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Korea

1. Program Description

The Free University Berlin will prospectively offer spots at the following Asian partner universities. Please note that additional costs may be incurred, e.g. for health insurance, medical certificates and various administrative fees. We kindly ask you to inform yourself in advance.

Attention: Students without Korean language skills apply for 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 of Korean Studies: Departmental Exchange. There are additional universities to choose from.

1.1. Für Bachelorstudierende: 

1.2. Für Masterstudierende:

2. Application

Students of the Free University can apply for a spot in the general English-speaking Asia program; a ranking of the preferred partner universities can be made in the online application form.

2.1. Application deadline

For the academic year 2025/26: December 3rd 2024

2.2. Duration

Information about the possible duration of your exchange (a semester or full academic year) can be found on the sites of the respective partner universities. The academic year usually starts in late August and ends in June the following year.

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.

2.3. Prerequisites

  1. Application is open to fully enrolled students of the Free University Berlin, who at the time of their application should be
    a) in their 3rd semester of their Bachelor
    b) in their 1st semester of their Master
  2. Applicants must have good Korean language skills appropriate to their level of study, which must be proven at the time of application. Bachelor's students must provide proof of language proficiency by passing the Korean I module or with a minimum score of 140 points in TOPIK I (level 2), Master's students must provide proof of Korean language proficiency by completing a BA program in Korean Studies/East Asian Studies or with a minimum score of 150 points in TOPIK II (level 4).
  3. Applicants for Korean Studies (Mono-Bachelor) must have completed the following modules: Korean I, Korean II, introductory module History and Methods and introductory module Culture, Politics and Economics. Please contact us if you are enrolled in an older study program.
  4. Applicants must be able to demonstrate appropriate academic achievements, as the partner universities ultimately decide on admission, classification in a study phase and the awarding of the scholarship.
  5. The range of subjects includes those represented in the Arts and Sciences departments. Study places in medical and legal subjects are not available.

2.4. Application documents

Please submit your application documents as early as possible to clarify potential questions or issues in time. Feel free to come by our office hours for a personal consultation.

The following documents should arrive at our office on the day of the application deadline:

1 - Online application form

You will find the link to the application form here; it will be online about 4 weeks before the application deadline.

2 - Certificate of enrollment

With details of your study program and your current semester (Fachsemester). You can download your current certificate of enrollment from the student’s administration website (Zedat 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.

4 - Motivational Letter
The study proposal, provided by the Institute of Korean Studies.

The following questions could serve as a guide: What are the reasons that led you to choose your field of study? Why do you want to study in the host country? Which subject would you like to study during your semester abroad? Which subject area within your subject would you like to focus on during your semester abroad and why? What advantage will this semester abroad offer you for your further studies at Freie Universität? What criteria did you use to select the partner universities? Why are your first preference universities beneficial for your further studies?

If you are interested in a departmental exchange in Korean Studies, we would like to ask you to mention this in your letter of motivation.
5 - 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. Students studying Korean Studies don't need a letter of recommendation. 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 both letters of recommendation may be written by lecturers 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.

2.5. Submission of applications

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 sent 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. Tuition waiver

A nomination by the Freie Universitaet for one of our partner universities always includes a full tuition waiver; further information can be found on the pages for each partner university. 

3.2. Financing

The partner universities offer nominated FU students a full tuition waiver. Some partner universities grant an additional scholarship to cover living costs; please find more detailed information under the links of each partner university.

It is possible to apply for additional funding at the DAAD or PROMOS. Please note that the DAAD only has one deadline per year.

Further information on financing can be found here.

3.3. Enrollment as non-degree student

Our exchange agreements always include an enrollment as a non-degree student for the duration of your stay. It is not possible to graduate from the partner universities.

3.4. Credit and grade transfer

Whether you will get credit at the FU for the classes you take at the partner university will be decided by your department. We recommend talking to the responsible parties before going abroad. 

3.5. Leave of absence

Students have the option to take a leave of absence for one or two semesters.

3.6. Up-to-dateness of the published capacities

Please note that because the exchange is based on reciprocity, the final number of spots available at each partner university can only be published shortly before the application deadlines.