Many Estonian manor parks are protected by conservation laws. The main reason for this is the variety of different species of trees in the parks.
Manor gardeners disappeared from the parks along with the estate owners a little less than a hundred years ago. After that, maintaining the parks became more random and many have become forest-like as a result.
| Do | Don’t |
| 1. Be conscious that the writing process consists of different phases: choosing and defining a topic, formulation of the hypothesis, planning, research, writing, rewriting, and finishing up. | 1. Sit behind your desk and write without a good plan. |
| 2. Defining your topic is essential: first choose your topic and refine your topic with a clear hypothesis. | 2. Attempt to read and include everything. Do not try to research too many questions. This will often lead to writing which is too general and no focus. |
| 3. Collect material about your topic that is relevant for answering the hypothesis and make sure you make clear notations. It will be easy to find and make references. | 3. Copying everything without considering the relevance or make loose notes here and there which you will not be able to find later on in the writing process. |
| 4. Write on a regular basis and make a real effort not to postpone the phases of the writing process. | 4. Write during those moments when you are ‘in the mood’ or wait till the last moment. |
| 5. Organize your material to form arguments. Explain your arguments in steps and demonstrate reasoning. | 5. Do not accumulate facts without much binding. |
| Continue reading | |
Hunting single genes does give a complete picture of how the human body works and illnesses develop. Instead, we should look at the networks of genes and proteins, says University of Tartu Professor Johan Björkegren.
Professor Johan Björkegren. Image credit: Camilla Svensk.
You published a review article in Science Translational Medicine where you talk about ‘new biology’. What is wrong with the old one?
We are using ‘new’ in a double sense (also short for ‘network enabled wisdom’ – A.O.). We wanted to refer to the fact that for researchers it was not possible to address other than perhaps a single gene or a single protein and then try to figure out the role of the particular protein in a particular pathway.
We are not saying there was anything wrong with that but there were no tools to do anything else. All over the world most professors in biology and medicine are professors because they are experts on a particular pathway, sometimes even a particular gene. Continue reading
Scientists from the University of Tartu used innovative methods to figure out the gene sequences of plants beneath the surface of the soil. This led to the discovery that species richness among them is much greater than one can see above the ground.
The species-rich meadows of the temperate latitudes can sometimes contain dozens of plant species growing in an area that is no bigger than the palm of a hand. But as a rule, perennial plants have roots, rhizomes and bulbs hidden in the soil. On these species-rich grasslands, these could constitute up to three-fourths of plant biomass. Until now, it wasn’t possible to sort roots into species according to their visible characteristics.
There are many more plants belowground than aboveground. Inga Hiiesalu is taking samples of plants and the roots beneath them. Photo from personal archive.
In the study, samples of soil were taken from experimental plots at a meadow in Põlvamaa, near the river Ahja. The number of plants visible above-ground was counted, and then plants from the soil samples were sequenced, based on DNA taken from their roots. To achieve this, a specific region of chloroplast DNA was used to differentiate between plant species.
It turned out that at the same spot, up to two times more plant species can live in the soil belowground than aboveground. Continue reading
Juri Mikhailovich Lotman, a world-famous semiotician and cultural historian, would have turned ninety today. One way to celebrate this anniversary is to dive into the enormously rich and inspiring scientific legacy of Juri Lotman. Hopefully this modest collection of resources will be of some help. Continue reading
Unless you are a medical or natural sciences student, your knowledge of Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876) might be vague or limited. For those who have seen and remember Estonia’s own currency, Baer is the face on the 2-kroon banknote.
Some may also know that on Walpurgis Night, Tartu students wash the head of Karl Maksimovich Baer’s (that’s how he was known in Russia) monument on Toome Hill with champagne. The tradition comes from medical students, as Baer studied medicine at the Imperial University of Dorpat (Tartu) in 1810-1814. Later this Baltic-German scientist was prolific in many fields.
Today, on the 220th anniversary of Baer’s birth, let us dedicate a few minutes to this great personality and do this in spite of the fact that Baer complained about the quality of his education in Tartu. Continue reading
Martin studied at the University of Tartu’s Eurocollege in autumn semester. Now he is finishing his Master’s degree in Prague in the field of Security Studies and is looking for a job (“you can add that desperately and if anybody knows about something, they can contact me”). Martin wrote this story for the UT Student Journalist Contest.
The Kissing Students statue in Tartu. Photo: Tiit Mõtus
I would like to present you a story, even though it is not mine. The reason I would like to tell you this story is because Tartu plays the main role in it. You can certainly say that for the people involved, Tartu became the city of their good thoughts. The story I will tell you is a story of love – a love that would not have happened without Tartu. Continue reading
