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University · Berlin · Germany

Freie Universität Berlin

In research, Freie Universität Berlin stands highest in Social Sciences (#184 of 10,521 worldwide), Physical Sciences (#303 of 12,888 worldwide) and Social Sciences (#167 of 6,365 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Classics, Museology and Veterinary — Classics is 9.3× its share of world research.

fu-berlin.deROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#258
of 28,054 · #177 all time
Rank in Germany
#10
of 1,178
Research works
71k
▲ 17% vs 2013–17
Citations
1.6M
23.0 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
20.9%
record average 16.5%
Open access
30%
world 28%

What is Freie Universität Berlin known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesDomain #184 of 10,521 19.6%3,568 #188
Physical SciencesDomain #303 of 12,888 20.3%1,907 #197
Social SciencesField #167 of 6,365 22.6%1,831 #201
Health SciencesDomain #378 of 11,982 23.2%1,269 #391
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #83 of 2,578 19.3%726 #130
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #41 of 1,201 23.3%472 #37
Life SciencesDomain #272 of 7,800 23.2%1,172 #204
MedicineField #390 of 10,443 23.5%1,022 #393
PsychologyField #110 of 2,181 23.7%382 #121
Arts and HumanitiesField #133 of 1,998 11.7%918 #133

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Freie Universität Berlin sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#188 #184
  2. Physical Sciences#197 #303
  3. Social Sciences#201 #167
  4. Health Sciences#391 #378
  5. Sociology and Political Science#130 #83
  6. Political Science and International Relations#37 #41
  7. Life Sciences#204 #272
  8. Medicine#393 #390
  9. Psychology#121 #110
  10. Arts and Humanities#133 #133
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Freie Universität Berlin specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Classics takes 9.3× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. ClassicsSubfield · 43.9 works9.3×
  2. MuseologySubfield · 64.6 works6.7×
  3. VeterinaryField · 70.4 works6.5×
  4. Small AnimalsSubfield · 53.6 works5.5×
  5. Literature and Literary TheorySubfield · 229.8 works5.5×
  6. History and Philosophy of ScienceSubfield · 55.6 works4.6×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.79× its world share, 296 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.27× its world share, 537 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.46× its world share, 116 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.38× its world share, 177 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 1.64× its world share, 46 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.77× its world share, 21 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 1.78× its world share, 221 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.47× its world share, 292 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.48× its world share, 184 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.43× its world share, 31 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.25× its world share, 297 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.75× its world share, 296 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.74× its world share, 204 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.28× its world share, 119 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.37× its world share, 241 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.53× its world share, 20 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.65× its world share, 135 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.67× its world share, 1,022 worksMedicineNursing: 0.54× its world share, 21 worksNursingVeterinary: 6.55× its world share, 70 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 4.01× its world share, 918 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.90× its world share, 228 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.73× its world share, 56 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.91× its world share, 154 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.58× its world share, 382 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.83× its world share, 1,831 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Veterinary, 6.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Freie Universität Berlin?

Ranked on the composite score, Thomas Risse, Matthias C. Rillig and Ernst Fraenkel lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Freie Universität Berlin.

  1. 1 Thomas Risse Germany · #3,395 worldwide 980 citations · 69 works
  2. 2 Matthias C. Rillig Germany · #9,023 worldwide 2k citations · 103 works
  3. 3 Ernst Fraenkel Germany · #12,479 worldwide 218 citations · 64 works
  4. 4 Tanja A. Börzel Germany · #12,620 worldwide 486 citations · 73 works
  5. 5 Grégory Jackson Germany · #14,189 worldwide 583 citations · 51 works
  6. 6 Štefan Schwarz Germany · #15,135 worldwide 863 citations · 107 works
  7. 7 Felix von Oppen Germany · #15,728 worldwide 1.1k citations · 62 works
  8. 8 Jens Eisert Germany · #15,777 worldwide 1.8k citations · 130 works
  9. 9 Ralf Schwarzer Germany · #17,725 worldwide 684 citations · 70 works
  10. 10 Uwe Flick Germany · #21,434 worldwide 625 citations · 72 works
All ranked researchers at Freie Universität Berlin

