OREANDA-NEWS. At its session of 24 April, the Senate of the University of Tartu approved the new academic structure of the university. As of 1 January 2016, the University of Tartu will have four faculties: Faculty of Humanities and Arts, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Exact Sciences, and Faculty of Social Sciences.

The new academic structure will comprise institutes and colleges as second-level units under the four big faculties as well as non-faculty institutions: the University of Tartu Museum, the Natural History Museum and Botanical Garden, the Estonian Genome Center, and the library. Proposals regarding the distribution of the subunits were submitted to the senate by the councils of each current area of teaching and research – humaniora, medicina, realia et naturalia and socialia.

The structural change will harmonise the content and volume of the research work and teaching of the academic units and give them a stronger and clearer mandate than before for making decisions in the issues concerning their specialisations.

“The approved new structure of the university allows the University of Tartu to progress in a way which will increase integration of specialisations as well as the involvement and responsibility of the members of the university in making strategic decisions,” said Professor Volli Kalm, Rector of the University of Tartu.

According to Kristiina T?nnisson, chair of the socialia area council, the reform will create the prerequisites for closer cooperation within the future faculties. “Although each of the faculties will surely be faced with several serious challenges in starting to operate as a unified faculty, the reform will force them to review their operations so far and step out of their comfort zone. The current practices within socialia have been very different and thus we are also hoping to see positive results through wider harmonisation and an increased feeling of unity. We are hoping to simultaneously increase the efficiency of teaching and improve the quality.”