International Summer and Winter University FUBiS at Freie Universität Berlin Welcomes Students to the Lankwitz Campus

A new term of FUBiS, the International Summer and Winter University of Freie Universität Berlin, started on Sunday, June 2, 2024 with 114 students from 17 countries. During the six-week term, the students will attend German language classes alongside courses in other subjects. Most of the students this term come from the United States, Singapore, and China. The FUBiS term will run through July 13.

At FUBiS, students can choose between German language classes, various other classes taught in English, or a combination of the two. There are seminars on a variety of topics, including the history of Germany during National Socialism, protest movements in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century, as well as European art history and international negotiations and mediation.

Freie Universität Berlin awards credits for all FUBiS courses according to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), which students can then have recognized at their home university. All courses are designed with a special focus on the city of Berlin due to its immense cultural and historical significance. The academic program includes field trips, such as a boat trip on the Spree River, a street art tour, a guided tour to important sites of the 1968 student movement, as well as a guided tour of the Reichstag building. Participants can also take part in daytrips to Potsdam and Leipzig. In addition to other services, the program offers specialized mental health support, including interactive workshops and individual psychological counseling, to ensure the best possible care for international students with their diverse backgrounds.

The FUBiS Summer University was held for the first time in 1998, and a winter term was added in 2007. FUBiS offers summer and winter programs lasting three to six weeks that are made up of German language lessons and a wide range of academic courses primarily conducted in English. In past years, FUBiS has regularly welcomed around 600 students from 40 countries to Freie Universität Berlin.

In 2018 the Forum on Education Abroad, a US-based non-profit organization committed to improving education abroad, awarded FUBiS certification through the Quality Improvement Program (QUIP). FUBiS remains the only summer and winter university in Germany to have successfully completed the rigorous QUIP evaluation. The goal of FUBiS is to help create a global community of empowered individuals who will actively shape a better future; thus, future issues and the inclusion of the United Nations’ global "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) play an increasingly important role within its curriculum.

You can find up-to-date information on FUBiS’ in-person programs and the course syllabi at www.fubis.org.

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.