Free University of Berlin

Free University Of Berlin

The Freie Universität Berlin is a research university in Germany. 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.

The Freie Universität 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 Freie Universität Berlin was the single most successful university in the initiative. In university rankings, the Freie Universität 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 Freie Universität 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 Freie Universität have to date been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the DFG - the most acclaimed award for research achievements in Germany.