About the Department of Geology

Department of Geology at Tartu University belongs to the Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Teaching of geological disciplines at the University of Tartu goes back to 1802 but the Chair of Natural Sciences and Mineralogy, and the Mineralogical Cabinet headed by the first geology professor Otto Moritz Ludwig von Engelhardt were founded at the University of Tartu in 1820.

Teaching and research in geology at Tartu University has been continuous since then. Over these two centuries the focus in geology education has been, and still is, on the training of highly qualified professionals with the aim at the increase in the overall competence in geology. Regardless of political regimes and social trends, geology has remained a capital science both in terms of fundamental knowledge of the Earth development and increasingly important applied aspects of georesources management.

The modern geology is highly interdisciplinary science that interacts with other fields of sciences like climatology, ecology, archeology and energetics, environmental technology, medicine, experimental physics and materials science etc. In many these cases we do not know anymore where one discipline ends and another starts. Geology as a field is in constant evolution and it is our task at Tartu University to keep pace with this development providing the best possible education and expertise in geology in Estonia.

Mente et  Malleo!