A large portion of the university’s research is funded externally. These funds include both public subsidies and grants and funds provided by private foundations and the business sector, which constitute a significant portion of the financial support provided for research, bolstering the fundamental financing for higher education provided by the government. The amount of external funding raised is one indicator of the university’s scholarly and scientific success and of its performance and competitiveness.

Even as the number of faculty and academic and scientific associates decreases and funding is reduced due to budget cuts and cost-cutting mandates issued by the state of Berlin, income and expenditures of external funds by Freie Universität Berlin have both risen continuously for more than ten years. The substantial increase in incoming and outgoing external funds affirms the university’s scholarly and scientific performance.

The total amount of spending of external funding increased from € 106 million net in 2010 to € 145 million in 2023.