The University of Belgrade is the largest and most prominent academic institution in the country. A place of educational and scientific excellence and the centre of academic life, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the law which directed the transformation of the Grand School into the University of Belgrade.
The origins of the University may be traced back to 1808, when, during the Serbian Rebellion against the occupation of the Ottoman Empire, Dositej Obradovic founded the first Grand School and one of the first students was Vuk Stefanovic Karadžic. In 1813, following the collapse of the rebellion, the Grand School was closed, however, in 1838 a new high school, called the Lyceum, was opened in the town of Kragujevac. In 1841 it was moved to Belgrade, to the Palace of the Duchess Ljubica. In 1863 it evolved into Grand School and moved to new building, the gift of a Danube Captain - Miša Anastasijevic. The original courses of Phylosophy (1838), Law (1841) and Nature and Mechanics (1853) formed the first faculties.

Exactly 100 years ago, Grand School was elevated to the status of University and became the University of Belgrade, with a faculty of 34 professors and 788 students. 15 years later the Faculties of Theology, Agriculture and Medicine became part of the University. During the First and Second World Wars, the University was closed. The period between the two wars is regarded as the golden age of the University, when thanks to many donations, it became one of the best equipped and wealthiest universities in Europe. There were 500 professors and over 10,000 students.

The importance of the University of Belgrade, regarding the countries heritage, is that the origins of all other universities in Serbia and Montenegro and some other countries owe their very existence to the resources of Belgrade University.

Throughout its history, the University has promoted the ideals of a democratic society, civil liberties, national traditions and European orientation. Indicative of these ideals were the mass, student demonstrations of 1968,1991/92,1996/97 and finally in 2000.

Today, Belgrade University incorporates 31 faculties, divided into five groups (Mechanical Sciences, Social Sciences, Medical Science, Natural Science and Mathematics and Biotechnical Sciences). Within this structure, there are five scientific institutes, The “Svetozar Markovic“ University library and The Computer Center of The University of Belgrade. The “Svetozar Markovic“ University library houses over 1.5 million publications and a computer data base centre (RCUB). More that 320,000 students have graduated from the University of Belgrade with over 21,700 completing their postgraduate studies and to date 12,100 have been awarded their doctorates.

There are currently 72,000 students, taught by 2,500 professors and associates, with a similar number of assistant associates.

16,500 new students are enrolled annually, half of whom are financed by the Ministry of Education and Sport. Every high school student, who completes 4 years of study there, may apply for enrollment to the university. Selection is based on the marks they have acheived at high school and from an entrance examination.

Of the previous 75 private bequests and eleven funds only 11 bequests and 2 funds are still in existence. However, in recent years, thanks to our sponsors, four new funds have been established. These funds enable the University to sponsor extremely talented students. The question of the return of the property, which once belonged to the University but was nationalized by the state, is a key question for the future growth and financial security of the University of Belgrade.

Since the year 2000, increasingly more foreign students have applied to enrol at the University of Belgrade, although the numbers are still significantly lower than the number of foreign students studying at the University in the 1980's.

Over the last few years, the average number of students graduating from the University was 10.000 students per year.

The University of Belgrade organizes student studies in two phases: basic, followed by postgraduate studies, which may then be divided into specialization, master and doctorate studies.

Depending upon the requirements of the faculty, basic studies last from 3 to 6 years or 6 to 12 semesters. As a general rule the study of Humanities is extended to 8 semesters, Natural Science between 8 to 9 semesters, Engineering between 8 to 10 semesters and Medicine between 10 to 12 semesters. Postgraduate specialist and master studies last from 1 to 2 years, while doctorates last for 3 years.

The University is governed by the University Council and the Rector. The University Council is composed of representatives of the Faculties and Institutes (50%), representatives of the founders of the University - The Republic of Serbia (25%) and student representatives (25%). The University Council has a total number of 98 members. The President of the Council is Prof. Dr. Vladimir Kostic, Rector of the University and as an executive he has the assistance of three Prorectors and also a general secretary for special branches.

The members of the Rector's collegium are: Prof. Dr. Dejan Popovic – Rector, Aleksandar Lipkovski - ProRector of tuition, Prof. Dr Ljubiša Topisirovic, ProRector for the science and research department and international co-operation, Prof. Dr Aleksandar Cvetanovic ProRector for finance, and Nenad Ðordevic, student-ProRector.

The Faculty members of the University Council are lecturers, whose responsibility it is to create the strategy for the approach to each subject in the Faculties. Two professors, one of whom must be a Dean, represent each Faculty in addition to the heads of the Institutes and the members of the Rector's Collegium. The meetings of the Council are presided over by the Rector. There are also 17 specialist councils, whose members are determined according to their specialist fields.

Today, the greatest challange faced by the University of Belgrade is the introduction of reforms and the implementation of new higher education laws. Being a member of the European family of Universities requires the adoption of the System of High Education Standards as set out in the Bolognia process. The goal being, by the year 2010, that Serbia will be a part of the European zone of education, with mutual harmonization of the study programmes and academic levels, in addition to a greater mobility of the students, professors and other academics .