Research Structures
The “heart” of the University of Freiburg beats in its faculties and research centers. They engage in both teaching and research.
However, research also takes place at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), the University of Freiburg’s international research center.
The research infrastructures were extensively expanded as core facilities. Key research areas and clusters of excellence benefit from new research buildings and resource centers.
Research at the Faculties
Specialists Between the Disciplines.
Interdisciplinary research is at the core of the university’s 21 research centres. They testify to the high standing of excellent research at the University of Freiburg. An outstanding international reputation and intensive international exchange are a matter of course.
Research Centres:
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Africa Centre for Transregional research (ACT)
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Bernstein Center Freiburg (BCF)
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BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies
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BrainLinks-BrainTools
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Center for Transcultural Asian Studies (CETRAS)
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Centre for Security and Society (CSS)
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Frankreich-Zentrum (FZ)
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Freiburg Materials Research Center (FMF)
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Freiburg Center for Data Analysis and Modeling (FDM)
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Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies (FIT)
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The Hermann Paul Centre for Linguistics (HPCL)
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Freiburg Interdisciplinary Center for Ethics (EZ)
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Medieval Studies Center (MZ)
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Nietzsche Research Centre (NFZ)
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Centre for Anthropology and Gender Studies (ZAG)
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Centre for Business and Law (ZBL)
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Centre for Renewable Energy (ZEE)
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Centre for Medicine and Society (ZMG)
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Center for Popular Culture and Music (ZPKM)
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)
The Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) is the University of Freiburg’s international research center. An integral part of the university, the institute unites under its roof the humanities and social sciences, medicine, the natural and life sciences, and engineering. FRIAS offers leading academics (senior fellows) as well as outstanding early-stage researchers (junior fellows) from Freiburg and around the world the opportunity to concentrate exclusively on their (individual or joint) research projects for a certain period of time.
In this way, the institute creates a unique space and atmosphere for research within the university. It strengthens worldwide networks and enhances the University of Freiburg’s international visibility with its international Marie S. Curie Fellowship Program as well as research collaborations with the Universities of Strasbourg, Nagoya, and Pennsylvania. Moreover, FRIAS holds special events geared toward non-specialists – particularly students, but also the broader public in the City of Freiburg – to illustrate the great relevance of research projects being conducted at FRIAS for society as a whole.
Research Infrastructures
State-of-the-art technologies and their further development are of fundamental significance for top-level research. The University of Freiburg has thus given high priority to a continuous development of research infrastructures in the past years. In particular, this includes the establishment of core facilities designed to guarantee professional and efficient operations.
The University of Freiburg differentiates between three categories of facilities:
Central Facility
Central facilities are central service units that have strategic significance for the entire University and offer services for all faculties.
- Central Data Facility (under development)
Core Facility
Core facilities provide state-of-the-art large-scale research equipment for a large cross-faculty group of users. Core facilities are operated by qualified staff and offer users comprehensive services (e.g., analyses, methodology development, training courses, and access to equipment). They have their own user regulations and are generally located at a research centre.
Shared Facility
Shared facilities are operated by individual researchers or groups of researchers to guarantee access to state-of-the-art large-scale research equipment for a larger group of users. Shared facilities have their own user regulations and are generally located at a faculty.
Faculty of Biology:
Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy:
Faculty of Economics and Behavioural Sciences:
Faculty of Engineering:
Research Infrastructure Networks
The University of Freiburg also promotes the establishment of research infrastructure networks to support researchers in their work. The networks are not limited to Freiburg but also operate nationally and internationally:
International networks:
National Networks:
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German Network for Bioinformatics Infrastructure (de.NBI)
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National research data infrastructure (NFDI)
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DataPlant (host university)
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NFDI4BIOIMAGE (co-host university)
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NFDI4Energy (co-host university)
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DAPHNE4NFDI (further involvement)
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NFDI4Culture (further involvement)
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NFDI4Health (further involvement)
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NFDI4ing (further involvement)
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NFDI-MatWerk (further involvement)
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PUNCH4NFDI (further involvement)
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Text+ (further involvement)
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University-internal networks:
Partnerships
Research at the University of Freiburg is strengthened by regional and international partnerships with other universities, external research institutes, and private enterprises. On this page we present some selected cooperations:
Fraunhofer Society
The Sustainability Center Freiburg – founded in March 2015 – is an alliance between the University of Freiburg, all five Freiburg Fraunhofer Institutes, sustainability-minded companies, and social actors. Scientists at the center investigate solutions for all facets of sustainable development – from its foundations to practical applications – and then implement them in concrete innovations. The four interdisciplinary research foci of the sustainability center are sustainable materials, energy systems, resilience engineering, and ecological and societal transformation.
The University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Engineering established its third department in October 2016. The Department of Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH) conducts research on sustainable materials, energy systems, and resilience. It represents a new and outstanding step in the university’s collaboration with the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, as half of the new department’s 14 professors are endowed by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the other half by the university. The objective in teaching and research is to develop energy-efficient, intelligent, and resilient technical systems for countering global warming and resource scarcity and dealing with their ecological and social consequences. INATECH also forms the engineering core of the Sustainability Center Freiburg.
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (MPI-IE) in Freiburg participates in several collaborative projects, such as Cluster of Excellence BIOSS, six long-term SFB/TRR-projects and the Spemann Graduate School of Biology and Medicine (SGBM). Members of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law are associated with the Centre for Security and Society (CSS). Both Institutes are actively involved in the Cluster Initiatives at the University of Freiburg as part of the ongoing excellence competition.
Upper Rhine Research Alliance
The University of Freiburg, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technolgoy, and the Universities of Applied Sciences in Furtwangen, Karlsruhe, and Offenburg have joined forces to form the “Upper Rhine Research Alliance on the Technical Foundations of Sustainability”. The project was launched with funding from Baden-Württemberg’s State Ministry of Science, Research, and the Arts (MWK) and is set to run for three years. The goal is to develop energy-efficient, intelligent, and resilient technical systems for countering global warming and resource scarcity and dealing with their ecological and social consequences.
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (HAdW)
The University of Freiburg and the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (which also serves as the State Academy of Sciences and Humanities) have created Baden-Württemberg’s first academy professorship. A new philosophy professorship with an emphasis on philosophy of culture was established at the University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Humanities.
The holder of the chair serves as head of the “Nietzsche Commentary” research project, one of the Heidelberg Academy’s 20 ongoing long-term projects. The establishment of this professorship takes the university’s cooperation with the HAdW to a new level.