University of Defence

Key Highlights

• Government-established in Belgrade on 24 February 2011
• Independent higher-education institution within Serbia’s defence system
• Constituent institutions include the Military Academy and the Medical Faculty of the Military Medical Academy
• Active 2026/2027 undergraduate and master’s recruitment confirms continued operation

Student Life & Environment

Cadet life is organized around a structured residential and military routine rather than a conventional civilian-campus model. The Cadet Brigade coordinates accommodation, order, internal duties, and conditions supporting education for Military Academy cadets, medical cadets, and reserve-officer course participants. This arrangement means that training, study, physical preparation, and communal responsibilities are closely connected. Facilities described by the university include a library and reading room, classrooms, laboratories, electronic databases, a distance-learning platform, and a sports centre with an indoor pool, gym, martial-arts halls, and spaces for other sports. Practical activities can include simulations, field exercises, skiing, rowing, water-obstacle training, and vehicle training, depending on programme and requirements. Cadets may also pursue language and computer-skills certification. Extracurricular opportunities include sports and cultural clubs, foreign-language courses, university sports competitions, military competitions, scientific conferences, and selected visits to foreign military academies. These activities operate around mandatory academic and military duties, so applicants should expect less personal flexibility than at a general civilian university. The university reports a Cadet Parliament, providing formal student representation within its governance structure.

Location & Surroundings

The university’s published address is Veljka Lukića Kurjaka 33, 11042 Belgrade, in the municipality of Voždovac. The Military Academy’s instructional, accommodation, and sports facilities are associated with this address. Applicants to the academy submit documents or attend selection activities at locations specified in the annual competition, so they should follow the current notice rather than assume that every stage occurs at the rectorate. Belgrade is Serbia’s capital and the national centre of government, defence administration, higher education, and major medical institutions. For University of Defence students, the city is not merely a social backdrop: it places the institution near the Ministry of Defence, Serbian Armed Forces structures, and the Military Medical Academy’s clinical environment. The university is institutionally concentrated in Belgrade, but practical military education can require travel to training centres, field locations, or specialist facilities elsewhere in Serbia. Cadets should therefore anticipate a location experience shaped by residential rules and assigned training, rather than unrestricted participation in ordinary city-based student life.

Costs & Career Outcomes

For cadets admitted through the Ministry of Defence’s 2026 military-schools competition, the ministry stated that tuition, accommodation, meals, healthcare, and a stipend were funded. The university also reports that cadets receive study materials and a monthly payment adjusted according to study year and examination results. These benefits relate to cadet status and should not be assumed for civilian, graduate, international, or other self-financing students. The 2026/2027 Military Academy master’s competition provides a clear example of self-financed pricing: tuition was RSD 120,000, with an additional RSD 1,000 enrolment charge. Payment arrangements were to be defined in the study contract. These figures apply only to that published master’s intake, not to every university programme. Career outcomes are closely tied to applicant status. The Ministry stated that undergraduate cadet graduates enter active military service. Military Academy graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the relevant branch or service, while medical graduates are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Medical Corps. This is a defined professional pathway, but also a service commitment rather than an ordinary job-placement benefit. Applicants should obtain and review the current education or service contract before enrolling, including obligations after graduation and consequences of withdrawal or non-completion.