Freie Universität Berlin is one of the leading and most prestigious research universities in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

. It distinguishes itself through its modern and international character. It is the largest of the four universities in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. Research at the university is focused on the humanities

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

 and social sciences

Social sciences

Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

, as well as on health and natural sciences. Founded in West Berlin

West Berlin

West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...

 during the early Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 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

Free World

The Free World is a Cold War-era term often used to describe states not under the rule of the Soviet Union, its Eastern European allies, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and other communist nations. The term often referred to states such as the United States, Canada, and Western European states such as the...

, as opposed to the Soviet-occupied areas surrounding the city.

Recognized as one of Germany's top tertiary institutions, the Freie Universität Berlin was one of nine German top-universities (also known as elite universities) to win in the German Universities Excellence Initiative

German Universities Excellence Initiative

The Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scientists at universities, to deepen cooperation between disciplines and institutions, to...

, 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 Freie Universität Berlin was the single most successful university in the initiative. In university rankings, Freie Universität Berlin ranks among the best German universities; it has established a strong international showing in the Arts & Humanities

Humanities

The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

 followed by the Social Sciences

Social sciences

Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

, making it one of Europe's top institutions in these fields.

Excluding the Charité

Charité

The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....

 medical school which is co-administered by the university with the Humboldt University, Freie Universität is currently the lead university for eight collaborative research centers of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and also has five DFG research units. Fifteen scholars of Freie Universität have to date been awarded 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, to be used within seven years...

 of the DFG - the most acclaimed award for research achievements in Germany.

Campus

Most of the university's facilities are located in the Dahlem

Dahlem (Berlin)

Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city and home to the main campus of the Free University of Berlin with the...

 district of the southwest Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf

Steglitz-Zehlendorf is the sixth borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf.-Demographics:...

. The first independent structure to be completed on campus was the Henry Ford

Henry Ford

Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T 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 FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...

 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 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. The library has become the centerpiece of the university's Dahlem campus...

, designed by British architect Lord Norman Foster

Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank

Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....

.

History

Freie Universität 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 Universität in the Soviet sector of the divided city of Berlin. These students and scholars wanted to study and carry out research at Freie Universität, free of political influence. Thanks to generous donations from the United States, Freie Universität 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, Freie Universität’s seal to this day bears the Latin terms for Truth, Justice, and Liberty. In 2007, Freie Universität 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 Freie Universität. During the 1960s, the university was the scene of student protests

Protests of 1968

The protests of 1968 consisted of a worldwide series of protests, largely participated in by students and workers.-Background:Background speculations of overall causality vary about the political protests centering on the year 1968. Some argue that protests could be attributed to the social changes...

 that provided the impulse for more openness, equality, and democracy. After German unification in 1990 and increasingly since 2000, Freie Universität 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 Freie Universität with an award for its good entrepreneurial principles. Since 2003, Freie Universität has been regrouping its research capacities into transdisciplinary research focus areas called clusters. The year 2007 was another crucial year for Freie Universität: It was the university with the most approved funding applications in the German Universities Excellence Initiative

German Universities Excellence Initiative

The Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation aims to promote cutting-edge research and to create outstanding conditions for young scientists at universities, to deepen cooperation between disciplines and institutions, to...

, and it is now one of nine Elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

 German universities to receive funding for its future development strategy.

Freie Universität is located in the residential garden district of Dahlem in southwestern Berlin. Around the beginning of the 20th century, Dahlem was established as a center for research of the highest caliber. 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

Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes publicly funded by the federal and the 16 state governments of Germany....

 – 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, Freie Universität Berlin has been using buildings formerly belonging to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society and, in addition, has added numerous architecturally innovative buildings. Freie Universität’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.

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 natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
   
   , Chemistry
   Chemistry
   Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
   
   , Pharmacy
   Pharmacy
   Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
   
   
2. Business
   Business
   A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
   
    and Economics
   Economics
   Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
   
   
3. Earth Sciences
4. History
   History
   History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
   
    and Cultural Studies
   Cultural studies
   Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
   
   
5. Law
   Law
   Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
   
   
6. Mathematics
   Mathematics
   Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
   
    and Computer Science
   Computer science
   Computer science or computing 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 science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
   
    (Charité
   Charité
   The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the medical school for both the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin. After the merger with their fourth campus in 2003, the Charité is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe....
   
