of the centre, Professor Margit Sutrop, says that the programme will support business ethics studies and research, help to update the centre’s library and boost the level of public debate on issues related to the subject. “It will also foster cooperation between fields, both within the university and between universities,” she said. “I really hope doctoral students in different fields grab hold of the opportunity.”

“The ethics scholarship is the first of its kind for us,” explained Ruth Kotsar, a member of the management board of the University of Tartu Foundation. “Working with the university we’ll be offering professional guidance to the recipients, as well as output in terms of public debate.”

Up to four EUR 2000 scholarships will be awarded in both academic years between 2012 and 2014. Applications can be submitted by doctoral students in all accredited fields in Estonian institutions of higher education who are interested in tackling issues related to socially responsible enterprise and business ethics and who wish to undertake research in this field. The public competition for the scholarships will be launched by 1 October 2012.

For further information please contact Ruth Kotsar, member of the management board of the University of Tartu Foundation – telephone: +372 737 5852 / mobile: +372 52 16 820 / e-mail: ruth.kotsar@ut.ee.