University of Tartu

The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. The university was founded under the name of ''Academia Gustaviana'' in 1632 by Baron Johan Skytte, the Governor-General of Swedish Livonia, Ingria, and Karelia, with the required ratification provided by King Gustavus Adolphus, shortly before the king's death on 6 November in the Battle of Lützen (1632).

Nearly 14,300 students study at the university, of whom over 1,800 are foreigners. Most of the curriculum is instructed in Estonian. However, there are still 30 English-taught programs: three at the undergraduate level and 27 at the master's level, including the Erasmus Mundus program in Excellence in Analytical Chemistry.

The historical buildings of the university are included in the European Heritage Label list as "embodiment of the ideas of a university in the Age of Enlightenment". The university is a member of the Coimbra Group and the Utrecht Network.

The mascot of the university is called Tiksu, and behind it unravels a rather interesting story. It is said that Tiksu, depicted as a blue bird, hatched at sunrise and was given a thirst for learning new things. In this way, it symbolizes knowledge and intelligence. Later on, Tiksu is said to have met an ornithologist who also gave lectures at a university. Thus, one day the little bird followed his new friend to the place where he worked and managed to get inside a classroom. There he listened to lectures and learnt new information about birds. After some time, he became a part of the university family. Of course, the story consists of an imaginary tale, as Tiksu can speak and communicate with humans, but easily gets the message of the university across: the interest of their students for knowledge and life. Provided by Wikipedia