The Humboldt University of Berlin (German Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin (Universität zu Berlin) by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities.
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About
History
The Humboldt University of Berlin (German Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin (Universität zu Berlin) by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities.
Education
Humboldt's ideal of the coexistence of research and teaching has become a model for universities all over the world. Central to this model is the idea of research-oriented teaching and the transfer of knowledge from the spirit of research. Students and teachers are joined together in an endeavour to critically examine traditional bodies of knowledge and to actively advance learning. For this reason, the Humboldt-Universität promotes social and communicative competences among all of its members and supports their initiatives wherever it can.
Research
Since its foundation, Humboldt-Universität has been a universitas litterarum embracing all major scientific disciplines in the humanities and arts, social and cultural sciences, mathematics and natural sciences, medicine and agricultural sciences. The profile of Humboldt research is reflected in Clusters of Excellence, ten DFG Collaborative Research Centers and in 13 Research Training Groups in which Humboldt-Universität has the coordinating function.
Career
Humboldt-Universität also plays a significant role in the DFG Research Center Matheon. Being aware of the growing need for interdisciplinary research, Humboldt began to set up ad hoc Integrative Research Institutes and Interdisciplinary Centres across faculty boundaries, some of which include Collaborative Research Centres.
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University Ranking
World University Rankings by Times Higher Education
2019
67 -5
2018
62 -5
2017
57
World University Rankings is a vital resource that provides the definitive list of the world's best universities. They look at how often they're producing new ideas, what their reputation is around the world, and how much they're contributing to science and academic fields. After calculating and comparing these criteria, THE ranks the universities accordingly.
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report
2018
87
2017
-
2016
-
Best Global Universities Rankings by U.S. News & World Report presents all the top universities from the U.S. and 60 other countries around the world. They measure the rate of students going to their second year of studies, as well as the rate of students who graduate. It also asks university representatives on the performance of universities, and evaluates university resources, teacher salaries, graduation rates, student academic achievements and satisfaction. After calculating and comparing these criteria, U.S. News ranks the top international universities accordingly.
QS World University Rankings by TopUniversities
2019
121 -1
2018
120 1
2017
121
QS World University Rankings is one of the top international rankings measuring the popularity and performance of universities all over the world. They measure university reputation based on the impressions of higher education experts, companies who hire graduates, and teaching quality. QS also considers the ratio of international teachers and students present at universities, as well as the times research papers were mentioned by researchers. After calculating and comparing these criteria, QS ranks the universities accordingly.
Services
Student services
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin considers itself as a public institution offering a great variety of services. Thus, the central information service supports users in finding their way among more than 5,000 addresses and approximately 100 public events each month.Further services are provided by the University's central institutions, such as the library with more than 4.2 million books and journals and support for more than 29,000 internet accounts.
Housing services
The Berlin housing market offers a wide range of apartments and rooms. Housing is available in many different sizes and at various prices and in all Berlin districts.In preparation of your stay in Berlin in your home country you should seek initial information about accommodation in the city. To make your search easier, we refer you to the an overview of local real-estate information sources in Berlin.Should you not have an apartment when you arrive in Berlin, you can rent a room from the University's guest house for the first few weeks.
Library services
During the Nazi book burnings in 1933, no volumes from the university library were destroyed. In 2003, natural science related books were outhoused to the newly founded library at the Adlershof campus, which is dedicated solely to the natural sciences.
Student Life
Campus life
Its main building is located in the centre of Berlin at the boulevard Unter den Linden. The building was erected on order by King Frederick II for his younger brother Prince Henry of Prussia. Most institutes are located in the centre, around the main building, except the natural science institutes, which are located at Adlershof in the south of Berlin. Further, the university continues its tradition of a book sale at the university gates facing Bebelplatz. The books sold are reprints of those burnt during the Third Reich and is symbolic of the institution atoning for its participation.
Sports facilities
HU Berlin Sport and Recreation offers students and staff a varied programme of courses. In addition to traditional sports such as football, volleyball and basketball, you can also try trendy sports such as Zumba, climbing or kickboxing. Sport and Recreation is meeting the steadily increasing demand (particularly for health/sport courses) with a comprehensive, specific programme. More than 80 sports and forms of exercise are offered to around 17,000 participants every semester. The Sport and Recreation programme also includes workshops, advanced training and competitive events.
Student clubs
Former students of Humboldt-Universität are able to choose from a variety of initiatives and associations. These are supporting activities like graduations, alumni reunions, and career services. Due to their specific faculty relations, those associations offer specialized events and contacts.The central alumni office would like to encourage further interchange between the initiatives and subsequently offers a central service to both alumni and initiatives.
The Global Study Awards
Together with the ISIC Association and British Council IELTS, StudyPortals offers you the chance to receive up to £10000 to expand your horizon and study abroad. We want to ultimately encourage you to study abroad in order to experience and explore new countries, cultures and languages.
Student Reviews
HU
Anonymous rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great Uni, great teachers!
Studying Biophysics at Humboldt University
Anonymous rated 4 out of 5 stars
During the last three years I have learned a lot at Humboldt University. In Germany, it is usual that the lectures are very full and that no professor knows your name, especially in the first two years. Therefore, you have to raise a lot of Motivation by yourself, especially towards the end of the semester when the exams come. In biophysics, in addition to the lectures, there are many internshi...
An alternative study destination
Anonymous rated 4 out of 5 stars
Germany offers high-level free education even for foreigners which great. The level of study is high and students are expected to be independent. There are a lot to improve in terms of infrastructure, student service and bureaucratic system, but it's free so you can't expect much.