[3] EMÜ is, by its own claim, the only university in Estonia whose priorities in academic and research activities provide the sustainable development of natural resources necessary for the existence of Man as well as the preservation of heritage and habitat.

After the reopening of Tartu University in 1802, a Chair of Agriculture was founded under Prof. Johann Wilhelm Krause.

When Tartu opened as an Estonian university in 1919, a Faculty of Agriculture, consisting of the Departments of Agronomy and Forestry, was founded.

Experimental stations and trial plots, where students could undertake research work, also belonged to the faculty.

Thus, in the same year, the change to Estonian University of Life Sciences and refocusing was carried out, aimed at guaranteeing the institution's survival in the coming times.