Freie Universität Berlin ranked best in Germany for humanities and social sciences research / University a clear favorite among visiting researchers
According to the latest Funding Atlas, published on November 25, 2024, by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Freie Universität Berlin is one of the five strongest research universities in Germany. Its spot in the top five means that Freie Universität has climbed one place in the rankings compared with the previous publication in 2021. The Funding Atlas 2024 also recognizes Freie Universität as the top university in Germany for acquiring research grants in the humanities and social sciences. Researchers across all disciplines at Freie Universität Berlin acquired a total of 296.8 million euros in funding from the DFG between 2020 and 2022. This represents an increase of almost five percent compared to the previous funding period (2017-2019). The top four universities in the ranking were Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Technical University of Munich, Heidelberg University, and RWTH Aachen, respectively. For the first time, the DFG Funding Atlas also contained an overview of how German universities have performed in the atlas over time. The results show that Freie Universität Berlin has consistently been placed in the top six universities in Germany over the past fifteen years.According to the DFG Funding Atlas, researchers in the humanities and social sciences at Freie Universität Berlin were granted 98.3 million euros of DFG funding between 2020 and 2022 (compared with 87.5 million euros in the previous cycle), making Freie Universität the top recipient of DFG funding in these disciplines.
Researchers in the life sciences at Freie Universität Berlin were able to acquire 130.1 million euros in DFG funding (compared with 96.1 million euros in the previous cycle), placing Freie Universität seventh overall for life sciences funding in Germany. Freie Universität Berlin achieved eleventh place overall for DFG grants in the natural sciences, with its researchers obtaining 56.1 million euros’ worth of funding between 2020 and 2022.
"Our position in the top five is a testament to the excellent work being carried out by our researchers. I congratulate them on this outstanding achievement. The fact that we are considered one of Germany’s top five universities for research is a great accomplishment and characteristic of the high quality of research taking place here," said president of Freie Universität Berlin, Professor Günter M. Ziegler.
Number One for Visiting Researchers
The DFG Funding Atlas 2024 also shows that Freie Universität Berlin is the most popular host university in Germany for visiting researchers. Nationwide, the university was the host of choice for visiting researchers with grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation or the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).About the DFG Funding Atlas
The DFG is the biggest research funding organization in Germany. As a publicly funded institution, it publishes figures on the funding it provides every three years in the form of the DFG Funding Atlas. The atlas is a high-profile instrument used to represent the key figures on publicly financed research in Germany. The DFG expands its dataset and updates its methodology every cycle, taking into account additional topics and issues where relevant. Now in its tenth iteration, the latest DFG Funding Atlas was presented to the public on November 25, 2024, by the DFG in collaboration with the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany).The Latin words veritas, justitia, and libertas, which frame the seal of Freie Universität Berlin, stand for the values that have defined the academic ethos of Freie Universität since its founding in December 1948.
