Swim in the digital world

In an eventful history spanning more than 300 years, the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) has not only grown into one of Europe’s leading universities but also to one of its most varied in terms of the art courses it offers.

Reorganised into four Colleges – Fine Arts; Architecture, Media and Design; Music; and the Performing Arts, complemented by opportunities in educational and social science for student teachers, as well as a service-orientated administration, the University has established the conditions that will ensure its successful continuity in the new millennium.

A living part of Berlin’s cultural scene

The University is part of Berlin, and Berlin is part of the University. Few cities in Europe offer such variety in cultural and artistic trends at present as the German capital. Teachers and students of the University present their work to the public more than 800 times per year; these events represent an important part in Berlin’s cultural calendar.

As Germany’s largest arts University, it is both a laboratory and a forum for the arts, sciences and research. As such, it invites society and economy to engage in dialogue and brings the resultant creativity into society.

Creativity is the programme

At our University the measure of all things is the quality of the creative work. This is proven not only by the eminently-occupied professorships and the tough entrance examinations, but also by graduates who are famous names in the arts as well as in the economy.

All members of the University are responsible for the high standard of education. The modern Berlin University of the Arts is self-administrated in the University committees by teachers, students and administrative staff jointly. The model of uniting all arts and their related sciences under one roof is unique in Europe. This was reason enough for the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) to approve the establishment of a graduate college at the University in 1998, making it the first university of the arts in Germany to be granted such an approval. The subject: the practice and theory of the process of artistic creation.

A centre of international dialogue

The University of the Arts is in Berlin – people know that in London, Paris and New York. By virtue of its international contacts at various levels, the University has already made a good name for itself in numerous countries – as, among other things, the initiator of NICA, the Network for International Cooperation in the Arts, in which leading art and music universities from around the world work together in partnership.

In all, the University has over one hundred international university partnerships. At the present time, more than 800 foreign students – which corresponds to about 20 percent of all students – are enrolled at the University. Furthermore, every year more than 100 students of the University spend part of their course abroad on exchange programmes.

Experienced in exchanges with private partners

The University is engaged in active and proactive dialogue not only with the public, but also with its economic, financial, cultural and political partners. Public-private partnerships are the means by which the University develops strategic, mutually advantageous partnerships; this is because co-operation with partners generates important impulses for the daily work of all those involved through the interaction of the University’s creative potential with the requirements and expectations of practice.

The College of Architecture, Media and Design

As a reaction to dynamic relations in society, the economy and culture, man intervenes in the forming of his environment – in architecture, design, fashion, and media.

The College of Architecture, Media and Design deals with the conception and implementation of these interventions. The targeted integration of science and art goes beyond the sheer structural aesthetic work. Within the framework of the University’s structural reform, the College introduced trend-setting changes onto the German university landscape – for instance, interdisciplinary subjects, openness in the handling of problems and the accentuation of the elements of experiment and intuition in regard to general social conditions.

This also included new models for courses of study such as ‘Experimental Media Design‘ and ‘Electronic Business‘, which are financed by businesses. The new module system enables students insight into related courses of study, then often similar questions lie at the foundations of the formal disciplines, which produce their own strategic forms. The integration of scientific and structural aspects mark the College’s research activities – no matter whether financed by the state or business.

For more information : www.udk-berlin.de/sites/content/topics/home/index_eng.html