Organizational Chart
The organizational chart provides an overview of structures, decisions/information paths and election processes at Freie Universität Berlin.
The organizational chart is currently being revised and can be found here as soon as it's published.
University Management
The Executive Board (Präsidium) is in charge of managing Freie Universität Berlin. Among its other responsibilities, the Executive Board approves the draft budget, publishes guidelines for budgetary and economic administration, and makes suggestions as to the establishment, modification, and elimination of organizational units, as well as proposing structural and development plans for Freie Universität Berlin and implementing the resolutions of the Academic Senate (Akademischer Senat) as to the establishment and elimination of degree programs.
The Executive Board is comprised of:
- the President of the university
- the Executive Vice President, who also serves as the Permanent Deputy of the President
- three other Vice Presidents (VP2, VP3, VP4), each of whom is responsible for specific areas
- the Provost
Learn more about the work of the Executive Board here.
Academic Senate
The Academic Senate of Freie Universität Berlin comprises 25 members, who are elected for two-year terms: 13 professors and four representatives each from the student body, the academic staff, and other staff. The President of the university leads the Academic Senate. Every four years, the 61 members of the extended Academic Senate elect the President and Vice Presidents of the university. As a rule, the meetings of the Academic Senate are held in the Assembly Hall of the Henry Ford Building.
Find more information about the Academic Senate here.
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees (Kuratorium) of Freie Universität is a central institution that acts as the interface between the university, government, and society at large. Its responsibilities include determining the university’s budget, establishing, restructuring, and discontinuing organizational units, and handling fundamentally and/or particularly important public affairs that have been assigned to Freie Universität Berlin.
Learn more about the Board of Trustees here.
Departmental Administration
The dean’s office is the head of the department. The dean, who acts as chairperson, is supported by a maximum of two vice deans and a head of administration. The dean and at least one vice dean must be university professors.
The dean’s office works to ensure that members of the department are able to fulfill their professional duties, especially those related to teaching and examinations. It carries out personnel and administrative tasks for the department and plans its budget.
The department councils and councils of the central institutes are specifically responsible for bringing statutes and structural changes within their respective department or central institute into effect. They also approve budgets, approve proposals for appointing candidates to professorships in the department, and make decisions regarding postdoctoral university instruction qualifications (Habilitation). The members of the department and institute councils are appointed for a term of two years by the members of the respective departments or central institutes who are eligible to vote. These boards usually consist of 13 members (or 19 if the department or institute encompasses a wider variety of subjects), including seven (or ten) university professors, two (or three) research associates, two (or three) students, and two (or three) non-academic staff members.