Three rectors’ scholarship came to the University of Tartu for the third year in a row

The winner of the three rectors’ scholarship competition, which was held for the eighth time this year, is Arnita Agrita Umalas, who was born and raised in Latvia but is studying Estonian language and linguistics at the University of Tartu, focusing on the Livonian language in her master’s thesis.

Arnita’s interest in languages began already in her childhood, when she was fascinated equally by Finnic languages and Lithuanian. “Lithuanian seemed completely incomprehensible to me as a child. Later, I realised that it was because of the free stress, not the vocabulary or grammar,” she said. Arnita developed her Estonian skills while studying and living in Tartu, and she has studied Lithuanian for two semesters at the University of Tartu. She was encouraged to enter the competition by Tiina Kattel, the teacher of Lithuanian, who saw it as a good opportunity to put her language skills to the test and build her confidence.

The contestants needed to submit three essays: one in Lithuanian, one in Latvian, and one in Estonian. Arnita chose her topics based on her wish to discuss he differences between the Baltic countries. In her essays, she pointed out that although the three countries cooperate closely, including on the political level, they are different, and the impact and uniqueness of each are important in shaping Europe.

In addition to Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian, Arnita is fluent in English and Russian, has a good understanding of Livonian and Finnish, and has studied Swedish, German and Chinese. However, she would not like to say she has perfect command of any language. She believes learning and mastering languages is a lifelong process, and there is always something new to discover, even in her native language. “The language changes, it is alive. I’d like to say I’m young, but teenage slang – be it Latvian or Estonian – is foreign and unfamiliar to me. You learn as long as you live; your mother tongue is no exception. I am sure that even when I’m 80, I’ll find some connection between Lithuanian and Latvian that I hadn’t thought of before,” Arnita said.

The three rectors’ scholarship competition was launched by the rectors of the University of Tartu, the University of Latvia and Vilnius University in 2017. The competition aims to promote the teaching and learning of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian. The universities take turns to award the scholarship. This year, the award ceremony was held on 16 April at the University of Latvia.

The next scholarship competition will be organised by Vilnius University in the 2025/2026 academic year. The amount of the scholarship is 2,000 euros. All full-time students and international students of the University of Tartu, the University of Latvia and Vilnius University, who speak one language of the Baltic countries at C1 level and the other two languages at least at A2 level, are welcome to apply. Find more information on the three rectors’ scholarship competition webpage.