[5] The university was founded under the name of Academia Gustaviana in 1632 by Baron Johan Skytte, the Governor-General of Swedish Livonia, Ingria, and Karelia, with the required ratification provided by King Gustavus Adolphus, shortly before the king's death on 6 November in the Battle of Lützen (1632).

Of course, the story consists of an imaginary tale, as Tiksu can speak and communicate with humans, but easily gets the message of the university across: the interest of their students for knowledge and life.

A precursor to the academy had been a Jesuit grammar school Gymnasium Dorpatense, founded by Stefan Batory (then king of Poland–Lithuania) in 1583 and existing to 1601, when Tartu (Dorpat) was under Polish–Lithuanian rule.

The academy in Tartu functioned with philosophy, law, theology, and medical faculties enjoying the privileges of the University of Uppsala.

In the 17th century, the future outstanding Swedish scholars Urban Hiärne, Olof Verelius, Arvid Moller [sv], and others studied at the university.

Just under a decade after being reconstituted, as a result of the coalition against Sweden (Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania) and the Great Famine of 1695–1697, the university moved from Tartu to Pärnu.

In teaching, the university educated the local Baltic German leadership and professional classes, as well as staff, especially for the administration and health system of the entire Russian Empire.

Between 1882 and 1898, russification in language, appointments, etc., was imposed, with some exceptions (such as the Divinity School, which the state feared would be used by the Orthodox clergy to teach dangerous Protestant views and was thus allowed to continue in German until 1916).

The University of Yuryev existed until 1918, when during part of the fall term, it was reopened, under German occupation, as Dorpat.

Most recently, the university has been and is still being marked by the adaptation of the Bologna declaration in Estonia generally and Tartu specifically, leading to major changes in curricula and studies, as well as by strong organizational centralization attempts.

The university's four museums, botanical gardens, and sports facilities are, by and large, open to the general public.

At the same time, numerous university buildings and student dormitories have been recently constructed or renovated, such as the Von Bock House.

Lectinology, the science of lectins, was founded at the University of Tartu in 1888 with the publication of Peter Hermann Stillmark's thesis about the isolation of ricin.

Also, more than half of the PhD theses in Estonia are defended at UT and over 2,000 high-level research articles (those covered by citation indices like "SCI Expanded", "SSCI", or "A&HCI") are published annually.

The success story of the last 15 years is the technology for the ME-3 strain of Lactobacillus fermentum bacterium, allowing its use in the food industry.

Scientists from UT and the Estonian University of Life Sciences have developed a new peat-based material that enables building inexpensive energy-efficient 3D-printed houses.

[55] From the 2022/2023 academic year, doctoral student places will mainly be offered as state-funded junior research fellow positions.

[56] As the largest provider of continuing education in Estonia, the University of Tartu offers around 1,200 courses per year to more than 39,000 participants.

[66] University of Tartu also won first place in Central and Eastern Europe by a number of venture capital money raised by the unicorn startups founded by its alumni.

[70] A statue of the formal founder of the University, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden (also known as Gustavus Adolphus) was raised in 1928 on campus and remained until 1950 when it was removed by the Soviet occupation authorities.

Another statue was raised in 1992 and was reopened by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queen Silvia.