Free University of Berlin

Freie Universität Berlin is a leading research institution. It is one of the German universities successful 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 cooperation, and for graduate studies. Development and assessment of research projects takes place within various focus areas such as area studies, Urban Earth System Studies, or nanosciences. Freie Universität has various offices abroad, in New York, Beijing, New Delhi, São Paulo, Brussels, Cairo, 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.