Internationalization

With these aims in mind, the university has set up the Center for International Cooperation (CIC), which will work together with the university management, the departments, and the International Office to provide strategic support for the development of international networks. The university’s internationalization strategy is closely tied to the institutional strategy’s two other foci – the further institutionalization and structuring of doctoral studies, and the targeted formation and promotion of interdisciplinary research foci. Freie Universität Berlin is the only German higher education institution to support international cooperation by means of a systematically developed network of liaison offices abroad.

Internationalization of research

In terms of research, the internationalization strategy of Freie Universität Berlin focuses on several core elements:

1. Encouraging dynamic international cooperative research projects and programs by networking with regional and international partners
2. Recruiting excellent doctoral candidates, scholars, and scientists all over the world and increasing the rate of academic exchange
3. Raising the international profile and visibility of the research performed at Freie Universität
4. Focusing on and intensifying selected partnerships
5. Developing and institutionalizing bilateral and internationally oriented doctoral study programs

Internationalization of studies

Alongside the intensification of international contacts in the sphere of research, the university is also promoting internationalization in the area of studies. Important elements in this area include:

1. Early and complete shifting of all study programs to bachelor’s and master’s degree programs
2. Development of new master’s degree programs with international components
3. Enhancing the international mobility of students at Freie Universität by expanding and shifting the direct exchange programs to the bachelor/master system and through additional fundraising
4. Targeted recruitment of foreign students, participation in the PASCH Initiative operated by the German Foreign Office
5. Improving the services available to foreign students

Further development

The internationalization strategy of Freie Universität is a work in progress. The first step was to analyze data that had already been collected and other forms of existing data on various indicators with international aspects. Now, in the second step, the results of the subject-specific internationalization strategies developed by the departments in the spring of 2010 are being integrated into the overall concept. This process gives the university an excellent grasp of existing and planned international activities across the board. This in turn puts the university on a solid footing when it comes to identifying further subject-specific, regional, and institutional focus areas for the entire institution.