    - University Medicine Berlin)
8. Pedagogy
   Pedagogy
   Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
   
    and Psychology
   Psychology
   Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
   
   
9. Philosophy
   Philosophy
   Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
   
    and Humanities
   Humanities
   The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
   
   
10. Physics
    Physics
    Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
    
    
11. Political
    Political science
    Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
    
     and Social Science
12. Veterinary Medicine
    Veterinary medicine
    Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...
    
    

Interdisciplinary Central Institutes

1. John F. Kennedy Institute
   John F. Kennedy-Institute for North American Studies
   The John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies is a central institute at the Free University Berlin. The JFKI was founded in 1963 by Ernst Fraenkel, a political scientist and was named in the honor of John F. Kennedy after his assassination....
   
    for North America
   North America
   North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
   
   n Studies
2. Institute for Eastern Europe
   Eastern Europe
   Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
   
   an 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

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 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.The garden is located in the Dahlem neighborhood of the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf...
   
   
2. Center for Academic Advising, Career
   Career
   Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person's "course or progress through life ". It is usually 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 interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
   
   
6. Computer Center
   Computer
   A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
   
   
7. Language Center
   Language
   Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
   
   
8. University Library
   University Library
   University Library refers to academic libraries at universities, such as:*Basel University Library*Cambridge University Library*Cornell University Library*De La Salle University Library*Durham University Library*University of the East Library...
   
   

International Partnership

Freie Universität maintains wide-ranging international contacts to other universities and organizations which provide key impulses for research and teaching: In the 1950s, Freie Universität had already established partnerships with leading universities in the United States such as the University of California System (including UC Berkeley, UCLA), Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Cornell, Stanford, Princeton

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, Yale

YALE

RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...

 and Columbia

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, as well as with Western European universities like Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 and Ecole Normale Supérieure

École Normale Supérieure

The École normale supérieure is one of the most prestigious French grandes écoles...

 in Paris. The university is a founding member of the global educational center for the study of transnational law, the Center for Transnational Legal Studies

Center for Transnational Legal Studies

The Center for Transnational Legal Studies is a global educational center for the study of transnational law. The Center was founded in London in October 2008 as a joint venture between ten leading law schools from around the world, each contributing faculty and students to the center...

 in London.
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 Center for International Cooperation (CIC) concentrates on identifying new strategic partners for international projects.

Today, 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, 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.

Foreign Branch Offices

Freie Universität Berlin operates foreign branch offices in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Brussel, Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

, Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 and New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

. The foreign branch offices work to expand upon cooperation partnerships already existing with universities in the country.

In April 2005 Freie Universität 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, Freie Universität Berlin, as the first German institution of higher education, founded an alumni- and fundraising organization, the Friends of Freie Universität Berlin (FFUB) in New York. Since 2003 this alumni- and fundraising organization has maintained close contact to alumni and scientists of Freie Universität 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, Freie Universität Berlin is strategically extending its radius of action as an international network university.

In April 2006 Peking University

Peking University

Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...

 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

Duke University

Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 in Durham, North Carolina, has a Berlin Programm (Duke in Berlin), that is held in cooperation with Freie Universität and Humboldt Universität.

The University of California System organizes programs for American students in Berlin and Potsdam. At Freie Universität 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

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 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

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

, University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, and Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

) can attend classes at Freie Universität for one or two semesters as external students. This temporary enrollment is preceded by a six-week intensive language program.

Rankings

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 http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/hybrid.asp?typeCode=422. The 2011 QS World University Rankings

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....

 ranked Freie at 66th internationally. 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 Freie Universität Berlin based on popular international ranking exercises are as follows:

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

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 The Times Higher Education Supplement The Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...	149	-	33	-	-	-
2007	Times Higher Education Supplement	146	-	38	-	-	7
2008	Times Higher Education Supplement	137	-	24	-	62	4
2009	Times Higher Education Supplement	94	-	27	-	47	3
2010	Times Higher Education Supplement	-	-	34	-	-	-
2011	Times Higher Education Supplement	151	-	29	-	-	-

QS World University Rankings

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 QS World University Rankings The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....	70	25	66	53	64	4

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize Winners

The DFG

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is an important German research funding organization and the largest such organization in Europe.-Function:...

