Free University of Berlin

The **Freie Universität Berlin** ("**Free University of Berlin**", often abbreviated as _FU Berlin_) is a university in Berlin. It is known for its research in the humanities and social sciences, as well as in the field of natural and life sciences.
The university was founded in Berlin-Dahlem, a district in the south west of Berlin during the time of the Cold War in 1948. Today, the university has three bigger campuses: the main campus Dahlem, the _Campus Düppel_ with animal clinics and other institutes related to veterinary medicine and the _Geocampus_ in Lankwitz, which is home to the _Department of Earth Sciences_. The medical department of the FU Berlin is part of the _Charité - University Medicine Berlin_, a joint institution with the Humboldt University. The university library has a total of about 8.5 million volumes and is the biggest university library system in Germany. Freie Universität has over 400 partner universities all over the world, many of them through the _ERASMUS programme_. According to various international rankings, Freie Universität is one of the best universities in Germany. In 2007 (and 2012 again), the Freie Universität was one of eleven universities to be successful in the _German Excellence Initiative_, a national competition by the German government. University alumni include five Nobel Prize winners and 15 winners of the national Leibniz Prize.

## Academics

Freie Universität offers over 150 different subjects in 12 departments and three central institutes:
- Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy
- Department of Earth Sciences
- Department of History and Cultural Studies
- Department of Law
- School of Business and Economics
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
- Department of Education and Psychology
- Department of Philosophy and Humanities
- Department of Physics
- Department of Political and Social Science
- Medical School: Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (shared with the Humboldt University Berlin)
- Department of Veterinary Medicine

### Interdisciplinary Central Institutes

1. John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies
1. Institute for Eastern European Studies
1. Institute for Latin American Studies

The _Botanical Garden_ with over 22,000 different kinds of plants is one of the biggest in the world.

## Other websites

- Official Homepage
- Berlin Mathematical School (BMS)
- Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden

## Infobox (university)

- **name**: Freie Universität Berlin
- **latin name**: Universitas Libera Berolinensis
- **image**: Siegel FU Berlin.jpg
- **caption**: Seal (device), Seal of the Freie Universität Berlin
- **motto**: Veritas, Iustitia, Libertas (Latin)
- **mottoeng**: Truth, Justice, Liberty
- **established**: 1948
- **type**: Public
- **budget**: 414 Mio. € <small>_(2012, without the Charité)_</small>
<small>State: 302 Mio. €</small>
<small>External: 112 Mio. €</small>
- **staff**: about 4,000 with 2,200 scientific assistants <small>_(without those from Charité)_</small>
- **faculty**: 430 professors (incl. 94 junior professors)
- **president**: Peter-André Alt <small>_since 2010_</small>
- **students**: 34,518 <small>_(WS 2013/14)_</small>
- **city**: Dahlem
- **state**: Berlin
- **country**: Germany
- **campus**: Suburban and Urban area, Urban
 1.8 km<sup>2</sup> (180 ha)
- **colors**: Light Green  / Dark Blue
- **nickname**: FU, sometimes "FUB"
- **affiliations**: UNICA, EUA, German Excellence Initiative, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft _(DFG)_, German U15, Charité - University Medicine Berlin
- **address**: Freie Universität Berlin
Kaiserswerther Straße 16-18
14195 Berlin