A unique academic environment

Our task is to contribute towards national and international security through research and development. Research is carried out in diverse but inter-related subject areas and is subsequently disseminated to other interested sectors of society, both nationally and internationally.

Changing circumstances have made us a meeting place for the civilian and the military, the national and the international, history and future. For this reason, the University’s areas of expertise are continuously developing.

The students often have long and varied professional experience from military and civilian sectors. This is a valuable asset; learning is based to a large extent on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between students and tutors, but the exchange between the students themselves is also a very important part in the learning process.

The Swedish Defence University is divided into two academic departments:

The Department of Military Studies is responsible for the subjects War Studies, Military Technology, Command and Control Science and Military History. The majority of staff are officers seconded from the Swedish Armed Forces.

The Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership is responsible for the subjects Political Science with focus on Security Policy, Crisis Management, Strategy, Leadership and International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law. The department also includes the Centre for Societal Security uniting leading experts and researchers with longstanding experience from public agencies and organizations working with societal security issues, creating a powerhouse of knowledge, expertise and innovation.

Research at The Swedish Defence University concentrates on specially selected subject areas. Two of these – War Studies and Military Technology – are unique to the University. The others, which can be described as specialities within areas that already exist in Swedish academia, are: International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, Crisis Management and International Cooperation, Leadership, Command and Control Science, Military History, Security Policy and Strategy. The university hosts two research centres: CTSS, the Centre for Societal Security, and CATS, the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies.

All research projects are closely linked to the education and training at the University and look into areas which are not the subject of research at other colleges, universities and research institutions in Sweden. At the University we have a unique command and control laboratory, which supports research and exercises in the field of Command and Control Science.

The education and training at The Swedish Defence University is primarily aimed at officers and civilians in the total defence and crisis management sectors. We also run civilian courses in Political Science, Leadership, Military History, and Military Technology. Other civilian courses include higher courses in civil and military crisis management, higher management training, leadership under severe stress and higher national security courses.

The University education and training in Security Policy and Crisis Management, which focus on the international arena, are unique in Sweden and are run in collaboration with Sweden’s leading experts and other colleges and universities in Sweden and abroad.

Worthy of mention amongst the international courses run by The Swedish Defence University are the strategic leadership programme for decision makers, policy makers, academics and researchers working in the global societal security environment.

Strategic Leadership in the Global Societal Security Environment Programme