Research is deeply ingrained in how we study and teach at Freie Universität Berlin. Our degree programs feature up-to-date research and employ innovative methodological and didactic approaches. The variety of curricula not only challenges students and unlocks their potential, but does the same for the university as an institution, pushing us all to grow and improve. The long-term integration of world-class research into our teaching, collaboration with doctoral students, and the participation of students in research projects are all important aspects of the university’s dedication to research. The acquisition of specialist knowledge and research skills are critical in identifying and addressing cross-disciplinary issues as well as in pursuing academic activities and specialist professions. This is achieved through research-oriented teaching, as well as sophisticated teaching and learning situations that are defined by their flexibility and diversity of tasks. These allow our students to truly grasp the complexity of the topics under discussion. Our programs therefore cultivate an outlook steeped in academic curiosity and integrity, in keeping with the principles of good scientific practice. The communication of these ethical standards is anchored in the curriculum.

Freie Universität Berlin understands competencies in the sense of an individual’s willingness and ability to work through complex issues using critical thinking. This includes the ability to transfer and apply acquired knowledge to other contexts. The development of skills at university blends self-guided learning with theoretical frameworks in order to explore the content of degree programs, with student-centered learning processes and inspiring learning environments in the foreground. The goal is therefore to promote both personal development and the ability to transfer acquired knowledge to professional activities. Cross-disciplinary skills acquisition and an education in the core tenets of academia are indispensable in accessing and interacting with all kinds of knowledge and the relationship between knowledge and media. Furthermore, they equip students to participate in academic and societal debates. This educational process includes training in academic writing and reading skills along with courses that instill rhetorical and logical competencies in students, so that they can glean knowledge from texts in order to formulate their own thoughts, choices, and arguments, as well as take a critical approach to information and data.

Thanks to Freie Universität Berlin’s strong subject-specific cultures and the wide range of subjects housed in our departments, we offer ideal conditions for multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary teaching that draws from different approaches, methods, and theories. Dialogue between the disciplines and the interplay between perspectives make it possible to understand a range of views, which in turn gives rise to intellectual synergies. Interdisciplinary teaching in particular strengthens competencies, paving the way for insights into field-specific phenomena or social issues, which can, in turn, greatly benefit from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Communication and exchange within the university and with other institutions of higher education via different fields of research play an essential role here as well as teaching and learning projects involving multiple fields. One important interdisciplinary task we have as an institution of higher education is our teacher education program, which is based on close collaboration between different academic and scientific fields, teaching methodologies, and educational sciences.

Outstanding teaching and learning are the result of applying established standards and providing the freedom to experiment and innovate. Our educators reflect on the content, methodology, and technological aspects of their teaching and seek to develop these areas by communicating with other instructors, students, and support staff in order to improve our university culture and enhance academic success. Freie Universität Berlin provides future-oriented teaching and learning formats as well as state-of-the-art infrastructures. Research-oriented teaching and a focus on building competencies are reflected in an array of project-oriented, problem-based, and research-driven formats. New formats for self-study and learner-centered teaching, which promote active participation and collaboration, are oriented to a diverse student body. Summative evaluation methods, formative assessments, and student feedback are innovative components of the university’s examination framework. The progressive field of quality-assured student teaching and learning projects offers opportunities for independent learning and knowledge transfer, as it hones students’ teaching skills and gives rise to a change in perspective by learning through teaching.

Internationality is a tangible, highly visible feature of our university culture on and beyond campus. All members of Freie Universität Berlin reap the benefits of internationalization on a daily basis. The university takes concrete measures to encourage students, instructors, and employees to seek out international experiences. We give our students the skills they need for a future in a globalized professional world, and all members of the university have the chance to discover the value of international partnerships and intercultural experiences. Alongside well-established formats like traditional stays abroad, we also provide creative online options as well as special events specifically on campus. These international opportunities are further bolstered by a wide selection of foreign language courses and a well-developed infrastructure for digital teaching, learning, assessment, and advising. These innovative and sustainable mobility options embed internationalization at Freie Universität Berlin and facilitate communication with current, former, and future members and partner institutions across the world.

Freie Universität Berlin is dedicated to fulfilling its responsibilities in terms of local and global sustainable development. Sustainability is a prominent aspect of learning and teaching at our university as well as life on campus in general. As an institution that focuses on preparing the policy-makers of the future through its degree programs, we incorporate this awareness into our courses by taking into account different disciplines, methods, and perspectives. Issues related to climate change as well as social and ecological transformation are addressed in courses open to all members of the university. This means that we offer unique teaching and learning formats that benefit greatly from increased interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration. Set against this backdrop, teaching and learning take on a particularly important role as a space for experimentation and creation.

