| Free University of Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Freie Universität Berlin | |
| Motto | Veritas, Iustitia, Libertas (Latin) |
| Motto in English | Truth, Justice, Liberty |
| Established | 1948 |
| Type | Public University |
| Endowment | 380 Mio. € p.a. (without the Charité medical school) |
| President | Prof. Dr. Peter-André Alt |
| Admin. staff | 4,871; 422 Professors; 1,200 Scientific Assistants (excluding those in the Charité medical school) |
| Students | 31,304 (WS 2007/08) |
| Location | Berlin, Germany |
| Affiliations | German Excellence Universities |
| Website | www.fu-berlin.de/en |
The Free University of Berlin (German: Freie Universität Berlin) is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany and continental Europe. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin. 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.
Recognized as one of Germany's top tertiary institutions, the Free University of 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 with the intention of identifying and forming a German Ivy League. 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 Free University of Berlin was the single most successful university in the initiative. In university rankings, the Free University of Berlin ranks among the best German universities; it has established a strong international showing in the Arts & Humanities followed by the Social Sciences, 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 Free University 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 Free University have to date been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the DFG - the most acclaimed award for research achievements in Germany.
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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.
The Free University of Berlin was founded by students and scholars on December 4, 1948, with the support of the American Allies and Berlin politicians as a response to the persecution of students critical of the system at Humboldt University in the Soviet sector of the divided city of Berlin. These students and scholars wanted to study and carry out research at the Free University, free of political influence. Thanks to generous donations from the United States, the Free University was able to construct several new central building complexes including the Benjamin Franklin university clinic complex and the Henry Ford Building, the central lecture building. Based on its founding tradition, the Free University’s seal to this day bears the Latin terms for Truth, Justice, and Liberty. In 2007, the Free University dedicated a monument to the founding students who were murdered by the Soviet secret service. The university presents its Freedom Award to personalities who have made a special contribution toward the cause of freedom.
The years 1968, 1990 and 2007 mark turning points in the history of the Free University. During the 1960s, the university was the scene of student protests that provided the impulse for more openness, equality, and democracy. After German unification in 1990 and increasingly since 2000, the Free University of Berlin has revamped itself. The university’s research performance increased markedly with regard to the number of graduates, Ph.D.s granted, and publications. Underlying this successful trend were fundamental reforms such as the introduction of modern management systems in the administration, a reorganization of the departments, and an efficient utilization of resources. Prognos, the renowned economic institute in Basel, Switzerland, presented the Free University with an award for its good entrepreneurial principles. Since 2003, the Free University has been regrouping its research capacities into transdisciplinary research focus areas called clusters. The year 2007 was another crucial year for the Free University: It was the university with the most approved funding applications in the German Universities Excellence Initiative, and it is now one of nine elite German universities to receive funding for its future development strategy.
The Free University is located in the residential garden district of Dahlem in southwestern Berlin. Around the beginning of the 20th century, Dahlem was established as a centre for research of the highest calibre. Academic activity in Dahlem was supported by Friedrich Althoff, Ministerial Director in the Prussian Ministry of Culture, who initially proposed the foundation of "a German Oxford." The first new buildings housed government science agencies and new research institutes of the University of Berlin. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society – forerunner of the present-day Max Planck Society – was founded in 1911 and established several institutes in Dahlem. A dynamic group of researchers carried out pioneering research resulting in numerous Nobel Prizes. Since its foundation, The Free University of Berlin has been using buildings formerly belonging to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society and, in addition, has added numerous architecturally innovative buildings. The Free University’s central campus consists of building ensembles within walking distance of each other. The planners oriented themselves along the type of campus found in the United States – a novelty in post-war Germany.
The university has 12 departments, three interdisciplinary central institutes and other central service institutions:
the Free University maintains wide-ranging international contacts to other universities and organizations which provide key impulses for research and teaching: In the 1950s, the Free University had already established partnerships with leading universities in the United States such as the University of California System (including UC Berkeley, UCLA), Chicago, Cornell, Stanford, Princeton, Yale and Columbia, as well as with Western European universities like Cambridge, University College London and Ecole 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 Free University also develops a double degree in Public Policy and Management with the top-ranking European business school, HEC Paris.[1] 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 Free University 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 Free University 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.
the Free University of Berlin operates foreign branch offices in New York City, Brussel, Moscow, Beijing, Cairo and New Delhi. The foreign branch offices work to expand upon cooperation partnerships already existing with universities in the country.
In April 2005 the Free University of Berlin, in conjunction with Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), opened a joint representative office in New York. This German University Alliance, located in German House, the seat of the German Consulate General and the German UN Mission, represents the interests of the two universities in the U.S. and Canada and works to increase the exchange of students and scientists.
In addition, the Free University of Berlin, as the first German institution of higher education, founded an alumni- and fundraising organization, the Friends of the Free University of Berlin (FFUB) in New York. Since 2003 this alumni- and fundraising organization has maintained close contact to alumni and scientists of the Free University in the U.S. and attempts to gain alumni and friends as sponsors, to strengthen the long-lasting trans-Atlantic relations. Some of the proceeds from these fundraising activities were contributed to the renovation of the Henry Ford Building.
With additional branch offices in Moscow (since 2004), Peking, and New Delhi (opened in February 2008), operated in cooperation with strong partners, large research institutions, or universities, the Free University of Berlin is strategically extending its radius of action as an international network university.
In April 2006 Peking University opened its first branch in Germany. Its objectives include the promotion of knowledge of Chinese culture, the cultivation of Chinese-German cooperation, and the spread of Chinese languages.
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, has a Berlin Programm (Duke in Berlin), that is held in cooperation with the Free University and Humboldt Universität.
The University of California System organizes programs for American students in Berlin and Potsdam. At the Free University the UC System maintains an office to attend to the needs of the exchange students from California.
The Office of Global Programs of Columbia University in New York administrates the Berlin Consortium for German Studies. Students from Columbia University and the other colleges and universities included in the consortium (University of Chicago, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Vassar College) can attend classes at the Free University for one or two semesters as external students. This temporary enrollment is preceded by a six-week intensive language program.
the Free University of 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 [2]. The 2011 QS World University Rankings ranked Freie at 66th internationally.[2] 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.
Tables comparing the year-on-year ranking performance of the Free University of Berlin based on popular international ranking exercises are as follows:
| Year | Source | Overall International Ranking | Overall Regional Ranking (Europe) | International Arts & Humanities Ranking | International Natural Sciences Ranking | International Social Sciences Ranking | Overall National Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Times Higher Education Supplement[3] | 149 | - | 33 | - | - | - |
| 2007 | Times Higher Education Supplement[3] | 146 | - | 38 | - | - | 7 |
| 2008 | Times Higher Education Supplement[4] | 137 | - | 24 | - | 62 | 4 |
| 2009 | Times Higher Education Supplement[4] | 94 | - | 27 | - | 47 | 3 |
| 2010 | Times Higher Education Supplement[5] | - | - | 34 | - | - | - |
| 2011 | Times Higher Education Supplement[6] | 151 | - | 29 | - | - | - |
| Year | Source | Overall International Ranking | International Arts & Humanities Ranking | International Natural Sciences Ranking | International Social Sciences Ranking | International Life Sciences and Biomedicine Ranking | Overall National Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | QS World University Rankings[7] | 70 | 25 | 66 | 53 | 64 | 4 |
The DFG awards every year since 1985 outstanding German scientists with the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize. This highest German research prize consists of a research grant of 2.5 million euro, to be used within seven years. So far there are 14 prize winners at the Free University of Berlin:
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