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Japan

1. Program Description

Freie Universität Berlin expects to have study places (semester places) available at the following universities. Please note that additional costs may apply, e.g. for health insurance, medical certificates and various administrative fees. We kindly ask you to inform yourself in advance. Further information relevant to the exchange can be found on the Wiki of the Japanese language exchange programs at the FU Berlin.

Please note: Students without Japanese language skills apply to the English-speaking Asia program.

We would also like to point out that in addition to the direct exchange program, there is also the departmental exchange for Japanology: Departmental Exchange. There you can choose from additional universities.

These study places are available to students of all subjects except Medicine, Law and Pharmacy. For information on the BA+ program and departmental exchange programs offered by the institute, please refer to the following website. 

1.1 Undergraduate Students:

1.2 Graduate Students:

2. Application

Students of Freie Universität apply for an exchange place in the Japan Program in general; a ranking of the preferred partner universities within the program is done when filling out the application form.

We would like to emphasize that Freie Universität cannot guarantee admission to the foreign partner university for applicants nominated for a direct exchange scholarship, as the final decision on the acceptance of the proposed candidates rests exclusively with the partner university.

2.1 Application deadline

For the academic year 2026/27: 13 November 2025

2.2. Term

Generally, semesters at universities run from September - January/February or March/April - July/August.

For semester spots, students can apply for a stay of one or two semesters; for academic year spots, students can only apply to go abroad for the full academic year. The full academic year (or two semester spots) always starts in the winter semester.

2.3 Requirements

Applications are open to students who are enrolled at Freie Universität Berlin for an unlimited period of time.
Bachelor students who are usually in their third semester of study at the time of application,
Master's students who are usually in their first semester of study at the time of application.

Applicants must have a good knowledge of the Japanese language, appropriate to their level of study, which must be proven at the time of application. Since the selection interview will be conducted partly in Japanese, no japanese language certificate is required with the application.

It is necessary that the applicants can prove adequate academic performance, since the partner universities ultimately decide on the admission, the classification in a study section as well as the awarding of the scholarship.
Applicants who will complete their studies before starting the scholarship cannot be considered; the DAAD may offer scholarships for this group of applicants. Part-time or guest students are also not eligible to apply for the direct exchange scholarships.

2.4 Application documents

The following documents must be submitted as PDF files in a Zip-file and be send to auslstud@fu-berlin.de, in correct order and named as stated below at the latest by the submission deadline.

 1 - Online Application Form

Via the following link, the online application form will be activated approximately 4 weeks before the application deadline.

 2 - Certificate of enrollment

A certificate of enrollment stating the subjects and semester number from the current semester - this can be downloaded from the Student Administration Portal.

3/1 - A print-out from Campus Management (only BA and MA)

“Leistungsübersicht über begonnene und abgeschlossene Module” – available in your Campus Management under the tab “Noten & Punkte”.

3/2 - Copy of your diploma (only MA and PhD)

In English including a transcript of records; the copy does not have to be certified.

For non-german undergraduate certificates: please also submit the grade conversion document from your uniassist procedure.

3/3 - Offical admission to the PhD program (only PhD)

Official document proving the admission to a PhD program at the Free University Berlin.

 4 - Study/Research Project

A detailed presentation of the study project (BA) or research project (MA) in German (presentation of your professional interest as well as the necessity and feasibility of the stay abroad or, in the case of research stays, presentation of the research project). More details here: Applications for Bachelor (study project), Applications for Master (research project)

5 - University priority list

Please attach an additional document to your application in which you list your preferred universities in priority order. If you are also applying for a departmental exchange, please also include these universities in the priority list.

 6 - Letter of Recommendation

One letter of recommendation by lecturers in English. It should be written by a lecturer of Freie Universitaet Berlin, for doctoral students from the supervisor of the dissertation. Graduate students who are new at Freie Universitaet Berlin are exempted from submitting a letter of recommendation by a lecturer of Freie Universitaet Berlin, in this case the letter of recommendation may be written by a lecturer from their previous university. All referees should use our form.

Please have the reviewer fill out the form linked here and send it as a PDF document directly to the Office for International Student Mobility. After the application process has been completed, the letter of recommendation will remain with us; it will not be returned to the applicant or forwarded to offices outside of Freie Universität Berlin.

7 - Proof of language proficiency

It is necessary for applicants to have a very good knowledge of English or Japanese in order to be able to follow the classes while abroad. Some universities require official language tests like TOEFL or IELTS. Language certificates may not be older than 2 years, the relevant date concerning this is the application deadline of the program. Please see a detailed description of the language requirements under the link of the partner university.

Proof of language proficiency can be handed in up to two weeks after the official application deadline.

TOEFL (official score report)
We only accept the official score report of the internet based TOEFL (iBt). When booking a TOEFL appointment, please make sure to provide the institution code of Free University Berlin-Student Exchange Office (C507) in order for the test results to be sent directly to our office. You will receive an examinee score report and can view your test scores online.

Should you have passed one of the language proficiency test within the past 2 years, please submit a copy of your test result with your application. Please note that without a test result, you are not invited for an interview

IELTS (test report form)
We only accept the official test report which is sent directly to our office; you will additionally receive a copy of your score results. Please see details under the link of the partner universities.

2.5 Submission of applications

Please submit you application as early as possible so potential uncertainties with your application can be solved before the deadline.

Please name each document as follows: YourLastName_DocumentTitle (e.g. Schmid_MotivationLetter). All documents (except for the letter of recommendation) should then be sent as separate PDF-documents within one zip folder (also titled with your last name) and send it to auslstud@fu-berlin.de.

You will receive a confirmation of receipt within a week of submitting your application. In case you don't receive an E-Mail from us after a week, please get in touch with us. However, please refrain from sending several emails after having submitted your application, as this slows down our working process.

3. Further information

3.1 Waiver of tuition fees

The nomination at a partner university always includes the waiver of the tuition fees there; information on possible scholarship offers can be found on the individual university pages.

3.2 Funding

Foreign partner universities grant tuition waivers to students of Freie Universität.

It is possible to apply for additional financial support from the DAAD or through PROMOS. Please note that the DAAD usually only announces annual scholarships once a year. Please inform yourself in time.

Under the following link you will also find further information on funding opportunities.

3.3 Admission as a non-degree student

Within the framework of our exchange agreements, admission as a non-degree student has been agreed upon for the duration of the scholarship. Therefore, graduation at the partner university is generally not possible.

3.4 Creditability of courses

The creditability of courses taken abroad must be clarified with your own institute at Freie Universität. We recommend that you arrange this before you start your stay abroad. More information about the creditability of courses can be found here (only available in German at the moment): Hinweise zur Anrechnung

3.5 Leave of Absence

Students can take a leave of absence for one or two semesters to study abroad.

3.6. Final announcements

Please note that due to the required reciprocity, final information on the exact number of exchange places as well as on the participating universities will only be available in the fall.

Applicants' data will be stored in accordance with the "Law on Protection against Misuse of Personal Data in Data Processing" as far as they are necessary for processing the application or scholarship. The documents of unsuccessful applicants will be destroyed after a reasonable period of time.