TalTech as an Employer

A university is a unique place to work that gives an employee both an interesting career in an academic environment and smart colleagues. TalTech brings together representatives from a wide range of disciplines - engineers and economists, chemists and IT developers - with a common mission: to develop Estonian higher education and research.

Rapid development, ongoing challenges, and internationalization are the keywords that characterize TalTech today. In return, the university offers its employees longer vacations, a work environment under the pines of Nõmme and competitive pay.

TalTech has a green and one of the most compact university campuses in Europe that includes the Tehnopol Tallinn Science Park. Low hierarchy, academic freedom and a balanced work and family life is valued at TalTech. The university provides individual development and training opportunities, material and non-material tokens of acknowledgement, sporting opportunities at TalTech Sports Club and all-staff activities.

As the first university in Estonia, TalTech established a new tenure-track academic career model. The model aims to provide a sense of security for the present and future scientists and to motivate young talents to pursue scientific careers. The new model entered into force on the 1st of January 2017. 

Tenure

The key element of the new academic career model is permanent academic positions, i.e. tenure, for which the university provides central funding, regardless of fluctuations and setbacks in project-based funding. 

A Professor is an internationally recognized scientist or creative person, an independent researcher and an academic leader in their field, who organizes and conducts teaching in their field of research at all levels of higher education, leads research, development, or any other creative activity and supervises effectively the students and academic staff involved in these activities. 

Tenure positions combine the position of a lecturer and that of a scientist into a single position of a professor, in whose work the share of research and teaching can vary depending on the professor's preferences and needs of the university.
The two official ranks of Professor are Associate Professor, and Full Professor. The level of any given Professor is determined according to their career phase and results of academic activity. Eligibility of the employee for promotion to the next rank of the post is evaluated through attestation, through which the work performance of an academic staff member is evaluated. Regardless of the rank, each Professor is an independent researcher who brings together a research team of Early Stage and Postdoctoral researchers. 

In addition to the tenure track, TalTech also offers opportunities to specialize in teaching and start a career as a Lecturer, as well as to participate in university activities primarily in temporary or permanent research positions, which are aimed at fulfilling R&D contracts. A Lecturer is expected to be engaged in research activities to an extent which guarantees the quality of study activities. A Researcher is generally expected to be engaged in study activities to a small extent.

Academic Career Management

Structure of Academic Portfolio

This document describes the principles, objectives and action plan applied at Tallinn University of Technology to promote gender balance and equality of employees in 2021-2025.

The action plan addresses the most important challenges related to work carried out at the university in the coming years to ensure gender equality. The action plan sets out the responsibilities for the activities carried out and the implementation of the measures laid down in the action plan. The action plan must be applied in line with the regulations in force at the university.

Check out the Gender Equality Principles and Action Plan for 2021-2025 here (full text)

Staff training is coordinated and organized by the Human Resources Office through the Staff Development Division. 

Training and development are divided into four categories: 

• Management, including employee development conversations 
• Pedagogy and didactics
• Social and communicative skills, including language training 
• New employee onboarding and socialization 

International Staff Centre 

The International Staff Centre supports structural units in starting their employment with international workers. 

• Entering and socializing at TalTech and in Estonia 
• In-house training in English 
• Briefing and short training for starting academic staff and guest lecturers

More information on the International Staff Centre can be found here. 

Statistics from 2022

• 1996 employees
  • from 66 different countries
  • average age 44 years
  • 47,49% female 
• 1076 academic employees
  • 146 Professors 
  • 28,72% with international background 
  • 69,05% under the age of 50
• 920 non-academic employees