The University of Novi Sad was being created in a special milieu built by generations of foremost intellectuals, as well as institutions of particular national significance, in the towns of Vojvodina. Their duration is measured in centuries. The foundations of higher education in today's Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, and Serbia as a whole, were laid around 1740, with the establishment of the seminarynamed Collegium Vissariono – Pawlovicsianum Petrovaradinense in Novi Sad. Among the most prominent forerunners of the University of Novi Sad were Norma – school for the education of Serbian teachers, founded in Sombor in 1778, and Preparandija, a teachers' college founded in 1812 in Szentendre, whose seat was moved to Sombor in 1816. The most significant role in the development of scientific thought from the 19th century onwards is held by Matica Srpska, the oldest cultural and scientific institution of the Serbian people, founded in 1826 in Pest, whose seat was relocated to Novi Sad in 1864. The development of legal sciences and education on the territory of today's Vojvodina was especially influenced by the Faculty of Law in Subotica, established in 1920.The University of Novi Sad, with more than 50,000 students and 5,000 employees, is one of the largest educational and research centers in Central Europe. It belongs to the group of comprehensive universities, which are characterized by providing nearly all fields of science and higher education. The University of Novi Sad offers around 400 accredited study programs at the level of Bachelor, Master, Specialist and Doctoral studies, carried out at its Faculties and within its Centers for Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies. The study programs are modern and with the latest developments in science and research. Along with the Faculties and Centers, two Scientific Institutes have a significant role in creating a solid scientific base for the process of continuous modernization of the educational offer.