 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, to be used within seven years...

. This highest German research prize consists of a research grant of 2.5 million euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

, to be used within seven years. So far there are 15 prize winners at Freie Universität Berlin:

• Prof. Dr. Volker Erdmann, Biochemistry
  Biochemistry
  Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
  
   (1988)
• Prof. Dr. Wolfram Saenger
  Wolfram Saenger
  Wolfram Saenger is a German biochemist and protein crystallographer. In his research career spanning over 30 years he has worked at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Harvard University and the Free University of Berlin, where he still heads the Institute for Crystallography...
  
  , Crystallography
  Crystallography
  Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
  
   (1988)
• Prof. Dr. Randolf Menzel, Neuroscience
  Neuroscience
  Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...
  
   (1991)
• Prof. Dr. Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
  Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
  Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit b. is a distinguished German Japanologist and Translator. In 1992 she was awarded Germany's most prestigious prize for distinction in research, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.- Life :...
  
  , Japanese Studies (1992)
• Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kocka
  Jürgen Kocka
  Jürgen Kocka is a German historian.A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin , Kocka is a major figure in the new Social History, especially as represented by the Bielefeld School...
  
  , History
  History
  History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
  
   (1992)
• Prof. Dr. Johann Mulzer
  Johann Mulzer
  Johann Hermann Wolfgang Mulzer is a German organic chemist, best known for his work in total synthesis. Since 1996, he has been a professor of chemistry at the University of Vienna . He received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 1994 and Emil Fischer Medal in 2010.-References:...
  
  , Organic chemistry
  Organic chemistry
  Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
  
   (1994)
• Prof. Dr. Peter Schaefer
  Peter Schaefer (author)
  Peter Schäfer is Professor of Religion and the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Judaic Studies at Princeton University....
  
  , Jewish Studies
  Jewish studies
  Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary 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 or computing 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 comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
  
   (1998)
• Prof. Dr. Regine Hengge-Aronis, Microbiology
  Microbiology
  Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
  
   (1998)
• Prof. Dr. Joachim Kuepper, 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 language. Romance studies departments usually include the study of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese...
  
   (2001)
• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Huisken, Mathematics
  Mathematics
  Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
  
   (2003)
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rupert Klein, Mathematics
  Mathematics
  Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
  
   (2003)
• Prof. Dr. Gabriele Brandstetter, Dramatics (2004)
• Prof. Dr. Gyburg Radke, Ancient Greek
  Ancient Greek
  Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
  
   (2006)

Notable people

• Johannes Agnoli
  Johannes Agnoli
  Johannes Agnoli was a German-Italian Marxist political scientist, though he rejected the label Marxist, preferring instead - somewhat ironically - to call himself an Agnolist....
  
  , political scientist (Professor)
• Elmar Altvater
  Elmar Altvater
  Elmar Altvater was Professor of Political Science at the Otto-Suhr-Institute of the Free University of Berlin, before retiring on 30 September 2004...
  
  , political scientist (Professor)
• Arnulf Baring
  Arnulf Baring
  Arnulf Baring is a German lawyer, journalist, political scientist, contemporary historian and author. He is a member of the German-British Baring family of bankers.He earned a doctorate at the Free University of Berlin in 1958...
  
  , historian, political scientist (Professor)
• Ernst Benda
  Ernst Benda
  Ernst Benda was a German legal scholar, politician and judge. He served as the 4th president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 1971 to 1983. Benda briefly served as Minister of the Interior of Germany .Ernst Benda was born in Berlin, the son of an Engineer. After school he served...
  
  , Minister of the Interior of Germany (1968 to 1969); 4th president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (1971–1983) (Alumnus)
• Peter Bieri
  Peter Bieri
  Peter Bieri is a Swiss politician, current member and former President of the Swiss Council of States . Member of the Christian Democratic People's Party , he was elected to the Council of States in 1995....
  