Freie Universität Berlin is committed to ensuring the equitable participation of all those involved in studying and teaching. We understand and recognize diversity as it is embodied in the multidimensional, intersectional differences between individuals in relation to socially defined categories. The university is committed to establishing equal opportunities, dismantling intersectional injustice, and establishing educational environments that are accessible to all and free from discrimination. As we are engaged in a continuous process of self-reflection, our teaching, learning, and advising services are designed with diversity in mind while targeting potential sources of discrimination, and thus cater to the different backgrounds and needs of all participants. While diversity-related skills are both a learning objective of the degree programs and a characteristic of our teaching, we have also embedded different aspects of diversity on a structural level – from the admissions process and accessibility to education, right through to the curricula.

Quality-assured technologies and digitalization are implemented at Freie Universität Berlin to fulfill our mandate as an educational institution and create a genuine added value in terms of studying and teaching. Digitalization is not a mere afterthought here – in fact, it drives many of our transformative processes. By means of innovative blended and online formats, digitalization significantly supports, expands, and transforms many aspects of teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as working on collaborative projects and advising. Suitable digital formats for teaching, learning, and assessment are a key feature of the degree programs offered by Freie Universität Berlin and contribute to the highly effective teaching conducted in our courses. This is carried out on the basis of tried-and-tested concepts that apply university-wide quality standards and subject-specific best practices. This digitally focused approach to achieving academic success shapes Freie Universität Berlin’s digital identity when it comes to studying and teaching, which in turn boosts its public image as a forward-thinking university.

Freie Universität Berlin values excellent teaching, as it forms the basis for our students’ educational success. This is why we strive to convey its importance within and outside of the university. We promote an academic culture in which outstanding teaching aptitude and high-quality teaching are celebrated. Not only that, but we also develop a varied system of incentives to encourage quality, creativity, and innovation in teaching, and reinforce teaching qualifications as an integral component of academic qualifications. Freie Universität Berlin believes that good teaching is a joint effort that relies on active participation and a respectful dialogue about our successes and failures, learning outcomes, and plans to continuously develop university education. The university’s different status groups are engaged in a constructive dialogue with one another and operate on equal footing. Our educational community is supported by a wide array of formats for communication, networking, and interaction.

In addition to providing an education with a well-rounded curriculum, Freie Universität Berlin offers comprehensive support services to accompany students from the beginning of their studies, all the way through to their doctorate. All instructors and departments are involved in determining the subject-specific and interdepartmental aspects of these services, and due care is given to individuals’ psychological and professional needs. Along with supervisory services throughout their studies, other services include recruiting, guidance, introductory support, academic and career advising, and alumni networks. The study phases and transitional process from secondary school to university – and from university to the professional world – are actively shaped in cooperation with the relevant institutions in education, business, and society. Both prospective students and enrolled students get a realistic image of the educational options available, admission and study requirements, and their respective prospects, which makes it easier for them to choose their ideal degree program and courses. These options are designed with the heterogeneity of the student body in mind in order to facilitate the best possible environment for each individual in the academic community to develop and succeed.

Freie Universität Berlin highly values university teaching as a profession and considers it essential to our reputation as a renowned academic institution. For this reason, we promote educational training for targeted teaching skills and strive for high-quality teaching among all our instructors. We research suitable indicators, metrics, and models so that we have the data we need to modernize university teaching based on factual evidence. Instructors at all qualification stages and in all status groups – including students and doctoral students – receive support acquiring university-level teaching skills and honing their individual teaching profile as part of a quality-assured, long-term professional development policy. The professionalization of university teaching covers many areas. It includes continuing education opportunities for administrative staff involved in educational support for students and instructors. It also means building administrative units equipped with solution-oriented and target group-specific skills, who can offer services and administrative support for studying and teaching at the university. Professional university teaching also demands a high-performance IT infrastructure, excellent library facilities and services, as well as buildings designed to meet the requirements of modern teaching, learning, assessment, and advising environments.

As an institution that is itself constantly learning, education is the subject of an ongoing conversation at Freie Universität Berlin. Evidence-based, dialogue-oriented processes that meet high academic standards guarantee the superior quality of the university’s degree programs. Feedback from internal and external students and evaluations from instructors, experts from specific fields, and working professionals contribute greatly to discussions about the quality of education. The subjects, instruments, and processes of quality assurance are always adjusted to keep up with current academic, didactic, technological, and societal discourses. This encompasses openness, tapping into the potential of digital administrative, learning, and assessment systems for the further development of teaching and learning based on new data, and the widespread implementation of innovative feedback tools. Essential components of these processes include utilizing the results from these assessments, which means incorporating feedback from target groups, establishing suitable intervention measures, and enabling the participation of all status groups.