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Free University of Berlin


The Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin, German: Freie Universität Berlin) is the second largest of the four universities in Berlin. Research at the university is focused on humanities and social sciences and on health and natural sciences. In October 2007, it was awarded "elite university" status by the German Science Foundation for the quality of its research through the Initiative for Excellence of the German government, which will translate into additional funding.

Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of nine German universities that met with success in all three funding lines in the federal and state Excellence Initiative, thereby receiving additional funding for its institutional future development strategy. Freie Universität can thus take its place as an “International Network university” in the global competition among universities. Its future development strategy is focused around three strategic centers: for cluster development, for international exchange, and for graduate studies. Development and assessment of research projects takes place within three major focus areas – area studies, humanities, and life sciences. Freie Universität has various offices abroad, e.g., in New York, Beijing, and Moscow, that provide a platform for international cooperation. The university’s performance in the Excellence Initiative has provided funding for several new graduate schools and transdisciplinary research clusters.

The Times Higher Education Supplement world rankings in Arts and Humanities of 2008 place the FU Berlin 3rd best in Europe, and 24th in the world.

History

It was founded in 1948 by students and staff who were relegated because of their political views from Humboldt University of Berlin, formerly the traditional Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität of Berlin, and at that time controlled by the authorities in the Soviet sector. In 1968, it was the center of the left-wing German student movement in parallel to that in Paris, London, and Berkeley. Activists of that time included the SDS and Rudi Dutschke. By the 1980s, it had become the largest German university with 66,000 students. With the restructuring of the Humboldt University after the German reunification, the Freie Universität Berlin was downsized to about 38,000 students in the 1990s.

  • Departments

    The university has 12 departments, three interdisciplinary central institutes and other central service institutions:
    Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
    Business and Economics
    Earth Sciences
    History and Cultural Studies
    Law
    Mathematics and Computer Science
    Medicine (Charité - University Medicine Berlin)
    Pedagogy and Psychology
    Philosophy and Humanities
    Physics
    Political and Social Science
    Veterinary Medicine

  • Interdisciplinary Central Institutes
    John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies
    Institute for Eastern European Studies
    Institute for Latin American Studies
    Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies

  • Central Service Institutions
    Botanical Garden Berlin and Botanical Museum Berlin
    Center for Academic Advising, Career and Counseling Services
    Center for Continuing Studies
    Center for Recreational Sports
    Center for the Promotion of Woman's and Gender Studies
    Computer Center
    Language Center
    University Library

Free University of Berlin ranked 146th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

Free University of Berlin ranked 137th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

Free University of Berlin ranked 94th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

Free University of Berlin ranked 70th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

Free University of Berlin ranked 66th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi this is krishna chaithanya.Iam thinking to study in Freie University Berlin can i know how to get into that..

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruits is sweet ~ Aristotle

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela

Education is not a preparation for life, Education is life itself ~ John Dewey
William Butler Yeats: Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
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