UNIVERSITY OF TARTU RANKED AMONGST WORLDS´ LEADING UNIVERSITIES

15.10.2009

For the first time, the University of Tartu has been ranked among the top five per cent of world’s leading universities in the reputable Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), there are 12,000 universities in the world. From among those 12,000, the top five per cent are selected.

The best ranked university is, once again, Harvard, the second being the University of Cambridge, switching places with Yale, which holds the third position this year. However, according to the journal, the most noteworthy fact is that the University College London has risen to the fourth place, ahead of Oxford and Imperial College, which are tied for the fifth position.

The table of leading world universities shows a fall in the number of North American universities in the top hundred (42 in 2008, 36 in 2009) and an increasing presence of European and Asian universities. Of the close neighbours of the University of Tartu, the top hundred includes the universities of Lund (67th place) and Uppsala (75th) in Sweden and the University of Helsinki (108th) in Finland is also not too far behind.

The ranking system takes into account surveys of academics and employers, ratio of students and teaching staff, the number of citations in research publications and the number of international teaching staff and students. This year 9,386 academics (47% more than in 2008) and 3,281 employers (40% more than in 2008) responded to the surveys.

Jüri Raidla, the managing partner of Raidla Lejins & Norcous and the Chairman of the Governors Board at the University of Tartu says it is great to witness being ranked amongst worlds´ top universities. "The consistency invested in keeping the quality and further develop the education provided in University of Tartu has proven to have been the right direction", he comments.

All 31 lawyers of the Raidla Lejins & Norcous Tallinn office have gained their education from University of Tartu, two of them - PhD Ants Nõmper and PhD Martin Käerdi are also faculty members.

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Founded in 1632, the University of Tartu is the largest and most comprehensive university in Estonia, and one of the most venerable centres of education and research in this part of Europe. Today, the University of Tartu has 10 faculties, 5 regional colleges across the country, and several specialized research institutes. Tartu is home to 17,000 students, including 630 international students. University of Tartu continues to be largest and the only classical university in Estonia, providing over 200 degree study programs with Estonian as the language of instruction, and recruiting over 25% of high school graduates every year.