University of Tartu

Aune Valk

aune.valk@ut.ee

www.ut.ee

The University of Tartu (UT) is the oldest and largest university of Estonia and one of the best-known in Northern and Eastern Europe . From its foundation in 1632 to the first decades of the XX century UT was the only university in the Northern Baltic region.

With its eleven faculties, UT is the only classical university of Estonia . It also includes three specialized research institutions: the Institute of Physics , the Estonian Marine Institute and the Institute of Technology . UT has launched its regional program, in the framework of which it has established a network of six UT colleges located each in a different city.

Six high-level centres of excellence internationally renowned in their fields have been set up to pursue single research directions - the Centre of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, the Centre of Excellence of Chemistry and Materials Science, the Centre of Basic and Applied Ecology, the Centre of Excellence of Gene and Environmental Technology, the Centre of Behaviour and Health Sciences and the Institute of Physics.

UT is an internationally recognized research institution bringing together research in a variety of areas. Its research-based education is a guarantee of the continuity of Estonian intelligentsia and science. There are two research and development establishments in UT bearing the title of “European Commission Centre of Excellence” - Centre for Molecular and Clinical Medicine, the Institute of Physics .