The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the most eminent scientific and art institution in Serbia. It was founded by Law of November 1, 1886 as the Serbian Royal Academy. SRA was the successor to the Serbian Learned Society with which it merged in 1892 and accepted its members as its own either regular or honorary members, its tasks and its place in scientific and cultural life. The same occurred several decades earlier when the Serbian Learned Society took over the place and functions of the Society of Serbian Letters, the first learned society in the Serbian Principality.
Today, the Academy directs a number of scientific research projects which are realized in cooperation with Yugoslav scientific institutions and through international cooperation.