Bridging distance. In 1981 Freie Universität was the first university in Germany to establish a partnership with a Chinese university. It was Peking University. The two universities now collaborate through a strategic partnership established in 2011. Other strategic partnerships were formed with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Saint Petersburg State University, the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Zurich. The partnership with Saint Petersburg State University was suspended until further notice in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sources and additional information
Establishing strategic partnerships with leading research universities throughout the world is part of the internationalization strategy of Freie Universität Berlin. The objective of these alliances is to allow for comprehensive networking and collaboration on all university levels, i.e., regarding the sustained support of young researchers, the initiation and implementation of innovative research partnerships, the development and establishment of future-oriented teaching, and structured exchanges for researchers, students, and staff.
Freie Universität Berlin was first recognized as a German University of Excellence in 2007 in a competition held by the federal and state governments to promote research at German universities. Its development concept for the future was based on being an “International Network University.” In 2012 and 2019 the university was able to defend this title.