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The Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin, ) is the largest of the four universities in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
.






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Freie Universitaet Berlin Luftbildfoto Mit Markiertem Campus 01 2005
Freie Universitaet Berlin Otto Hahn Bau Im Winter 01 2005
Freie Universitaet Berlin Gebaeudekomplex Rost Und Silberlaube
Freie Universitaet Berlin Philologische Bibliothek
Freie Universitaet Berlin Fachbereich Rechtswissenschaft
Gewaechshaus Botanischer Garten Berlin
The Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin, ) is the largest of the four universities in Berlin
Berlin

Berlin is the Capital of Germany city and one of sixteen States of Germany of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is the country's largest city....
. Research at the university is focused on humanities
Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural science and social sciences....
 and social sciences
Social sciences

The social sciences comprise academic disciplines concerned with the study of the social life of human groups and individuals including anthropology, communication studies, economics, human geography, history, political science, psychology and sociology....
 and on health
Health science

Health science is the applied science dealing with health, and it includes many subdisciplines. See also List of academic disciplines#Health sciences....
 and natural sciences. In October 2007, it was awarded "elite university" status by the German Science Foundation
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important Germany research funding organization and the largest in Europe. The DFG supports research in science and the humanities through a large variety of grant programmes, prizes and by funding infrastructure....
 for the quality of its research through the Initiative for Excellence
German Universities Excellence Initiative

The Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scientists at universities, to deepen cooperation between disciplines and institutions, to strengthen international cooperation of research,...
 of the German government, which will translate into additional funding. The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education Supplement

The Times Higher Education , formerly The Times Higher Education Supplement , is a magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to British higher education, largely the University, including former and current polytechnics....
  world rankings in Arts and Humanities of 2008 place the FU Berlin 3rd best in Europe, and 24th in the world.

Campus

Most of the university's facilities are located in the Dahlem
Dahlem (Berlin)

This article refers to the neighborhood in Berlin. For other places with the same name, please see Dahlem.Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin....
 district of the southwest Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf is the sixth Boroughs of Berlin of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf, Berlin....
. The first independent structure to be completed on campus was the Henry Ford
Henry Ford

Henry Ford was the United States founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His introduction of the Model T History of the automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry....
 Building, funded by the American Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
. To that point, the university was housed in several older structures around the neighborhood, including the Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn was a German chemist and Nobel laureate who pioneered the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry" and the "founder of the atomic age"....
 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 Alcoves". 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 centerpiece, the brain-shaped Philological Library
Philological Library

The Philological Library is the newest component of the campus of the Free University of Berlin. It was designed by noted architect Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank in the shape of a human brain, and opened in 2005....
, designed by British architect Lord Norman Foster
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, Order of Merit, Royal Institute of British Architects, Chartered Society of Designers, Royal Designers for Industry, is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice....
.

History

It was founded in 1948 by students and staff who were relegated because of their political views from Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin

The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities....
, 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
German student movement

The German student movement was a protest movement that took place during the late 1960s in Germany. It was largely a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy of the German government and other Western governments, and the poor living conditions of students....
 in parallel to that in Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
, London
London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science, more commonly referred to as The London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist college of the University of London in London, England....
, and Berkeley
Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in Northern California, in the United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland, California and Emeryville, California....
. Activists of that time included the SDS and Rudi Dutschke
Rudi Dutschke

Rudi Dutschke born Alfred Willi Rudi Dutschke was the most prominent spokesman of the left-wing German student movement of the 1960s. He famously split from those who went on to form the violent Red Army Faction and advocated instead 'a long march through the institutions' of power to create radical change from within government and s...
. 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
German reunification

German reunification took place twice after 1945: first in 1957, the Saarland was permitted to join the Federal Republic of Germany, and again on 3 October 1990, when the five re-established states of the German Democratic Republic joined the Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state....
, the Freie Universität Berlin was downsized to about 38,000 students in the 1990s.

Organization


Departments

The university has 12 departments
Academic department

An academic department is a division of a university or school Faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level....
, three interdisciplinary central institutes and other central service institutions:

  1. Biology
    Biology

    Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
    , Chemistry
    Chemistry

    Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions....
    , Pharmacy
    Pharmacy

    Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemistrys, and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of medication....
  2. Business
    Business

    A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
     and Economics
    Economics

    File:Ballard Farmers' Market - vegetables.jpgEconomics is the Social sciences that studies the Production theory basics, Distribution , and Consumption of Good and Service ....
  3. Earth Sciences
  4. History
    HIStory

    HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
     and Cultural Studies
    Cultural studies

