Four Berlin institutions, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and the University of Oxford, have set out to create a new partnership which will open up exciting new initiatives across all academic disciplines.

Sweetly sings the nightingale...

In late spring, when a male nightingale starts looking for a mate, his voice is the only thing that matters. Males compete for the females’ favor in the dark of night. But the singing competition that erupts among multiple males sounds less like a duel than like a well-rehearsed duet.

Plants in Berlin enjoyed unusually good natural watering this past summer. In average years, though, flowers, bushes, and trees are already feeling the effects of climate change. The climate is warming, and the vegetation is growing thirstier. It needs more water, or it gradually dries out.

Satellite images only provide a rough impression of the hurricane’s scale: They show a white spiral, incessantly spinning around and inexorably approaching the Caribbean islands unlucky enough to lie in its path – Barbuda, Haiti, and Cuba, for example – before making landfall on the American mainland in Florida.

To strengthen the partnership and identify new opportunities for cooperation, Prof. Dr. Peter-André Alt, the president of Freie Universität Berlin, visited the University of California, Berkeley in early October.

At Freie Universität, 2018 will be a year full of activities surrounding the celebration of the university’s 70th founding anniversary. There will be various events and projects highlighting the past, present, and future of our university.