The virtual tour allows all to get acquainted with the university's teaching and research environment via the use of 360-degree photos.

Pille-Riin Makilla, project manager of the virtual tour, said it had not proved easy to include all the uniqueness and scale of an international national university within the one tour.

Makilla said: "The virtual tour is probably the largest in Europe, covering 40 buildings and over 160 locations in five cities."

"The University of Tartu buildings are not located on the one single campus but in different parts of Tartu, as well as in Tallinn, Pärnu, Narva and Viljandi."

"It was also difficult to decide how to display all the information – by faculty or by building. Several academic buildings house more than one faculty, institute or unit, while several faculties are spread across more than one building. Finally, it was important to keep in mind what information prospective students and incoming visitors need most," Makilla went on, via a university press release.

The virtual tour is not the first of its kind for the university; the predecessor version was rolled out in 2015 and was at the time unique in Europe, the university says.

The relaunched online tour showcases innovation at the university, its learning environment and research potential and student residences, museums and the library, among other features, in addition to the faculties and institutes.

The tour can be accessed via most devices and also provides an opportunity for foreign students to check out their place of learning, ahead of arriving in Tartu.

The tour uses over 160 annotated photos, while the menu provides for navigation between sites, and their relative location (see cover image) – as well as an "easter egg" in the form of Tiksu, the university's mascot.

Procontent OÜ, which has created virtual tours for several other Estonian universities and also the award-winning virtual tour at Aalto University in Finland, developed the project.

The virtual tour can be accessed here.

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