Tallinn University of Technology

[EduCativ]

TTU was established on 17 September 1918, when the Estonian Engineering Society uniting local technology intellectuals began to provide special engineering courses in German-occupied Estonia. When Estonia gained independence, the need for engineers, architects, and technicians kept growing. In 1919, the activities were continued under a private school called Tallinn College of Engineering (TCE).
For further development, TCE was nationalized in 1920, and it soon achieved the status of a public institution of higher education. Until 1931, TCE operated under tight conditions at Pikk Street, after which they moved to the main building of the former Russian-Baltic shipyard at Kopli. Although the objective was to construct a full campus for the university, it was not carried out due to a limited budget. Despite financial difficulties, there were still plenty of enthusiastic young people who wished to acquire their TCE engineering education.
In the late 1920s, TCE's development was slowed down by a merger plan with the University of Tartu. The situation improved in 1936 when the government decided that the university of technology must remain in Tallinn. As a result, TCE was renamed Tallinn Technical Institute. Fast development was soon brought to a halt by World War II. The war cost the university both lecturers and students, not to mention assets.
During the post-war occupation, the university was called Tallinn Polytechnic Institute (TPI). It was called so until the restoration of independence of Estonia. Despite the general intellectual recession, the quality of the university improved continuously. From the 1970s, thoughts and ideas were disseminated more freely. The student body increased, and the qualification of lecturers improved. TPI made significant progress in scientific research, earning a leading university of technology in the Soviet Union.
One of the most crucial turning points was starting the university campus construction at Mustamäe in the early 1960s. During the Singing Revolution, new winds began to blow. The university actively participated in social processes, contributing significantly to the restoration of national independence. In 1989, the name Tallinn University of Technology was retaken into use.
During the following two decades, the study programs have remarkably expanded, the student body and academic staff have undergone robust internationalization, and the operating conditions have also improved. At present, TTÜ is one of the most prominent and most renowned universities in Estonia. The university has 700 lecturers and more than half a thousand research staff. Before World War II, the number of students at TTÜ remained under 500, while today's number is almost 30 times bigger. The university has around 70,000 alumni whom all have contributed to Estonia's development.
To introduce an integrated tenure-team academic career model. Student and stakeholder feedback, academic performance, international outreach, and industrial partnerships play a crucial role in implementing the career model.
To increase the share of internationally recognized top researchers in the academic family and strengthen capacity for research, thereby laying a strong foundation for all university activities.
To regard doctoral students as researchers, who, together with post-doctoral fellows, have a vital role inconsistent strengthening the university's research capacity.
To form academically talented research teams that lay the foundation for developing science and technology, knowledge-based studies, and interaction with society. Research teams shall be able to apply for research funding successfully and engage in research- and innovation-intensive cooperation with enterprises and the public sector in Estonia and abroad.
Based on related research teams to form departments, which are the university's central academic and administrative structural units. The departments shall provide the academic competence and infrastructure required for teaching and research and the capacity to successfully participate in international research cooperation, including international networks and cooperation with enterprises and the public sector.
To reorganize the faculties and redesign them following the areas of responsibility arising from the Tallinn University of Technology Act.
To abide by the principle that the university's strong international position and carefully focused contribution to excellence and state-of-the-art technologies serve the Estonian economy and people's interests in the best way. To implement the university's academic potential in particular through a strategic partnership with major technology-intensive companies in the world while being an active partner to Estonian companies and involving them in the university's activities and development. To create a situation where cooperation with strong business partners is carried out in every field of research. To play an active role in popularizing engineering sciences.

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