ISO 17025 quality system in a university environment

The experience of working under an ISO 17025 compliant quality system in a university environment is described in the example of the Testing Centre of University of Tartu. University-specific features of the quality system include that the Testing Centre acts as the "quality system server" for other units of the university and graduate students participate in the work carried out under the quality system. The benefits for the university and the graduate students are discussed. It is concluded that implementation of an ISO 17025 compatible quality system in a university is fully accomplishable and gives significant added value to the university by helping to destroy the ivory tower perception about universities and by introducing real-world flavour into the studies and broaden the minds (quality awareness) of the students.