  , philosopher and writer (Professor)
• Reinhold Brinkmann
  Reinhold Brinkmann
  Reinhold Brinkmann was a German musicologist.Brinkmann was born in Wildeshausen and studied at Freiburg im Breisgau. His dissertation was about Arnold Schönberg's Klavierstücke op. 11. He started working on the faculty of Freie Universität Berlin in 1970...
  
  , musicologist (Alumnus)
• Dieter Claessens
  Dieter Claessens
  Dieter Claessens was a German sociologist and anthropologist.- Life :Returning as POW from the Soviet Union Dieter Claessens studied sociology, anthropology, and psychology in Berlin, where he got his doctorate from the Freie Universität in 1957...
  
  , sociologist and anthropologist (Professor)
• Christopher Clark
  Christopher Clark
  Christopher M. Clark is an Australian historian working in England. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School, the University of Sydney and the Freie Universität Berlin.-Life:...
  
  , historian (Alumnus)
• Gordon A. Craig
  Gordon A. Craig
  Gordon Alexander Craig was a Scottish-American historian of German history and of diplomatic history.-Early life:...
  
  , historian and writer (Professor)
• Herta Däubler-Gmelin
  Herta Däubler-Gmelin
  Herta Däubler-Gmelin is a former German Minister of Justice. Amid controversy, she resigned in 2002 after a remark about George W. Bush.-History:...
  
  , Justice Minister of Germany (1998–2002) (Professor)
• Eberhard Diepgen
  Eberhard Diepgen
  Eberhard Diepgen is a German politician of the CDU. He studied law at the Free University of Berlin. He was mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and a reunited Berlin from 1991 to 2001.-References:...
  
  , Mayor of (West) Berlin (1984–1989, 1991–2001) (Alumnus)
• Rudi Dutschke
  Rudi Dutschke
  Alfred Willi Rudi Dutschke was the most prominent spokesperson of the German student movement of the 1960s. He advocated 'a long march through the institutions' of power to create radical change from within government and society by becoming an integral part of the machinery...
  
  , spokesperson of the German student movement in the 1960s (Alumnus)
• Hans Eichel
  Hans Eichel
  Hans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
  
  , German Minister of Finance (1999–2005) (Alumnus)
• Gudrun Ensslin
  Gudrun Ensslin
  Gudrun Ensslin was a founder of the German militant group Red Army Faction . After becoming involved with co-founder Andreas Baader, Ensslin was influential in the politicization of Baader's voluntaristic anarchistic beliefs. Ensslin was perhaps the intellectual head of the RAF...
  
  , Terrorist (Alumnus)
• Gerhard Ertl
  Gerhard Ertl
  Gerhard Ertl is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany...
  
  , physicist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  Nobel Prize in Chemistry
  The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
  
   (2007) (Professor)
• Günter Faltin
  Günter Faltin
  Günter Faltin is a German economist and entrepreneur.-Academic career:Faltin graduated with a Dr. rer.soc. from the University of Konstanz . His doctoral thesis investigates Milton Friedman's theory of consumer behavior...
  
  , economist (Professor)
• Paul Feyerabend
  Paul Feyerabend
  Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his work as a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for three decades . He lived a peripatetic life, living at various times in England, the United States, New Zealand,...
  
  , philosopher (Professor)
• Andrea Fischer
  Andrea Fischer
  Andrea Fischer was a member of the German Bundestag for the German Green Party and from 1998 until 2001 Federal Minister for Health...
  
  , Federal Minister for Health (1998–2001) (Alumnus)
• Ernst Fraenkel, political scientist (Professor)
• Jonathan Franzen
  Jonathan Franzen
  Jonathan Franzen is an American novelist and essayist. His third novel, The Corrections , a sprawling, satirical family drama, drew widespread critical acclaim, earned Franzen a National Book Award, and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction...
  
  , novelist (Alumnus)
• Reinhard Furrer, scienitst and astronaut (Alumnus / Professor)
• Edwin Gentzler
  Edwin Gentzler
  Edwin Gentzler is an American Germanist, comparative literature and translation scholar.-Biography:Gentzler first obtained his BA in English at Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio in 1973. After studying Germanistics at the Free University of Berlin, 1974-1977, Gentzler obtained his PhD in Comparative...
  
