For 30 years, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) and New York University (NYU), the largest private research university in the USA, have maintained a close partnership that opens up a wide range of opportunities and international experiences for researchers and students.
Around 300 HU students have since completed an exchange semester at NYU. At the same time, up to 180 students from New York come to Berlin every year. They are enrolled at HU and attend classes at the NYU Berlin campus, which has been in existence for 20 years. Further opportunities for interaction are provided by the short-term programmes of the Humboldt International Campus, as well as a fellowship programme that enables selected HU students to take up to two courses per semester at NYU Berlin.
Transatlantic teaching and research
In terms of teaching, both universities have been working closely together for many years. Joint formats were already being implemented in a hybrid format before the pandemic. Currently, Prof. Dr Talja Blokland, Professor of Urban and Regional Sociology at HU, also holds the prestigious Max Weber Chair at NYU.
The collaboration also encompasses joint research projects, which have been specifically supported by Flexible Funds since this year. Current collaborations include the Institute of Chemistry with the Tandon School of Engineering and the Institute of Asian and African Studies with the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
NYU has been a strategic partner university of HU since 2025. In the long term, joint Master’s and PhD programmes, as well as the promotion of transdisciplinary research, are planned.
Focus on shared values
When the anniversary was celebrated in Berlin on 7 May, HU President Prof. Dr Julia von Blumenthal highlighted the shared values of both institutions at the ceremony: “Especially in these times, when democracy and Academic Freedom are
challenged even in established democracies, we feel our responsibility. It is our duty to be open to society, to explain, why we are so important for the future and what we do for democracy and to tackle the great challenges our societies face.“
NYU President Prof. Dr Linda G. Mills also emphasised the social relevance of transatlantic academic exchange in her message of greeting, which was delivered by Vice-President Prof. Dr Eliot Borenstein: “With international partnerships like these, teaching and learning take on new hues. Students come face to face with beliefs and backgrounds far different than their own. In a time of such division, what could be more important than seeing the world through so many varied eyes?.”