University Management

The Executive Board (Präsidium) is in charge of managing Freie Universität Berlin. Among its other responsibilities, the Executive Board approves the draft budget, publishes guidelines for budgetary and economic administration, and makes suggestions as to the establishment, modification, and elimination of organizational units, as well as proposing structural and development plans for Freie Universität Berlin and implementing the resolutions of the Academic Senate (Akademischer Senat) as to the establishment and elimination of courses of study.

The Executive Board is composed of the following:

• the President of the university
• the Executive Vice President, who also serves as the Permanent Deputy of the President
• three other Vice Presidents, each of whom is responsible for specific areas
• the Director of Administration and Finance

Responsibility and Teamwork

The Executive Board works according to the principle of collective responsibility. The President is responsible for setting guidelines within the Executive Board. Within those guidelines, each Vice President and the Director of Administration and Finance (Kanzler or Kanzlerin) is responsible for managing his or her division independently and on his or her own responsibility. The Director of Administration and Finance supports the President in performing his or her duties. He or she manages ongoing administrative business and is bound by the guidelines set by the President in so doing. He or she is also the official in charge of the budget.

Executive Board Elections

The President and the First Vice President are elected by a majority vote of the extended Academic Senate. The candidates are nominated by the Academic Senate and elected by the Academic Senate independently of the Board of Trustees (Kuratorium). The President and the Academic Senate are entitled to propose additional Vice Presidents. The President and Vice Presidents generally serve for a term of four years. The Director of Administration and Finance is elected by the Board of Trustees upon nomination by the President and is appointed by the Senate of Berlin for a term of ten years.

Executive Support Teams

The work of the Executive Board is supported by the university administration and by a number of executive support teams (Stabsstellen):

• Executive Office
• Reporting and Reporting Systems
• Executive Coordinating Office
• International Network University
• Office of News and Public Affairs
• Office of the General Counsel

Strategic Centers

The institutional strategy of Freie Universität follows a topic-related management approach. The overall aim is to strategically establish clusters of expertise, systematically initiate productive international networks in research and higher education, and promote young researchers through the reshaping of graduate education.

• Center for Research Strategy (CRS)
• Dahlem Research School (DRS)
• Center for International Cooperation (CIC)

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees (Kuratorium) of Freie Universität is a central institution involved in the cooperation between the university, the state, and society at large. Its responsibilities include determining the university’s budget, establishing, modifying, and eliminating organizational units, and handling fundamentally and/or particularly important affairs of state that have been assigned to Freie Universität Berlin.

The Board of Trustees advises the Executive Board and the other central bodies on decisions, sets schedules of fees, and elects the Director of Administration and Finance (Kanzler or Kanzlerin). The Board of Trustees is made up of ten members: the member of the Berlin Senate who is responsible for higher education, five prominent public figures, and one representative each from the faculty, academic staff, other staff, and student body of Freie Universität Berlin.