"University President"

Freie Universität Berlin is accepting applications for the position of University President to commence their duties on July 6, 2026.

Freie Universität Berlin is a top international institution of research and higher education located in Germany’s capital. The highly ranked university is home to groundbreaking research and innovative teaching, as part of the German federal and state governments’ prestigious Excellence Strategy, and member of the Berlin University Alliance. Freie Universität Berlin is dedicated to upholding the values upon which it was founded: Veritas – Iustitia – Libertas. Interdisciplinary research, a wide range of degree programs, excellent promotion of early-career researchers, and a strongly knit global network are some of the university’s defining features.

Freie Universität Berlin boasts a strong and active academic community in the Berlin-Brandenburg region with around 35,000 students in 170 different degree programs and over 6,000 employees, including some 380 professors across eleven departments and four central institutes.

The ideal candidate will have a prominent academic record and be able to promote the development of Freie Universität Berlin by implementing a decisive vision of the university’s future and intensifying collaborative ties with the Berlin University Alliance. The candidate will also be expected to proactively shape structural changes at the university in response to social, technological, scientific, and academic challenges by engaging with all members of the university across various status groups. They should also have extensive leadership experience in governing an academic institution and the ability to foster integration in different contexts and at various levels.

The candidate knows how to address the multiple interests represented within the academic community and incorporate them into a productive dialogue based on a propensity for strategic, long-term planning and a clear understanding of the diversity of scientific fields and their respective academic cultures. They openly and actively support diversity and equal opportunity.

The Executive Board is the head of Freie Universität Berlin. According to Freie Universität Berlin’s University Statutes (Grundordnung) its work and decision-making practices are based on the “collegiality principle” (Kollegialprinzip). The president determines and is responsible for policymaking within the Executive Board and acts as the representative of the university publicly. The president serves as the institutional authority (Dienstbehörde), supreme institutional authority (oberste Dienstbehörde), and holds the highest authority over the personnel office and personnel finance office. The employment responsibilities associated with the position require Freie Universität Berlin to be the president’s primary employer. The president serves a four-year term.

According to the Berlin Higher Education Act (Berliner Hochschulgesetz) requirements to run for election include an academic degree and years of professional leadership experience in science, academia, business, administration, or justice administration that prove the candidate is suited to perform the duties required of this position. During their time in office, the president is promoted to the status of “civil servant on a temporary basis” (Beamt*in auf Zeit). Their salary is commensurate with the W3 pay grade plus a bonus based on their function and performance level. If a professor from a public university in the state of Berlin becomes president, they are granted an unpaid leave of absence for their professorship during their time in office.

If, prior to being elected, the president was a professor at a university outside the jurisdiction of the Berlin Higher Education Act, they will be appointed professor at Freie Universität Berlin upon request after their term in office without having to conduct a professorial appointment procedure, provided that they also meet the general legal requirements for the position.

The president is elected by the Extended Academic Senate of Freie Universität Berlin by a majority vote of its members. The Berlin Senate then appoints the president.

Freie Universität Berlin strives for the equitable representation of women in the Executive Board. Hence, qualified women are strongly encouraged to apply. Qualified candidates with disabilities will be given preferential treatment. Applications from people with migration backgrounds are expressly encouraged.