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Information for Incoming Students

Welcome to Freie Universität Berlin! We are delighted that you are interested in studying abroad with the Department of Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy. Freie Universität Berlin welcomes about 1,800 international students each year. You can find the answers to frequently asked questions here.

You can find the course catalog for the current semester online under the menu item “Department” and then “Biology, Chemistry, Pharmacy.”

There are four types of lectures at the department:

  1. Lectures are presentations held in either German or English. You should be able to attend these without any issues.
  2. Seminars center around discussions on the current state of research in a specific field. You will typically have to hold a short presentation about an original publication in this course.
  3. Practicals and lab courses are carried out over the course of several weeks and are typically combined with seminars and lectures. There are participation requirements for some courses.
  4. Teamwork in working groups: If you would like to work at a laboratory, then you should get in touch with the heads of the labs and ask if they have space in their group or reach out to the contacts responsible for your subject. They will do their best to accommodate you. While you do not enroll for lab courses, you can still earn ECTS for attending them. Please ask the heads of the labs how many credits you will get for the respective lab period.

Please get in touch with the responsible coordinator for your subject soon after you have arrived in Berlin. Biology students are advised to do so shortly before their arrival. This is necessary in order to coordinate your course schedule for your exchange at Freie Universität Berlin.

If you would like to complete an internship at a lab of your choice, then please get in touch directly with the heads of the working groups and ask if they have space available in your chosen field.

You can find an overview of the working groups here:

Please inquire at your university as to whether and how you can apply for an internship (Swiss-European Mobility or Erasmus+ grant).

If you have any specific questions or problems during your stay abroad, then please let me know and don’t hesitate to reach out. You can visit me at my office and we’ll try to find a solution to your problem together. You’ll find me at the following address:

Rafaela Münch
Coordinator for Student Mobility
Arnimallee 22, Room A.017
14195 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 838 58658
Email: erasmus@bcp.fu-berlin.de

  • Please check that all grades have been entered into Campus Management and/or that you have received the paper certificates for all of the courses you have attended. You should get in contact with your instructor if you are missing anything.
  • Fill out the form (in German or English) and send it to referent-sl@bcp.fu-berlin.de (as a scan, photo, or hardcopy) and attach scans of paper certificates if you have them.
  • Please note that it can take up to two weeks for your certificate to be processed.
  • You will receive a color scan of your certificate via email and the hard copy will be sent directly to your university. The addressee will be asked to give you the original.