Estonia ⁱ/ɨsˈtoʊniə/ (Estonian: Eesti), officially the Republic of Estonia (Estonian: Eesti Vabariik), is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia (343 km), and to the east by Lake Peipus and the Russian Federation (338.6 km). Across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia covers 45,227 km² (17,462 sq mi), and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. The Estonians are a Finnic people, and the official language, Estonian, is closely related to Finnish.

Estonia is a democratic parliamentary republic divided into 15 counties. The capital and largest city is Tallinn. With a population of 1.29 million, it is one of the least-populous members of the European Union, Eurozone and NATO. Estonia has the highest GDP per person among former Soviet republics. Estonia is listed as a "High-Income Economy" by the World Bank and as an "advanced economy" by the International Monetary Fund; the country is an OECD member. The United Nations lists Estonia as a developed country with a Human Development Index of "Very High". The country is also ranked highly for press freedom, economic freedom, democracy and political freedom and education.

A Master of Science (Latin: Magister Scientiæ; abbreviated M.Sc., MSc, M.Sci., M.Si., Sc.M., M.S., MSHS, MS, Mag., Mg., Mgr, S.M., or SM) is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.

In Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, the Master of Science or Magister is a postgraduate degree of two to four years of duration. The admission to a Master program (Castilian: Maestría; Portuguese: Mestrado) in an Brazilian, Argentine or Uruguayan University requires the full completion of an undergraduate degree, as well Licentiate's degree as Professorate degree of four to five years long from any recognized university. Under the accomplishment of the Magister Scientiæ thesis dissertation, that in years of formal education, is generally equivalent to a Ph.D. or Doctorate in universities of North America or Europe given the Bologna comparison system among academic programs.

Australian universities commonly have coursework or research based Master of Science courses for graduate students. They typically run for 1–2 years full-time, with varying amounts of research involved. Research based Masters degrees are usually accompanied by an extensive thesis before completion. In some universities, as in the University of Melbourne an intensive 1 year Master is offered before getting into the Ph.D program with the name of "Bachelor of Science with Honours".