    Cultural studies is an academic discipline which combines political economy, communication, sociology, social theory, literary theory, Media influence, film theory, cultural anthropology, philosophy, museum studies and art history/art criticism to study culture phenomena in various societies....
  5. Law
    LAW

    LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
  6. Mathematics
    Mathematics

    Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
     and Computer Science
    Computer science

    Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
  7. Medicine
    Medicine

    Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
     (Charité
    Charité

    File:Charit? .jpgFile:Freie Universitaet Berlin - Universitaetsklinikum Benjamin-Franklin der Charite - Nordseite 1.jpgFile:Herzzentrum-b.jpgFile:Charite - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin - locations.JPG...
     - University Medicine Berlin)
  8. Pedagogy
    Pedagogy

    Pedagogy , or paedagogy is the art or science of being a teacher. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
     and Psychology
    Psychology

    Psychology is an academic and applied science discipline involving the science study of human mental functions and behavior. Occasionally it also relies on symbolic hermeneutics and critical theory, although these traditions are less pronounced than in other social sciences such as sociology....
  9. Philosophy
    Philosophy

    Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, truth, beauty, justice, validity, mind, and language....
     and Humanities
    Humanities

    The humanities are academic disciplines which study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural science and social sciences....
  10. Physics
    Physics

    Physics is the natural science which examines basic concepts such as energy, force, and spacetime and all that derives from these, such as mass, charge, matter and its Motion ....
  11. Political
    Political science

    Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior....
     and Social Science
  12. Veterinary Medicine
    Veterinary medicine

    Veterinary medicine is that branch of medical science,which deals with the study of diagnosis,treatment and prevention of diseases in companion,domestic, exotic, wildlife and production animals....


Graduate Schools

  1. Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies
  2. Muslim Cultures and Societies
  3. Berlin-Brandenburg School for Regenerative Therapies
  4. Graduate School of North American Studies
  5. Berlin Mathematical School


Clusters of Excellence

  1. Languages of Emotion
  2. Topoi - The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations
  3. NeuroCure - Towards a Better Outcome of Neurological Disorders


Interdisciplinary Central Institutes

  1. John F. Kennedy Institute for North America
    North America

    North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
    n Studies
  2. Institute for Eastern Europe
    Eastern Europe

    Eastern Europe is a term that applies to the geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the Europe. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today, parts of Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons, even though there i...
    an Studies
  3. Institute for Latin American Studies


Interdisciplinary Centers

  1. "Ancient World"
  2. "Art and Aesthetics"
  3. "Ecosystem Dynamics in Central Asia"
  4. "Efficient Mathematical Modeling"
  5. "European Languages: Structures - Development - Comparison" (ZEUS)
  6. "Historical Anthropology"
  7. "Middle Ages- Renaissance - Early Modern Times"
  8. "Research on Teaching and Learning"
  9. "Social and Cultural History of the Middle East"


Central Service Institutions

  1. Botanical Garden Berlin and Botanical Museum Berlin
    Botanical Garden in Berlin

    Botanical Garden in Berlin is considered one of the most important gardens in the world, with area of 43 hectares and around 22,000 different plant species....
  2. Center for Academic Advising, Career
    Career

    Career is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life ". It usually is considered to pertain to remunerative work ....
     and Counseling Services
  3. Center for Continuing Studies
  4. Center for Recreational Sports
  5. Center for the Promotion of Woman's and Gender Studies
    Gender studies

    Gender studies is a Field of study of interdisciplinary study which analyzes the phenomenon of gender. Gender Studies is sometimes related to studies of Social class, Race , ethnicity, sexuality and Location ....
  6. Computer Center
    Computer

    A computer is a machine that manipulates Data according to a list of Code .The first devices that resemble modern computers date to the mid-20th century , although the computer concept and various machines similar to computers existed earlier....
  7. Language Center
    Language

    A language is a form of symbol communication in which elements are combined to represents something other than themselves. Language can also refer to the use of such systems as a general phenomenon....
  8. University Library


Academics


Admission

In 2008 the FU Berlin received more than 32000 applications and admitted around 6000 students, or approximately 18% of applicants.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize Winners

The DFG
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important Germany research funding organization and the largest in Europe. The DFG supports research in science and the humanities through a large variety of grant programmes, prizes and by funding infrastructure....
 awards every year since 1985 outstanding german scientists with the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is a research prize awarded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft every year since 1985 to scientists working in Germany....
. This highest German research prize consists of a research grant of 2.5 million euro
Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
, to be used within seven years. So far there are 13 prize winners at the Free University Berlin:

  • Prof. Dr. Volker Erdmann, Biochemistry
    Biochemistry

    Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry processes in living organisms. It deals with the structure and function of cellular components such as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids and other biomolecules....
     (1988)
  • Prof. Dr. Wolfram Saenger, Crystallography
    Crystallography

    Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in solids. In older usage, it is the scientific study of crystals....
     (1988)
  • Prof. Dr. Randolf Menzel, Neuroscience
    Neuroscience

    Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system. The Society for Neuroscience was founded in 1969, but the study of the brain started a long time ago....
     (1991)
  • Prof. Dr. Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit, Japanese Studies (1992)
  • Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kocka, History
    HIStory

    HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the...
     (1992)
  • Prof. Dr. Johann Mulzer, Organic chemistry
    Organic chemistry

    Organic chemistry is a discipline within chemistry which involves the science study of the structure, properties, composition, chemical reaction, and preparation of chemical compounds that contain carbon....
     (1994)
  • Prof. Dr. Peter Schäfer, Jewish Studies
    Jewish studies

    Jewish studies is an List of academic disciplines centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is Interdisciplinarity and combines aspects of history , religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages , political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies....
     (1994)
  • Prof. Dr. Emo Welzl, Computer science
    Computer science

    Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
     (1995)
  • Prof. Dr. Onno Oncken, Geology
    Geology

    Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitute the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structural geology, physical properties, dynamics, and History of the Earth of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed....
     (1998)
  • Prof. Dr. Regine Hengge-Aronis, Microbiology
    Microbiology

    Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are unicellular or cell-cluster microscopic organisms. This includes eukaryote such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes, which are bacteria and archaea....
     (1998)
  • Prof. Dr. Joachim Küpper, Romance studies
    Romance studies

    Romance studies is an umbrella academic discipline that covers the study of the languages, literatures, and cultures of areas that speak a Romance languages....
     (2001)
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rupert Klein, Mathematics
    Mathematics

    Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
     (2003)
  • Prof. Dr. Gabriele Brandstetter, Dramatics (2004)
  • Prof. Dr. Gyburg Radke, Classical Greek Studies (2006)


Prominent figures

Current faculty members include controversial historian Ernst Nolte
Ernst Nolte

Ernst Nolte is a German historian and philosopher. Nolte?s major interest is the comparative studies of fascism and Communism. His work has been the object of extreme controversy....
. Prominent former scholars of the university include the philosopher Jacob Taubes
Jacob Taubes

Jacob Taubes was a sociologist of religion, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism.Taubes was born into an old rabbinical family. He obtained his doctorate in 1947 for a thesis on "Occidental Eschatology" and initially taught religious studies and Jewish studies in the United States....
, the philologist Peter Szondi
Péter Szondi

P?ter Szondi [] was a celebrated literary scholar and philologist, originally from Hungary. His father was the Hungarian-Jewish psychiatrist and psychoanalyst L?opold Szondi, who settled in Switzerland after his 1944 release from Bergen-Belsen....
, the Afro-German activist and educationalist May Ayim, the German Supreme Court judge Jutta Limbach
Jutta Limbach

Jutta Limbach is a Germany jurist and politician. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany . She received her doctorate in law in 1966 by the Free University of Berlin and fulfilled the requirements to be appointed professor by the German educational system in 1971....
, former German president Roman Herzog
Roman Herzog

Roman Herzog is a Germany politician and was the President of Germany from 1994 to 1999. He was the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany to be elected to office after the reunification of Germany that took place in 1990, and the second person to serve as all-German head of State since the end of WWII....
 and the 2004 German presidential candidate Gesine Schwan
Gesine Schwan

Gesine Schwan is a German political science professor and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. This party has nominated her twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections....
. The robot soccer
Robot soccer

The aim of robot soccer is to develop soccer robots being able to play soccer autonomously in order to study the field of artificial intelligence.See the following links for typical robot soccer tournaments:...
 players of the university's Computer Science
Computer science

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation, and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems....
 department became vice world champions in 1999, 2000 and 2003 and world champions in 2004 and 2005 mostly under the guidance of the Mexican artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science which aims to create it. Major AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents,"...
 expert Raúl Rojas
Raúl Rojas

Ra?l Rojas is a professor of informatics and mathematics at the Free University of Berlin and a renowned specialist in artificial neural networks....
.

External links



See also


  • Humboldt University of Berlin
    Humboldt University of Berlin

    The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities....
  • Technical University of Berlin
    Technical University of Berlin

    The Technical University of Berlin is located in Berlin, Germany.It was founded in 1879 and, with nearly 30,000 students, is one of the largest technical universities in Germany....