Your International Exchange Semester at Freie Universität Berlin
Incoming Student Mobility
Every year, more than thousand international students come to study at Freie Universität Berlin for a period of time in the context of an international study program. Exchange students can come to Freie Universität Berlin in the framework of different exchange programs: Direct exchange, Erasmus+, DAAD, Fulbright, and other programs.
Please note: it is unfortunately not possible to come to Freie Universität Berlin as a free mover! In order to be enrolled as an exchange student, your home university has to have a students exchange agreement with Freie Universität Berlin.
The programs have different requirements, and participants usually do not need to prove the same level of proficiency in German as regular students.
However, with little or no German skills you will hardly be able to follow the lessons because most of them are taught in German.
An overview of the Freie Universität Berlin and its exchange programs can be found in the flyer "Become an Exchange Student at Freie Universität".
For further information on exchange programs please contact the student mobility unit at Freie Universität Berlin.
How to design your international exchange semester at Freie Universität Berlin
As an incoming student, you may experience one week of orientation in order to get to know the university, the programme structures and their fellow students more easily. The orientation days include different information events concerning everyday university life as well as activities like campus tours or boat trips. The International Office also organizes further excursions and workshops like “Intercultural Training” during the semester.
The International Club offers you and German students a variety of events like movie or bar nights and excursions all year long, which makes it a great place to meet people from all over the world and to become acquainted with Berlin and the university.
You also have the opportunity to achieve an intercultural exchange and learn the German language at the same time by taking part in the Tandem Programme of the FU Language Centre.
The Freie Universität Berlin offers a wide range of studies on all academic levels. You may attend regular courses of the subject you are enrolled in. Students usually put together the semester schedule according to the Course Catalogue on their own. As it can be a bit tricky to use the course catalogue or to find a list of courses taught in English there, you find a small guide how to use the course catalogue here.
The bachelor’s degree programmes at Freie Universität Berlin include an additional component: General Professional Skills (ABV). It may provide you with interdisciplinary skills in different areas to improve your career prospects: information and media, gender and diversity, organization and management, communication, sustainable development or subject-related additional qualifications.
As an exchange student may sign up for special courses on “Berlin and Germany in a European Perspective". The different modules cover key aspects of German history, culture or society and help you acquire useful skills for a German academic environment (e.g.):
- Orientation in Berlin and Germany (GER)
- Central Aspects of German and European Society and Culture (GER)
- Key Issues of German and European Culture (GER)
- Film, Art and Literature in a Social and Cultural Context (GER)
- Aspects of German and European Culture (ENG)
- German and European Politics (ENG)
- German Media – Media in Germany (ENG)
- German History in a European Context (ENG)
- Economy and Economics in Germany and Europe (ENG)
The FU Language Centre offers German language courses prior to and during the semester. For exchange students there is a reduced participation fee for the six-week intensive pre-semester courses. The courses during the semester range from 4-8 hours per week and are free of charge.
If after the end of your program stay, you would like to continue studying here as a regular student, you must fulfill other requirements than for participation in your program: For admission to your degree program, you need to apply via uni-assist, keeping to the deadline.
For recognition of your previous studies, please contact the responsible exam office of your department. In case your previous studies have been recognized as equivalent to one or more semesters, you may apply not only for the first but also for higher semesters.
