Since 2015, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has remained steadfast in its commitment to supporting at-risk and refugee students and researchers facing adversity due to persecution, conflict and forced displacement. We recognize and believe in the transformative power of education, and are committed to creating an inclusive and safe environment, where individuals from vulnerable backgrounds can thrive academically and personally.
Resources, expertise and advocacy
To make this work possible, the Welcome Centre of our university actively partners with a wide network of regional, national and international stakeholders. These collaborations enable us to identify those most in need, provide targeted support, and amplify our impact through shared resources, expertise and advocacy. By working together with other universities, NGOs as well as global education networks, we ensure that our support is both responsive and sustainable.
Our efforts reflect our belief in the fundamental right to education and our responsibility to uphold academic freedom, human dignity, and global solidarity. We continue to protect and strengthen these initiatives to ensure that all students and researchers – regardless of their circumstances – have the opportunity to pursue their goals and contribute meaningfully to society.
Support for at-risk scholars
In its more than 200-year existence, Humboldt has worked under and with non-democratic regimes, experiencing periods when scholarship and scientific exploration couldn’t flourish freely. Recognising our historical responsibility, we are deeply committed to the protection of academic freedom and . Therefore, we contribute to several German and international initiatives designed to host and protect scholars from persecution or war in their home countries.
At Humboldt, we want to create safer spaces for persecuted scholars to do their research and work freely. To this end, we team up with foundations supporting persecuted scholars for short- and mid-term stays. As part of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, we are able to welcome at-risk scholars for a 24-month stay. These fellowships allow researchers to work at Humboldt and build new networks. In collaboration with the Einstein Foundation, we have so far received eleven advanced and junior researchers. Altogether, we have hosted over 60 scholars, mainly from Syria, Turkey, Yemen, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Brazil.
Global threats to academic freedom call for strong networks to defend and protect academics and their work. Since 2016, Humboldt has been a sustaining member of the Scholars at Risk network, participating in its advocacy campaigns for academic freedom and joining its protection work by hosting at-risk and displaced academics. Our commitment to the network deepened in 2023 when we joined the German steering committee, overseeing the network’s German chapter until 2028.
As the first German university, in 2020 we also formally joined the New University in Exile Consortium and actively collaborate with the association of over 70 universities worldwide.
In 2023 Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin inaugurated the Academic Freedom Week in solidarity with at-risk scholars. The event marked the launch of a regional Scholars at Risk chapter bringing together partner universities in Berlin and Brandenburg. The network provides a space to exchange resources, know-how and good practice to better support persecuted scholars in the Berlin-Brandenburg context. As of 2026, the network jointly organises the Berlin-Brandenburg Academic Freedom Week. It positions the Berlin and Brandenburg region as a leading advocate for academic freedom.
The Academic Freedom Week gathers academic and institutional stakeholders, aiming to
- create visibility for researchers at risk with a view to including them more actively and systematically in the wider Berlin-Brandenburg scientific landscape
- provide a recurring moment where the network can foster mobilisation of scientific, political and civil society actors on the topic
- sustain engagement for hosting programmes
- promote academic freedom more widely and foster visibility and exchange among academic communities
Support for forcibly displaced students
Refugee students are welcome at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Since 2015, the university has provided support for displaced and refugee students. Whether you are already studying at HU or you are interested in studying at our university, the Welcome Centre is here to respond to any questions you may have.
In our experience, there are three major areas where students and prospective students most need assistance. Below, you will find links and resources to help you navigate the German higher education system.
If you would like to enrol at HU, you are welcome to get in touch with us for initial counselling. We also invite you to take advantage of our consultation hours in the International Service Centre.
For additional support, you may also contact the Studierendenwerk International Student Counselling.
To help you identify relevant scholarships for financing your higher education, we have compiled a number of resources. We also recommend you have a look at the German Academic Exchange Service's pages on the topic.
For postgraduate students and doctoral candidates, there is also the EURAXESS platform, which brings together various funding opportunities and positions for early career researchers.
To get help in emotionally challenging times, there are several places you can turn to. The public, non-profit student support organization Studierendenwerk runs a counselling centre. Once you are enrolled at Hmboldt-Universität, you can also get in touch with the university's psychological counselling service. Here, you can request an online or in-person conversation with a qualified professional and talk through your next steps.
In an emergency, the Berlin Crisis Service is available around the clock, every day of the year. Here, free assistance is available mostly by phone, but also in several locations around the city, and in multiple languages as well. Similarly, the TransVer network, supported by the city of Berlin, Charité and the Berlin Institute for Empirical Integration and Migration Research, provides counselling, support and information for migrants and refugees in many languages. The ÜBERLEBEN centre is another noteworthy non-profit, offering multilingual trauma-centred psychological and social counselling, specifically aimed at refugees and migrants.
As an act of solidarity following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Humboldt-Universität launched a programme allowing refugee students to enrol as exchange students. With this status, students become part of our university and can accumulate ECTS points.
To qualify, students need to be Ukrainian citizens and enrolled at a university in Ukraine, have a valid residence permit in Berlin and demonstrate sufficient proficiency in English or German.
If you would like to apply, please provide the following documents:
- A copy of your passport
- A language certificate (German B1/B2 or English B2). If you don't have a certificate, please use our online test.
- Your residence permit or certificate of application for refugees from Ukraine, including a distribution decision for Berlin from the State Office for Refugee Affairs or confirmation of registration from a Berlin citizens' office.
- An enrollment certificate from your Ukrainian university or notification (dovidka) detailing your university, course of study, and semester.
Submit your documents by email
We will review your application and get in touch with you about the selection result. If you are accepted into the programme, you will need to pay the HU semester fee (305 Euro). Regular Erasmus+ conditions apply for students of our partner universities Taras Shevchenko University in Kyiv and Ivan Franko University in Lviv. To find out more, please contact your home university’s International Office.
Please note that exchange students cannot earn a degree at Humboldt-Universität. To do this, it is necessary to enrol as a degree-seeing student.
Prospective students from Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees with questions about studying or applying to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin may attend the Welcome Centre’s regular open consultation hours for international students.
Welcome Centre - Open Consultation Hours
Time
Tuesdays, 1pm – 3pm
Place
International Service Centre (room 1068) in the main building (Unter den Linden 6)
This is an open consultation hour, no appointment required.
Global University Academy
Since 2024, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is part of a worldwide network of universities that work together to improve access to higher education for refugees, wherever they are. The coalition is composed of universities and non-governmental organisations based in Africa, the Middle-East, Europe, and North America. The Global University Academy (GUA) pursues three main goals:
- The network members want to reinforce universities’ contribution to solving the global challenges of forced migration and displacement. The Global University Academy will act as a network of mutual support to respond to immediate refugee crises. It also aims to develop long-term resources for refugees and individuals affected by displacement in multiple contexts, to support their right to self-fulfilment.
- Together, we aim to develop scalable access to higher education for refugee, displaced persons and their host communities, where they reside. With just over seven percent of the world’s fast-growing refugee population having some access to higher education resources, the Global University Academy was created to help support the United Nations High Commissioner for Reffugee's (UNHCR) goal of increasing refugee access to higher education to 15 percent by 2030.
- We are developing a new academic model, establishing a joint, coherent and flexible course catalogue of stackable modules. These are to become a robust basis for preparatory and undergraduate degree programmes that will be co-developed and embedded locally. To achieve this, the GUA is working with the UNHCR, UNESCO, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund.
