Academic mobility
Every year Estonian universities welcome more and more international students from all over the world. Internationally recognised English-based degree programmes and shorter courses are offered by universities that have agreed on common high academic standards and support services by signing the Agreement on Good Practice in the Internationalisation of Estonia’s Higher Education Institutions.
In Estonia, the higher education system is binary consisting of two branches – an academic branch and a professional higher education. Since the academic year 2002/2003 the academic branch has three levels. Bachelor-level studies (bakalaureuseõpe) last for 3 years and form the first cycle. Master-level studies (magistriõpe) last for 2 years and form the second cycle. The highest level of university education is doctoral studies (doktoriõpe). In the Estonian higher education system there are no intermediate qualifications. All higher education diplomas and degrees issued are final higher education qualifications. Starting from the academic year 2009-2010 Estonian higher education institutions will transit to the ECTS credit point system.
All recognised state and public higher education institutions have the right to award the state sample of diplomas of a certain format and content. Private higher education institutions have the right to award the state diploma only to the graduates who have completed an accredited study programme. All Estonian higher education institutions and their study programmes are recognised by the state after quality assessment and accreditation. Recognition by the Republic of Estonia is the basic requirement for the recognition of studies in the student’s home country. All internationally offered degree programmes in Estonian universities are accredited.
Admission to the study programmes is usually administered by the higher education institution. The evaluation of foreign higher education qualifications and qualifications giving access to higher education is conducted by the Estonian National Academic Recognition Information Centre (Estonian ENIC/NARIC). Applicants should also prove their proficiency in English language. The common requirement is an official result of TOEFL, IELTS or some other internationally accepted English proficiency test. Candidates should apply directly to the higher education institution for more detailed information on admissions and scholarship opportunities.
More information can be found on the web-site: http://www.smartestonia.ee/ (please refer to the section Higher Education and Research Institutions, HE Institutions, Studies in English). Also please contact with the international student’s office of the institution that you are interested in.
The Estonian Government offers a number of scholarships for PhD-studies for non-resident students. Estonian Government has launched strategic initiatives for supporting the internationalisation of the Estonian higher education and research institutions. Under the initiative study opportunities and scholarships are created for non-resident PhD students in the fields of natural and exact sciences, technology and medicine. The study grant equivalent to the standard public grants of PhD students is allocated to the grant holder. In addition, a return travel to home country once a year, a health insurance and a state fee for the residence permit during the nominal duration of the studies will be covered.
If you are interested in applying for a PhD study place, please contact the Centre for Academic Mobility of the Archimedes Foundation on the following e-mail address info(at)studyinestonia.ee.