Which keywords describe research at Freie Universität Berlin?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Gender, Identity, Globalization, History, Literature, Governance, Nationalism and Human Rights.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Globalization342▲ 2.2×121 topics
  2. Identity318▲ 5.5×67 topics
  3. Gender298▲ 6.9×47 topics
  4. Epidemiology280◆ 0.89×129 topics
  5. History230▲ 4.1×54 topics
  6. Climate Change218◆ 1.02×98 topics
  7. Human Rights215▲ 2.6×55 topics
  8. Literature211▲ 4.9×55 topics
  9. Nationalism169▲ 4.6×32 topics
  10. Governance168▲ 6.5×16 topics
  11. Ethics136▲ 3.5×47 topics
  12. Philosophy133▲ 3.8×38 topics
  13. Colonialism126▲ 3.4×46 topics
  14. Neoliberalism121▲ 4.3×27 topics
  15. Religion113▲ 3.0×34 topics
  16. Bildung112▲ 43×3 topics
  17. Cultural Studies106▲ 3.5×34 topics
  18. Narrative105▲ 8.3×13 topics
  19. Democracy104▲ 3.7×24 topics
  20. Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse100▲ 31×2 topics
  21. Autorschaft95▲ 56×1 topic
  22. Literaturkritik95▲ 56×1 topic
  23. Memory87▲ 4.5×23 topics
  24. Political Economy86▲ 4.2×17 topics
  25. Migration85▲ 3.2×27 topics
  26. Art84▲ 12×11 topics
  27. Feminism82▲ 3.7×23 topics
  28. Social History79▲ 12×8 topics
  29. Society78▲ 5.1×19 topics
  30. Occupation72▲ 14×3 topics
  31. Bildungsungleichheit72▲ 31×1 topic
  32. Ethnografisches Schreiben72▲ 31×1 topic
  33. Sexuality67▲ 12×5 topics
  34. Aesthetics66▲ 11×11 topics
  35. Cultural History60▲ 6.2×17 topics
  36. Forced Laborers56▲ 36×1 topic
  37. Nazi Propaganda56▲ 36×1 topic
  38. Materiality56▲ 19×2 topics
  39. Photography54▲ 17×5 topics
  40. Political Communication52▲ 12×2 topics

Which research topics does Freie Universität Berlin publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: German Literature and Culture Studies, Sociology and Education Studies, European history and politics and Libraries and Information Services.

German Literature and Cu…95German Literature and Culture Studies: 95 fractional worksSociology and Education Studies: 72 fractional worksEuropean history and pol…56European history and politics: 56 fractional worksLibraries and Informatio…50Libraries and Information Services: 50 fractional worksPublic Administration and Political Analysis: 38 fractional worksEconomic and Social Issues: 32 fractional worksSocial Media and Politics31Social Media and Politics: 31 fractional worksEducation Methods and Technologies: 28 fractional worksMedia Studies and Communication: 26 fractional worksPopulism, Right-Wing Movements: 26 fractional works
Literature and Literary TheorySociology and Political SciencePolitical Science and International RelationsMuseology2 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 German Literature and Culture Studies Literature and Literary Theory 95 works
  2. 2 Sociology and Education Studies Sociology and Political Science 72 works
  3. 3 European history and politics Political Science and International Relations 56 works
  4. 4 Libraries and Information Services Museology 50 works
  5. 5 Public Administration and Political Analysis Political Science and International Relations 38 works
  6. 6 Economic and Social Issues Sociology and Political Science 32 works
  7. 7 Social Media and Politics Communication 31 works
  8. 8 Education Methods and Technologies Education 28 works
  9. 9 Media Studies and Communication Communication 26 works
  10. 10 Populism, Right-Wing Movements Political Science and International Relations 26 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available30.3%not open69.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors18.3%domestic only81.7%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Freie Universität Berlin's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 17% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Berlin

All research institutions in Berlin

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.