The largest public universities are the University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn University, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Academy of Arts; the largest private university is Estonian Business School.
The Estonian Academy of Sciences is the national academy of science. The first computer centres were established in late 1950s in Tartu and Tallinn. Estonian specialists contributed in the development of software engineering standards for ministries of the Soviet Union during the 1980s. Estonia spends around 1.44% of its GDP on Research and Development, compared to an EU average of around 2%
