The Swedish Defence University (SEDU)

About the Swedish Defence University

The Swedish Defence University (SEDU) contributes to national and international security through research and education. We are a highly specialized university focussing on defense, crisis management, and security.

Founded as an institution for higher military education within the Swedish Armed Forces, the SEDU today is an independent higher education institution that offers education at all academic levels - bachelor, master, and doctoral.- for civilian students as well as military officers.

The Swedish Defence University educates all officers in the Swedish Armed Forces and is the driver of the academic development of the officer's profession.

A unique academic environment

The Swedish Defence University (SEDU) aims to be an instrument for change in the fields of Defence and Security Policy. Through the development of new knowledge and by offering education and training, we make an active contribution to shape the future of defense.

The Swedish Defence University is Sweden's leading resource in, and the first choice for, education, training, and research in the management of crisis, war, and periods of tension in the leadership of both civil and military agencies. The Swedish Defence University is an accredited institution for academic education for military and civilian students and researchers where different experiences, approaches, and traditions come together.

Interrelated subject areas

Our task is to contribute to 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 of the learning process.

Two academic departments

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 focuses 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.

Our research

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 specialties 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 centers: 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.

Education and training

The education and training at The Swedish Defence University are primarily aimed at officers and civilians in the total defense 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.

An international perspective

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 two courses that are part of our mission within the Partnership for Peace collaboration: the two-week course Security Policy in a New Europe which deals with both hard and soft security issues such as terrorism, migration and organized crime, and Senior Course on Crisis Management and Comprehensive Security (CMCS) which is a one-week course that deals with international crisis management and focuses on new security threats and risks.