Journey to Digital Estonia: A Visit to the University of Tartu
How do they take care of their employees elsewhere? We took a closer look at HR practices at the University of Tartu.
Site Visit hosted by our Faculty
We made it through! On Wednesday, 27 August, our faculty hosted the Site Visit. Everything ran smoothly, and the early signals suggest we have retained the HR Excellence in Research Award. We have every reason to be proud; the official verdict will follow soon.
On Wednesday, August 27, our Faculty hosted the Site Visit as part of the process of renewing the HR Excellence in Research Award. We will receive the official verdict of the committee soon.
How we prepared
This year’s preparation built on the work of the previous HR Award team, led by PhDr. Barbora Wahlová and Mgr. Zuzana Hrabovská. We continued their efforts and moved things forward:
- we redesigned the website to make it clear and practical,
- updated and expanded the Action Plan with clearly traceable outputs,
- consulted our approach with universities that had already undergone a Site Visit,
- prepared a visually and content-wise refined presentation for the evaluators,
- trained presentation skills with the Faculty leadership,
- organized six preparatory focus group meetings in both Czech and English with more than 30 colleagues, ensuring gender and nationality diversity as well as representation of all research levels R1–R4.
How did the day go?
The evaluators asked concrete and thought-provoking questions and added several practical recommendations. The focus groups openly shared what works well at the Faculty and where there is room for improvement. Thanks to everyone involved, the Site Visit was carried out in a spirit of transparency and constructive debate.
What’s next?
We are still waiting for the official result, but we already know that we have successfully defended the Award. The final level of evaluation will be decided by the committee. However, the first reactions confirm that we were among the well-prepared institutions.
We have every reason to be proud
Yes, sometimes things get stuck, and sometimes we spend longer than we’d like looking for the right form. But the level of transparency, flexibility, and mutual respect has improved significantly in recent years. Processes are no longer just a binder on the shelf – in most situations, they have become real support.
A big thank you goes to everyone who contributed their time, energy, and openness to the preparation.
