University of Belgrade


The University of Belgrade is a public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia.
Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments by 1838 to form a single university. The university has around 59,600 enrolled students and over 4,600 academic staff members. Since its founding, the university has educated more than 378,000 bachelors, approximately 25,100 master's, 29,000 specialists, and 14,670 doctors. The university comprises 31 faculties, 12 research institutes, the university library, and 9 university centres. The faculties are organized into four groups: social sciences and humanities; medical sciences; natural sciences and mathematics; and technological sciences.

History

19th century

The predecessor to the University of Belgrade was established in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School by Dositej Obradović, a key Serbian figure in the Age of Enlightenment. It was the highest ranking educational institution in Serbia between 1808 and 1905, as the first Higher School, the Belgrade Lyceum, and the second Higher School. It was initially located at the Princess Ljubica's Residence building and then moved to another significant site in Belgrade, the Captain Miša’s Mansion, which today serves as the university's seat.
The second Higher School was established as the successor of the Lyceum and merged into the University of Belgrade. Under the law, it was defined as a "scientific institute for higher and professional education." The education minister had control over this institution, while it was jointly managed by the rector and the Academic Council.
During its early history, it had three departments: Philosophy, Engineering, and Law. The Higher School formally became the University of Belgrade through the Law on the University from February 27, 1905. This law introduced faculties of social science and humanities, medical sciences, sciences and mathematics, along with technology and engineering.
In the early 19th century, the studies of law lasted three years and the curriculum included comparative and state law, international law, criminal law, and judicial procedure, as well as general subjects. This is how the modern legal education in Serbia emerged in the year 1808. Before enrolling in the legal department, it was compulsory to graduate from the philosophy department, where the studies lasted two years, so the legal studies lasted a total of five years. Since 1853, legal education has become independent from the studies of philosophy, and since 1863, legal education in Serbia has lasted four years.
The lectures were held by professors who had earned their diplomas in Austria, Germany and France.
During the 1850s, the Philosophy Department developed into a particular college. The University of Belgrade's Faculty of Philosophy is today's continuation of this department.
The first academic lecture on electrical engineering in Serbia was held in 1894. Professor Stevan Marković was the first lecturer and founder of the Engineering Department at the Higher School. Only four years later, Professor Marković also established the first Serbian electrical engineering laboratory. Since then, this academic discipline has been studied at the Higher School and the University of Belgrade. The first diplomas in this field were given in 1922.

20th century

The University of Belgrade witnessed a massive growth and expansion in the years before the Second World War and especially after the founding of the second Yugoslavia. The first woman graduated from the University of Belgrade's Law School in 1914.
In the 1960s and 70s, the university developed into a remarkable regional and international educational institution. Many students from other countries were trained there. Up to 40,000 students from Africa alone studied at the University of Belgrade during the existence of the SFR Yugoslavia. In the socialist Yugoslavia, the university was expanded, but it was also exposed to state and ideological influence. It has also been the driving force for the establishment of almost all other universities in today's Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and several universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 1968, its students organized the first mass protest in post-World War II Yugoslavia.
In the early 1990s the quality of university programs deteriorated as a consequence of the political instability in the country and the subsequent wars of Yugoslavia. There was a lack of financial resources and the quality dropped significantly. During the Milošević government in Serbia, the university had to face external political pressure and the lack of academic and administrative autonomy.
In the mid-1990s, the University of Belgrade became an internationally recognized center of the political opposition in Serbia. Massive anti-government protests were staged by the Belgrade students and professors. The university's student organizations significantly contributed to overthrowing the government.

21st century

The university has become a signatory of the Bologna declaration. Being one of Europe's largest universities with an enrollment of nearly 90,000 students, the university broadly cooperates with international academic institutions and is involved in countless bilateral and multilateral academic projects.

Ranking

The University of Belgrade has found its place amongst the top 300 universities in the world, according to the most recent ranking carried out by the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, better known as the Shanghai List. In the area of mathematics, it is ranked among the top 150 universities in the world.

