Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava

The Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (Slovak: Vysoká škola výtvarných umení, VŠVU; English: AFAD) is a public, self-governing higher education institution and one of the oldest and largest art academies in Slovakia, established in 1949. It received a positive institutional accreditation from the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (SAAHE) on 6 March 2024, valid until 2030.

AFAD offers three levels of study: Bachelor's (Bc.), Master's (Mgr./Mgr. art.), and Doctoral (ArtD./PhD.) programmes, all within the field of Art, plus Art and Culture Sciences at master's and doctoral level. Bachelor programmes include Digital Arts, Painting, Printmaking and Other Media, Photography and New Media, Intermedia, Applied Arts, Design, Textile, Visual Communication, Restoration, and Architecture. Master programmes include Visual Arts (with specialisations in Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Photography, Digital Arts, Intermedia, Glass/Ceramics/Jewellery), Design (Design, Textile, Visual Communication), Architecture, Restoration, and History and Praxis of the Contemporary Art. Doctoral programmes are offered in Fine Art and in History and Theory of Fine Art and Architecture.

The academy operates three campuses in Bratislava. Artistic and scientific research is a strategic priority, with work conducted through individual departments and a dedicated Research Center. AFAD participates in the Erasmus+ programme and maintains bilateral agreements with partner universities worldwide. The institution does not own a student dormitory but facilitates accommodation through agreements with other Bratislava universities.