Business and management and education programmes at University of Tartu place high in international rankings

16 subjects taught at University of Tartu have made it to the international university rankings published in late February. This year two new University of Tartu subjects have entered the rankings of consulting firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) – education ranked in the top 251–300 and business and management in the top 401–450.

In QS World University Rankings by subject, the highest ranking subject at University of Tartu (UT) was political sciences and international studies (101–150). Linguistics, philosophy, geography and agriculture and forestry follow, all ranking in the top 151–200.

According to the head of UT's Institute of Education Äli Leijen, their researchers cooperate with international partners, participating in numerous research and development projects that often lead to publishing well-cited high quality articles. Educational researchers at UT actively contribute to international research communities and hold leading positions in both professional organisations and editorial teams of scientific journals. Leijen noted that these activities might be the reason why the institute has received international recognition.

"The strategic advantage of the School of Economics and Business Administration is offering integrated studies. We hope to work together with computer scientists, mathematicians and statisticians to implement this vision in the future as well," head of the School Kadri Ukrainski explained.

For several years now, Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies has been prioritising increasing quality of studies and research through internationalisation. "It has been a long process and we are now beginning to reap the benefits," head of institute Mihkel Solvak says. "QS ratings really incorporate so-called academic reputation within disciplines. Our high ranking shows that the political sciences and international relations programmes at UT are highly valued. We can really offer international and highly competitive education."

Besides political sciences and international studies that have arisen to the top, biology has also improved in ranking (301–350 in 2018, 251–300 in 2019).

Other top subjects at UT include agriculture and forestry, geography, communication and media studies, linguistics, philosophy (151–200), law, modern languages, English language and literature (251–300), computer sciences, medicine (351–400), chemistry (451–500), physics and astronomy (551–600).

QS that comprises some of the most well-known international university rankings has also been ranking universities by subject (altogether 48 subjects) since 2011. The number of ranked universities per subject varies between 50 (e.g. dentistry, library management and veterinary) and 600 (e.g. chemistry, physics and computer sciences).

When ranking universities, QS considers reputation among researchers and employers as well as bibliometrics from the Scopus database. The percentual importance of the indicators vary across subjects – e.g. in arts and design only reputation is considered but in case of natural sciences with large publication volumes, bibliometrics matter more.

In 2019 students can apply for 27 English programmes, including two BA, one integrated and 24 MA programmes in University of Tartu. All info on English programmes is available on the UT website. Please turn to the admissions office for any follow-up questions.

Further information:
Äli Leijen, UT Head of the Institute of Education, +372 737 6441, ali.leijen@ut.ee   
Kadri Ukrainski, UT Head of the School of Economics and Business Administration, +372 737 6360, kadri.ukrainski@ut.ee
Mihkel Solvak, UT Head of Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies, 737 6372, mihkel.solvak@ut.ee