On April 25, a debate took place in the auditorium of Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) and was followed by hundreds of viewers via live stream.
The debate was between TalTech current rector Tiit Land and member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Tarmo Soomere, both candidates for the position of university’s next rector.
ERR journalist Johannes Tralla moderated the debate, frequently steering the discussion toward topics related to entrepreneurship. Tiit Land and Tarmo Soomere had to answer questions about knowledge transfer, research funding, attracting private capital, as well as increasing the number of patents, contracts, and licenses, introducing tuition-based programs, and the expected savings from consolidating university support services.
At times, the debate became quite heated, with questions touching on the nature of top-level research, the involvement of tenured professors in undergraduate education, reducing overlap between universities, and the role of artificial intelligence in academia. Questions came from students, university staff and alumni, as well as the current president of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, Mart Saarma.
The 11-member council of Tallinn University of Technology will elect the new rector on May 9. The rector’s term of office will last four years.
Watch the recording of the debate here.
ChatGPT was used to assist with the translation of the text.