  , American Germanist and translation scholar (Alumnus)
• Klaus Hänsch
  Klaus Hänsch
  Klaus Hänsch is a German Politician. He is a Member of the European Parliament representing the SPD, and sits with the Party of European Socialists group....
  
  , President of the European Parliament
  President of the European Parliament
  The President of the European Parliament presides over the debates and activities of the European Parliament. He or she also represents the Parliament within the EU and internationally. The President's signature is required for enacting most EU laws and the EU budget.Presidents serve...
  
   (1994–1997) (Alumnus / Scientific Assistant)
• Roman Herzog
  Roman Herzog
  Roman Herzog is a German politician as a member of the Christian Democratic Union, and served as President of Germany from 1994 to 1999...
  
  , President of Germany
  President of Germany
  The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
  
   (1994–1999) (Professor)
• Marc Jampole
  Marc Jampole
  Marc Jampole is an American poet, public relations executive, and former television news reporter.Jampole owns the public relations agency Jampole Communications, Inc. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has lectured and written extensively on crisis communications issues...
  
  , Fulbright Scholar, American Poet and founder and president of Jampole Communications. (Alumnus)
• Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
  Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit
  Irmela Hijiya-Kirschnereit b. is a distinguished German Japanologist and Translator. In 1992 she was awarded Germany's most prestigious prize for distinction in research, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize.- Life :...
  
  , Japanologist and winner of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize (1992) (Professor)
• Ōe Kenzaburō, novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature
  Nobel Prize in Literature
  Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
  
   (1994) (Professor)
• Jürgen Kocka
  Jürgen Kocka
  Jürgen Kocka is a German historian.A university professor and former president of the Social Science Research Center Berlin , Kocka is a major figure in the new Social History, especially as represented by the Bielefeld School...
  
  , Historian (Professor)
• Renate Künast
  Renate Künast
  Renate Künast is a German politician who is chairwoman of the Alliance '90/The Greens Bundestag parliamentary group. She was the Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture from 2001 to 2005...
  
  , Minister of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (2001–2005) (Alumnus)
• Helga Zepp-LaRouche
  Helga Zepp-LaRouche
  Helga Zepp-LaRouche is a German political activist, wife of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität party .She has run for political office several times in Germany, representing small...
  
  , German political activist, wife of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche
  Lyndon LaRouche
  Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...
  
  (Alumnus)
• Jutta Limbach
  Jutta Limbach
  Jutta Limbach is a German 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...
  
  , president of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
  Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
  The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
  
   (1994–2002), president of Goethe-Institut
  Goethe-Institut
  The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...
  
  s (2002–2008) (Alumnus / Professor)
• Herbert Marcuse
  Herbert Marcuse
  Herbert Marcuse was a German Jewish philosopher, sociologist and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory...
  
  , sociologist (Professor)
• Friedrich Meinecke
  Friedrich Meinecke
  Friedrich Meinecke was a liberal German historian, probably the most famous German historian of his generation. As a representative of an older tradition still writing after World War II, he was an important figure to the end of his life.-Life:Meinecke was born in Salzwedel in the Province of Saxony...
  
  , historian (Professor)
• Walter Momper
  Walter Momper
  Walter Momper is a German politician and former Mayor of West Berlin 1989–1990 and Berlin 1990-1991. Whilst Governing Mayor, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1989/90...
  
  , Mayor of (West Berlin) (1989–1991) (Alumnus)
• Herta Müller
  Herta Müller
  Herta Müller is a Romanian-born German novelist, poet and essayist noted for her works depicting the effects of violence, cruelty and terror, usually in the setting of Communist Romania under the repressive Nicolae Ceauşescu regime which she experienced herself...
  
  , novelist and Nobel Prize in Literature
  Nobel Prize in Literature
  Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
  
   (2009) (Professor)
• Ernst Nolte
  Ernst Nolte
  Ernst Nolte is a German historian and philosopher. Nolte’s major interest is the comparative studies of Fascism and Communism. He is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Free University of Berlin, where he taught from 1973 to 1991. He was previously a Professor at the University of Marburg...
  
