Let’s take a look at the most popular stories on our blog from the last year. Truth be told, some stories from previous years continued to be extremely popular also in 2014, like our most successful story ever: 10 Tips for a Good Presentation, but we will focus on the stories published last year. So, in 2014 our big hit was this:
1. 10 Tongue Twisters To Get You Started on Estonian
Impress your friends and yourself by learning some difficult and fun Estonian words and phrases. For example, ‘jäääär’:
2. The Song Festival Is Sacred for Estonians
This survey led by University of Tartu researchers reveals why the tradition of song and dance festivals is sacred for Estonians, and also reveals the top 5 festival experiences.
3. Family Tradition Brings Ana from Georgia To Study Medicine in Tartu
Read the fascinating story of a Georgian family and their love for Estonia. Ana (17) started her medical studies at the University of Tartu in her father’s steps, but the story begins even earlier with Ana’s grandmother.
4. How Selective Is Your Attention?
Why do we notice a remarkably beautiful person in a crowd? In his PhD thesis, Andero Uusberg studied specific mechanisms that the brain uses to pay attention.
5. 6 Tips To Survive Your Writing Assignments
Djuddah Leijen from UT Centre of Academic Writing and Communication gives 6 tips to survive academic writing assignments.
6. The Crazy World of Peer Review
Jüri Allik, UT Professor of Experimental Psychology and one of the world’s most cited scientists in his field, elaborates on three main shortcomings of peer review: slowness, ineffectiveness, and amorality.
7. The Second Crimean War: When Decaying Empires Strike Back
Professor Rein Taagepera maps the present situation in Crimea, Russia, and Ukraine in the broader historical context, relying on quantitative studies of empire growth and decay over the last 5000 years.
8. What’s the Secret of the Slim?
How do some people stay slim? What’s different about their behaviour? Psychologists look into the success formulas of slim people to help those worried about their excess weight.
9. In Search of the True Estonian
The future of being Estonian doesn’t depend solely on demographic trends, but also on our understanding of the essence of being Estonian. UT linguist Martin Ehala sheds some light on the topic.
10. Student Career Podcast: Myroslava at Fortumo
In this podcast interview, Myroslava Stavnycha, a first-year master’s student of software engineering at the University of Tartu, talks about her fresh job at the leading mobile payments provider Fortumo.
