A new Framework Agreement for Teaching (Rahmenvereinbarung Lehre) passed by the Berlin University Alliance (BUA) is intended to facilitate more intensive and simpler cooperation in the area of teaching and learning. The three university presidents and the CEO of Charité signed the agreement in July. With the new agreement, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin are creating more simplified structures for new degree programs, among other things.

The Master’s Degree Program in Bioinformatics offered by Freie Universität Berlin and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the first BUA Joint Degree Program to accept students. It will start in the 2021/22 winter semester. The program has already completed certification. The BUA partners are also cooperating with each other to run other degree programs in varying constellations. By linking them closely with research at BUA, they can also be classified as new BUA Joint Degree Programs.

With its joint degree programs, the Berlin University Alliance would like to expand the range of degree programs in Berlin to include programs that focus, for example, on interdisciplinarity and the principle of research-based learning. Students enrolled in the programs can benefit from enrollment at all the participating institutions and make unlimited use of all their facilities as part of the joint degree program. The framework agreement also makes it easier for students who are enrolled in the regular degree programs at any of the BUA universities to attend classes for credit at any of the other BUA universities.

Ever since the Berlin University Alliance was established, the Steering Committee of the cross-cutting theme Teaching and Learning has been working continuously to get the joint framework agreement off the ground in coordination with the committees and management of the four involved institutions. In addition to the BUA Joint Degree Programs and the expanded opportunities for auditing courses, the Steering Committee also set up the Student Research Opportunities Program^x (StuROP^x), the Certificate Programs, and the E-Assessment Alliance.

For more information about the BUA Joint Degree Programs including links to the Master’s Degree Program in Bioinformatics, see the websites on Teaching and Learning for faculty and for students.