  , historian (Professor)
• Hans-Jürgen Papier
  Hans-Jürgen Papier
  Hans-Jürgen Papier is a German scholar of constitutional law and was President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany from 2002 to 2010....
  
  , Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (2002–2010) (Alumnus)
• Günter Rexrodt
  Günter Rexrodt
  Günter Rexrodt was a German politician. He lived in Berlin.-Education and work:After the Abitur in 1960 in Arnstadt, Thuringia and an extra year in West Berlin, he graduated with a Diplom in business studies from the Free University Berlin where he also received his doctorate in 1971...
  
  , Economics Minister of Germany (1993–1998) (Alumnus)
• Thomas Risse
  Thomas Risse
  Thomas Risse is a Berlin based international relations scholar. He currently acts as chair for “transnational relations, foreign- and security policy” at the Otto-Suhr Institute for Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin...
  
  , political scientist (Professor)
• Raúl Rojas
  Raúl Rojas
  Raúl Rojas González is a professor of Computer Science and Mathematics at the Free University of Berlin and a renowned specialist in artificial neural networks. The FU-Fighters, football-playing robots he helped build, were world champions in 2004 and 2005...
  
  , Computer scientist (Professor)
• Ernst Ruska
  Ernst Ruska
  Ernst August Friedrich Ruska was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope.Ruska was born in Heidelberg...
  
  , physicist and Winner of Nobel Prize in Physics
  Nobel Prize in Physics
  The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...
  
   (1986) (Professor)
• Otto Schily
  Otto Schily
  Otto Georg Schily was Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany from 1998 to 2005, in the cabinet of former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany .-Biography:...
  
  , Federal Ministry of the Interior (1998–2005) (Alumnus)
• Gesine Schwan
  Gesine Schwan
  Gesine Schwan is a German political science professor and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The party has nominated her twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections. On 23 May 2004, she was defeated by the Christian Democrat and former president Horst Köhler...
  
  , political scientist and candidate for the German presidential election (2004) (Professor)
• Reinhard Selten
  Reinhard Selten
  -Life and career:Selten was born in Breslau in Lower Silesia, now in Poland, to a Jewish father, Adolf Selten, and Protestant mother, Käthe Luther. For his work in game theory, Selten won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences...
  
  , economist and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
  Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
  The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, but officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel , is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, generally regarded as one of the...
  
   (1994) (Professor)
• Vassilios Skouris
  Vassilios Skouris
  Vassilios Skouris is a Greek judge who has been President of the European Court of Justice since 2003. A European legal scholar, he served briefly in the government of Greece as Minister of the Interior in 1989 and again in 1996....
  
  , President of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (since 2003) (Alumnus)
• Amity Shlaes
  Amity Shlaes
  Amity Ruth Shlaes is an American author and columnist from New York, who writes about politics and economics.-Education and career:...
  
  , Senior fellow in economic history at the Council on Foreign Relations and syndicated columnist
• Péter Szondi
  Péter Szondi
  Péter Szondi was a celebrated literary scholar and philologist, originally from Hungary. His father was the Hungarian-Jewish psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Léopold Szondi, who settled in Switzerland after his 1944 release from Bergen-Belsen....
  
  , literary scholar (Professor)
• Klaus Wowereit
  Klaus Wowereit
  Klaus Wowereit is a German politician, member of the SPD , and has been the Mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, where his party won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections...
  
  , Mayor of Berlin (since 2001) (Alumnus)
• Georges Tamer
  Georges Tamer
  Georges Nicolas Tamer is professor of Arabic and Islamic studies and the holder of the M.S. Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. A scholar of religion, philosophy, and Arabic and Islamic literature and culture, his fields of specialization include Qur'anic...
  
  , Islamic studies scholar (Professor & Alumnus)
• 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 was married to the writer Susan Taubes...
  
  , sociologist of religion, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism (Professor)

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 Technische Universität Berlin is a research university located in Berlin, Germany. Translating the name into English is discouraged by the university, however paraphrasing as Berlin Institute of Technology is recommended by the university if necessary .The TU Berlin was founded...
  
  

External links

• Official Homepage
• Short Film about Freie Universität Berlin
• Berlin Consortium for German Studies