Estonia, in North-Eastern Europe, is home to the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu. The institute itself is located in the heart of Estonia’s second largest town, Tartu, which is home to around one hundred thousand people. The town’s long academic traditions and the university’s academic excellence in the field of political studies laid the foundation for the establishment of the Institute in 2016. The logo is in attachment.
The Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies combines both high-level scholarly research and a dynamic and international learning environment at all three levels of higher education. It offers a Political Science BA programme at the Bachelor’s level (in Estonian), four MA programmes (International Relations and Regional Studies, Democracy and Governance, and European Union – Russia Studies in English and European Studies in Estonian), as well as a Political Science PhD programme (in English). Currently around 400 students are enrolled in the institute’s programmes, 40% of whom are international students. The institute’s faculty consists of a dynamic community of scholars with internationally acknowledged experience in research and teaching and combines various teaching cultures and educational backgrounds. The institute’s key research domains include international relations, comparative politics, European studies, Russia and Eurasian studies, and e-governance.
The Institute hosts also the Centre for European – Union Russia Studies (CERUS), the Centre of IT Impact Studies (CITIS), and the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS).
The institute has been successful in coordinating a large number of international research projects and in attracting grants at all levels. Worth mentioning, in this respect, is the recent establishment of the ECePS ERA Chair in e-Governance and Digital Public Services whose aim is to create an internationally recognized research team on e-governance, public e-services and data-driven public innovation.
In addition to teaching and research excellence, the UT has advanced its digital capabilities in light of the most recent technological developments, with the establishment and consolidation of a Lifelong Learning Centre and Multimedia Centre which led to the production of more than 20 MOOCs. The university’s international reputation in the field is witnessed by the invitation to join the U4 Network – which supports innovative processes in education and research – as its fifth full member. In particular, the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies has promoted the exchange of good practices and cooperation possibilities in online learning, the development of MOOCs and e-courses, virtual exchange and the organization of practical workshops in the realm of digital teaching with involvement from external specialists.
Politics and international studies emerge among the highest-ranked specialties of the University of Tartu according to “QS World University Rankings by Subject” in 2020 (range 151–200).
Website: https://skytte.ut.ee/en
Social media: https://www.facebook.com/UTpoliticalscience and @skytteUT
Person responsible: Dr. Stefano Braghiroli (Associate Professor of European Studies and Programme director)