Brief Information about Free University of Berlin

The Freie Universität Berlin ("Free University of Berlin") is one of the four research universities in Berlin, Germany. Research at the university is focused on the humanities and social sciences, as well as on health and natural sciences. Founded in West Berlin during the early Cold War period and born out of the increasingly Communist-controlled Humboldt University, its name refers to West Berlin's status as part of the free world, as opposed to the Soviet-occupied areas surrounding the city.

The Freie Universität Berlin was one of nine German top-universities (also known as elite universities) to win in the German Universities Excellence Initiative, a national competition for universities organized by the German Federal Government. Winning a distinction for five doctoral programs, three interdisciplinary research clusters (some of them in cooperation with other universities) and its overall institutional strategy, the Freie Universität Berlin was the single most successful university in the initiative. In university rankings, the Freie Universität Berlin ranks among the best German universities; it has established a strong international showing in the Arts & Humanities followed by the Social Sciences and Law, making it one of Europe's top institutions in these fields.

Excluding the Charité medical school which is co-administered by the university with the Humboldt University, the Freie Universität is currently the lead university for eight collaborative research centres of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and also has five DFG research units. Fourteen scholars of the Freie Universität have to date been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the DFG - the most acclaimed award for research achievements in Germany.

Campus

Most of the university's facilities are located in the Dahlem district of the southwest Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. The first independent structure to be completed on campus was the Henry Ford Building, funded by the American Ford Foundation. To that point, the university was housed in several older structures around the neighbourhood, including the Otto Hahn Building, which houses the biochemistry department to this day.

The largest single complex of university buildings is the Rost- und Silberlaube, which translates roughly to the "Rust and Silver Lodges". This complex consists of a series of interlinked structures corresponding to either a deep bronze (hence, "rust") or shiny white ("silver") hue, surrounding a variety of leafy courtyards. It has recently been complemented by a new centrepiece, the brain-shaped Philological Library, designed by British architect Lord Norman Foster.

Academics

Departments

The university has 12 departments, three interdisciplinary central institutes and other central service institutions:

1. Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
2. Business and Economics
3. Earth Sciences
4. History and Cultural Studies
5. Law
6. Mathematics and Computer Science
7. Medicine (Charité - University Medicine Berlin)
8. Pedagogy and Psychology
9. Philosophy and Humanities
10. Physics
11. Political and Social Science
12. Veterinary Medicine

Interdisciplinary Central Institutes

1. John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies
2. Institute for Eastern European Studies
3. Institute for Latin American Studies

Graduate Schools

1. Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies
2. Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies (BTS)
3. Graduate School of Global Politics
4. Muslim Cultures and Societies
5. Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies
6. Graduate School of North American Studies
7. Berlin Mathematical School

International Partnership

The Freie Universität maintains wide-ranging international contacts to other universities and organizations which provide key impulses for research and teaching. In the 1950s, the Freie Universität had already established partnerships with leading universities in the United States such as the University of California System (including University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles), University of Chicago, Cornell University, Stanford University, Duke University, Princeton University, Yale University, and Columbia University, as well as with Western European universities like the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, and École Normale Supérieure in Paris. The university is a founding member of the global educational centre for the study of transnational law, the Centre for Transnational Legal Studies in London. The Freie Universität also develops a double degree in Public Policy and Management with the top-ranking European business school, HEC Paris. First contacts with universities in Eastern Europe were made in the 1970s. In particular in the 1990s, links were extended to include growing numbers of institutions in North America, Eastern Europe, and the Far East. The newly established Centre for International Cooperation (CIC) concentrates on identifying new strategic partners for international projects.
Today, the Freie Universität has 130 partnerships worldwide and every year some 600 visiting scientists contribute to the university teaching and research. For the grant programs in Germany, the Freie Universität is one of the first choices both for the Erasmus and Tempus as well as for the Fulbright program and the international programs of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). An International Summer University has been set up for foreign students offering internationally accepted credits.

Rankings

The Freie Universität Berlin is consistently ranked among Germany's top universities overall, with particularly strong showing in the Arts & Humanities followed by the Social Sciences internationally. For instance, the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings subject rankings in Arts and Humanities place the university 1st in Germany, 6th best in Europe, and 27th in the world. The 2011 QS World University Rankings ranked the university at 66th internationally. The 2011 QS World University Rankings for law ranked the FU at 41th internationally, 12th best in Europe and 2nd in Germany. Notable rival German universities in terms of rankings, particularly in the fields of the Arts & Humanities as well as the Social Sciences include the University of Munich, University of Heidelberg and the Humboldt University.

Website: http://www.fu-berlin.de/en

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