Berlin University of the Arts

Berlin University of the Arts is one of the biggest, most diversified and traditional universities of the arts world-wide. The teaching offered at the four colleges of Fine Art, Design, Music and Performing Arts as well as at the Central Institute of Further Education encompasses the full spectrum of the arts and related academic studies in more than 40 courses. Having the right to confer doctorates and post-doctoral qualifications, Berlin University of the Arts is also one of Germany’s few art colleges with full university status.

Creative Excellence

The quintessence of Berlin University of the Arts is training in the arts. Outstanding chairs at all its colleges, as well as the steady development of teaching concepts, help to secure and consistently improve the high standard of artistic and art-theoretical education at Berlin University of the Arts. Almost all the study courses at Berlin University of the Arts are part of a centuries-old tradition. Combining separate academies to create what was then, in 1975, the Hochschule der Künste (HdK), the university has since developed into a network of colleges. Spurning compromise in artistic and creative disciplines, these colleges facilitate an integrated view of the arts by means of interdisciplinary projects, shared theoretical starting points, and the consolidation of related academic fields. Thus Berlin University of the Arts gives its students - at an early stage and within the protected sphere of a study course - the opportunity to investigate and experiment with other art forms in order to recognise and extend the boundaries of their own discipline.

Inter-University Centres

Berlin’s art universities concentrate their potentials in two inter-university centres: The Jazz Institute Berlin (JIB), where students and teachers of Berlin University of the Arts and the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler work together, and the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT). The latter not only links Berlin University of the Arts and the Academy of Dramatic Art Ernst Busch, it also cultivates contacts with Berlin’s independent professional dance scene through cooperation with "Tanzraum Berlin".

Teacher Training

In addition to study of fine art and music, Berlin University of the Arts offers the possibility of studying music and fine art with a teaching career in mind. In addition to a main creative subject, the future teachers - within the Bachelor/Master system – study a second academic subject at one of Berlin’s other universities. Berlin University of the Arts is the only institute of higher education in Berlin that trains art and music teachers. Selection is based primarily on entrance examinations in art; teaching takes place in classes made up of students of Fine Art and those training to become teachers.

Research and Artistic/Creative Development Projects

At Berlin University of the Arts, research covers a wide field: from classic research in arts-related academic fields, to application-oriented (commissioned) research, and to artistic-creative experiment. Creative potentials and outstanding research are combined in numerous partnerships with industry, including with Deutsche Telekom, the Fraunhofer Institute and Siemens. Berlin University of the Arts’ research success can be measured, not only in successful products and processes and the large number of businesses founded by its graduates, but also in many academic projects co-financed by the German Research Association (DFG); for instance, the first graduate course at a German university of the arts to be funded by the DFG: “Practice and Theory of the Artistic/Creative Process” (1998-2005). Moving on from there, Berlin University of the Arts is currently developing a graduate school for arts and sciences. This postgraduate, transdisciplinary and international qualification programme will promote dialogue between the arts and sciences and is directed at outstanding lecturers and graduates of all arts and science subjects.

Further Education for Cultural and Creative Industries

Thanks to its excellent artistic and creative training, every year around 600 potential freelancers or company founders leave the university - meaning that Berlin University of the Arts represents a driving force for the creative industries in Berlin. In order to influence its graduates’ professional fields, Berlin University of the Arts has launched a strategic further education initiative and developed measures to support those founding businesses: The Central Institute of Further Education (ZIW), founded in 2007, collects the offers of further education at Berlin University of the Arts and selected offers made by other colleges of the arts in Berlin. The current range comprises six Master’s courses, summer academies, and certificate courses. Through intense research into professional fields, the ZIW provides access to other innovative spheres of activity in the creative industries. In addition, the Career & Transfer Service Center (CTC) at Berlin University of the Arts informs and advises students and graduates of all Berlin’s art colleges about their perspectives on the employment market and the road towards self-employment. In order to consolidate employment market developments in an enduring way and to keep young, well-trained, creative and culturally committed people in the city, Berlin University of the Arts - by providing ideas - is working together with various partners to develop the concept for a "Founders Campus Creative Industries".

International Networking

With more than 1000 degree-seeking students, foreign scholarship holders, and exchange students currently enrolled in its Colleges, the Berlin University of the Arts is an attractive destination for students from all over the world who, with their artistic potential and cultural backgrounds contribute to a unique atmosphere of diversity. As a result of contacts on many levels, the Berlin University of the Arts is part of an excellent international network. In all, the Berlin University of the Arts cultivates more than 170 international partnerships with other universities. Annually, more than 100 students from the Berlin University of the Arts spend part of their training abroad in the context of exchange programmes. The Berlin University of the Arts places the emphasis of international cooperation on the exchange of students and lecturers, but also promotes discourse on further education policies together with leading international universities of art and music.