When, during his first week at Oxford, he had dinner at the same table with an art historian, a data scientist, a sociologist, and a mathematician, Luka Veljovic He said he got the best introduction to what the university represents.
Conversations with people who see the world from completely different scientific and cultural perspectives are part of the everyday life of a law PhD student from Podgorica. In one of more than a hundred university libraries, he reads and writes about construction contracts, artificial intelligence and blockchain. Outside the library, he talks to investors, contractors and engineers who have participated in the construction of artificial islands, the world's largest airports and the tallest building in the world.
His journey to Oxford began at Podgorica's Branko Božović Elementary School and Slobodan Škerović High School. Although he believes that the quality of the Montenegrin education system can be justifiably debated, Veljović sees his education in Montenegro as the foundation for everything he later achieved.
"The system is predominantly based on memorizing and reproducing material, in a time when every piece of information is available in a few seconds. However, it was precisely this approach that built my work habits, organizational skills, and the skill to deal with the pressure of exams and the uncertainty of oral knowledge tests from an early age," says Veljović.
Over time, he adds, he realized that knowledge can be built up relatively easily, while creating work habits takes much more time. He showed a particular interest in languages even in high school. He learned English, French, and Spanish, which later enabled him to navigate through different educational systems more easily.
SUBSEQUENT EXAMS IN PODGORICA
He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro, but spent a large part of his student days abroad. During his undergraduate studies, he attended lectures and took exams in Maribor and Zagreb, while he completed half of his postgraduate studies at the University of Côte d'Azur in Nice. He has been awarded several times as the best student of legal sciences in Montenegro.
Such an academic path was not easy. He had to take the exams in positive law of Montenegro subsequently in Podgorica, which is why he prepared certain areas twice, according to different literature and within the framework of different legal systems.
"There was a period when I only came to Montenegro for one day, just to pass an exam. However, the Faculty of Law in Podgorica recognized my desire for additional education, so I had the full support and encouragement of my professors at all times," he says.
After his specialist studies, he went to China, where he completed a two-year master's degree in law at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Encounter with a legal logic different from continental law It changed, he says, his way of thinking about law.
After completing his master's degree, he returned to Montenegro, passed the bar exam and became a lawyer. The four years spent as a lawyer did not represent a break from his academic work, but rather a necessary preparation for more serious research.
"The law cannot be properly researched without understanding how the system functions in practice. The real scope of any regulation is only seen in situations that the legislator did not explicitly foresee," Veljović points out.
In his legal practice, he worked mostly in the areas of construction and energy law, as well as commercial and corporate law. Construction law gradually became his central specialization. He was attracted by the fact that legal work in this area turns into something tangible and permanent.
"The contract you work on eventually materializes into a building that remains, whether it's a large infrastructure project or a smaller residential building. The product of legal work is rarely so visible."
Large construction projects simultaneously bring together teams from different countries and legal cultures. This international dimension naturally continued into his educational path, eventually leading him to his doctoral studies at Oxford.
His research now connects two interests that have developed in parallel for years – construction and new technologies. Veljović studies how artificial intelligence and blockchain can improve payment and dispute resolution mechanisms in construction contracts.
The construction industry has been grappling with payment delays, lengthy disputes, and uncontrolled cost increases for decades. Veljović is investigating whether new technologies can help identify, prevent, or resolve these problems sooner.
“An additional goal of the research is to contribute to the development of automated construction contracts, in which the rights and obligations of the contracting parties are created and executed with minimal or no human intervention,” he explains.
The research was supported by the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Oxford, of which Veljović is a fellow and member. The institute connects academics from the humanities with the technology and business communities, with the aim of responsible use of artificial intelligence.
This collaboration allowed him to view technology not only as a means of speeding up legal procedures, but also as a phenomenon that raises broader social and ethical questions.
However, doctoral studies at Oxford do not involve daily lectures, pre-set assignments and classic exams. The program focuses on independent research, with the support of a mentor and periodic, rigorous progress checks.
“No one lectures you or gives you specific tasks. You are expected to organize your work yourself and develop an original doctoral dissertation over the course of three to four years. That freedom sounds appealing, but it is also the greatest challenge of the program. You are primarily responsible for yourself every working day.”
Law cannot be properly studied without understanding how the system functions in practice. The true scope of any regulation is only seen in situations not expressly foreseen by the legislator.
His work is monitored by a professor Horst Eidenmüllerr, whom Veljović describes as one of the world's leading experts in his field of research. Their conversations, he says, rarely resemble classic consultations.
"His comments are concise, precise, and focused on the essence of the problem, so I usually leave the conversation with more questions than I brought. Over time, I realized that this is exactly the point of good mentoring."
ADMINISTRATION AND EXPERTISE
This approach sometimes means writing two pages of the same text seven times, each time from a different methodological perspective. However, he considers the support of a mentor immeasurable, especially in a program where the student is responsible for organizing almost every segment of the research.
An average day begins in the Keble College study room or one of the university libraries. Much of the time is spent reading and writing, but the research also has a strong empirical component.
Veljović conducts interviews with people from the international construction industry, trying to identify key problems in payment and dispute resolution. Their experiences allow him to constantly test theoretical models against problems that arise on real projects.
Although his academic and professional path in recent years has been abroad, he does not rule out a return to Montenegro. On the contrary, he says that returning would have an advantage over other options, both for professional and personal reasons.
"The issue of return is never solely a question of career, but also of family, friends and all the experiences, good and bad, that bind us to the place where we grew up."
However, for return to be a realistic and equal option, it is not enough to simply offer adequate income. It is necessary, he believes, to create a system in which knowledge can be applied and institutional decisions to be stable, predictable and consistent.
He recognizes both professional individuals and institutions in the Montenegrin legal system with whom he has had excellent cooperation, but warns that the system remains institutionally fragile. Personnel changes can often jeopardize what was previously built, while the same legal situation has a different outcome depending on the person making the decision.
"Added to this is the practice of the state administration often taking on the role of legislator, amending and supplementing regulations on the spot, as an individual official believes they should. This loses the predictability expected from the legal order."
The issue of returning is never solely a question of career, but also of family, friends and all the experiences, good and bad, that bind us to the place where we grew up.
In his opinion, the responsibility does not lie solely with the state. He sees part of the problem in the socially accepted belief that the most important thing is to "finish the job," even when that does not mean acting according to the rules.
In such an environment, knowledge of informal relationships and the internal logic of administration is often more valuable than expertise. Therefore, training abroad in itself may not be an advantage.
"In addition to what the state must do, there is the equally important question of what we as a society must change. In a society that does not seek knowledge, neither my knowledge nor that of any lawyer has its full useful value."
A university that preserves the awareness of continuity
The University of Oxford is made up of faculties, colleges and other organizational units, and every student belongs to both a faculty and one of the colleges. Luka Veljović is a member of Keble College.
While colleges primarily serve an educational role, colleges are the hub of social life. They bring together students from different disciplines, so everyday conversations often take place between people who work in mathematics, art history, sociology, law, or data science.
The university also cherishes traditions that have been forged over centuries. The admission of new students is marked by a matriculation ceremony. Students in ceremonial gowns walk from the college to the Sheldonian Theatre, where the Vice-Chancellor pronounces them members of the University in Latin.
Colleges organize formal dinners with precise protocol, mandatory gowns, ceremonial prayer, a special table for academics, and choir performances.
“These traditions have a function that goes beyond form, because they maintain an awareness of the continuity of the institution and that each generation of students is only a temporary part of it,” says Veljović.
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