Campus

Having developed with the city in the 19th century, a number of the university buildings are an important part of Belgrade’s architecture and cultural heritage. Former sites include today's Museum of Vuk and Dositej and Princess Ljubica's Residence buildings, both of them being recognized as Belgrade's topmost historic buildings. The historical Subotica Law School was also a part of the University of Belgrade. Some of the post-World War II facilities were built in the brutalist style. The university has sites throughout the city, with the two major campuses, one next to the Prince Michael Street at Studentski Trg and the other on King Alexandar Boulevard. It has eleven dormitories scattered throughout the city's urban neighborhoods for 11,340 students, including one dormitory complex in New Belgrade. Many of the schools have separate buildings at various locations in Belgrade. The university also owns several endowment buildings in the downtown district, most of them being built in the 19th and early 20th century.
File:Univerzitetska biblioteka, Beograd 10.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The Belgrade University Library, a Carnegie library, with over 1.5 million items
The central administrative building, Faculty of Philology and Faculty of Philosophy are located at Studentski Trg. The Faculty of Biology, Faculty of Geography, Faculty of Mathematics, Faculty for Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Physics and Faculty of Chemistry are situated in one building at Studentski Trg as well. The University Library, Law School, Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering are situated at the King Alexandar Boulevard campus.
Other major academic sites include the School of Economics building near the downtown district, the Faculty of Orthodox Theology building at Bogoslovija, the Teachers’ Training Faculty building in the Savski Venac municipality, the Faculty of Security Studies building in the Vračar neighborhood, and the Faculty for Special Education and Rehabilitation building in the Dorćol neighborhood. The School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine share a building near the Karađorđev Park, next to several hospitals. Medical teaching facilities, such as the University Hospital Center or Institute of Mental Health are on other locations within the city. The Faculty of Agriculture is situated alongside the Zemun City Park and it operates the Radmilovac experimental farm in Grocka. The Faculty of Political Sciences and Faculty of Organizational Sciences are situated close to each other in the same street of the Voždovac neighborhood.

Organization and administration

The University of Belgrade is governed by the 44-member University Senate elected for a three-year term. The senate is composed of the rector, 4 vice-rectors, 31 deans, 4 presidents of the faculty Group Councils and 4 directors of scientific institutes. 8 student-representatives with a one-year term elected by the university's Student Parliament participate in the work of the Senate. The rector provides governance and represents the university externally.
The University Council is a 31-member managing body. The university entrusts 21 members, 5 are appointed by the Serbian government and 5 elected by the university's Student Parliament. The University Council has its president and vice president. In addition to these bodies, the university has advisory academic councils and professional boards, appointed to adopt decisions and state their opinion on the election of teaching staff.
File:Filoloski Knez.jpg|thumb|right|170px|Faculty of Philology, view from Prince Michael Street

Faculties

The university is divided into 31 faculties, including :
FacultyLocationAcademic staffStudents
LawBelgrade1017,910
PhilologyBelgrade3096,959
Organizational SciencesBelgrade1866,835
EconomicsBelgrade1166,777
MedicineBelgrade7246,092
Electrical EngineeringBelgrade1685,335
Mechanical EngineeringBelgrade2034,222
PhilosophyBelgrade2794,114
Political SciencesBelgrade1153,770
AgricultureBelgrade2883,544
PharmacyBelgrade1662,899
Civil EngineeringBelgrade1492,703
Security StudiesBelgrade402,377
MathematicsBelgrade1552,198
Transport and Traffic EngineeringBelgrade1492,168
Special Education and RehabilitationBelgrade942,157
PedagogyBelgrade1061,963
Technology and MetallurgyBelgrade1501,926
BiologyBelgrade1081,819
ArchitectureBelgrade1401,756
DentistryBelgrade1371,677
Veterinary MedicineBelgrade1331,578
Sport and Physical EducationBelgrade601,477
Eastern Orthodox TheologyBelgrade401,443
GeographyBelgrade831,291
ForestryBelgrade1031,287
Mining and GeologyBelgrade2461,070
ChemistryBelgrade83960
PhysicsBelgrade50536
TechnicalBor87530
Physical ChemistryBelgrade44480
Interdisciplinary StudiesBelgrade-299
Total4,72089,622