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Answers for you

Below, you will find answers to frequently asked questions. Should they not address your concern, do not hesitate to send us an email at mbl@rewiss.fu-berlin.de.

About the MBL

The course is geared towards lawyers and economists with a strong interest in the field of economic law. It gives them the opportunity to obtain in-depth, specialized knowledge of international and European competition and regulatory law. Lawyers and economists who are already practicing competition and regulatory law in businesses, law firms or public authorities will have the opportunity to significantly deepen their knowledge and skills.

The MBL-FU program is a full-time degree program with 60 ECTS. It combines in-class teaching and learning methods with interactive e-learning exercises and tools such as wikis and blogs. To obtain the Magister Legum of Business Law (LL.M. MBL), you have to successfully complete all 8 modules and a master thesis. Our courses require substantial amounts of work outside the classroom.

Blended learning is an educational approach that combines in-class teaching and learning methods with interactive e-learning exercises and tools such as wikis and blogs.

The MBL-FU is one of very few post-graduate programs in Germany that consistently make use of blended learning: On Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes on Thursdays, students attend lectures, tutorials and research seminars in the classroom. The rest of the week, students do assignments and project work via the university’s e-learning platform Blackboard. Both segments are integral and compulsory components of the curriculum.

Our program’s in-class lectures and tutorials are complemented with a variety of digital assignments. Our students write blog entries, create and comment wikis or make use of the extensive content collections which they can find on the university’s e-learning platform Blackboard. The e-learning segments are an integral part of our curriculum and must be successfully completed to obtain the final degree.

Throughout the entire program, our students are continuously supported by the MBL team. Our international and multilingual staff assists the students with any woes—might they relate to the curriculum or to organizational aspects of their studies.

We do not grant scholarships or tuition waivers. If you need financial support, we recommend that you search the following websites and institutions for customized funding opportunities:

Please note that the terms and conditions of scholarships may differ from those of our program. For more information about the requirements and deadlines for specific scholarship applications, please refer to the respective scholarship sponsors.

Upon request, we will support your application for scholarships by certifying that you are eligible for the program. However, you have to direct your applications for scholarships to the respective scholarship sponsor.

Upon successful completion of the MBL-FU degree, students are awarded 60 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System).

Tuition is 4,750.00 EUR per term, for a total of 9,500.00 EUR. The tuition requirement applies to EU and non-EU students alike. In addition, students have to pay the semester fees and contributions which include the so-called "semester ticket" for local public transportation (tariff zones ABC).

If you decide to drop out of the program after you have been admitted but before the program starts, or if you interrupt the program during the first four weeks of the first semester, you will have to pay half the tuition for the first semester. Any additional payments which you may have made will be reimbursed. If you decide to drop out at a later point, you will have to pay tuition in full.

Applying for the MBL

The MBL-FU is a master program. To apply, you must have an undergraduate degree. We give preference to applicants who hold a law degree. Since the MBL-FU is a highly specialized program, it is especially valuable to you if you have a sound interest (and maybe even some experience) in competition and/or regulatory law.

You can only apply via the university's application portal. Please note that we do not work with uni-assist. For more information on the application process, check out our section on the application procedure.

Please submit your application documents in either English or German. If your documents were originally issued in another language, we ask you to submit an English or German translation by a certified translator.

Please upload all requested application documents to the university’s application portal by the end of the application period. We do not accept documents sent by email or mail.

You must provide proof of at least one year of work experience. We acknowledge all kinds of professional experience, including internships, as long you performed the work after you completed your first university degree. Your experience is especially valuable to us if it is related to the subject areas of our program.

There is no age limit for admission to the MBL-FU program. All applicants that fulfill our admission requirements will be considered.

After receiving your application, the university’s Admission Office collects your data and transfers the application to our program’s Applications and Examinations Office. We will check whether form and content are correct. Please note that you are responsible for making sure your application is complete. The Admission Committee meets in April. By the end of April, we will email notifications of admission and information on the subsequent enrollment procedure. Both, admission and rejection letters will be available for download in the application portal.

The Admissions Committee meets in April. You will be informed about the status of your application by the end of April. We will email notifications of admission or rejection. Both, admission and rejection letters will be available for download in the application portal.

We ask you to pay tuition for the first term upon admission to the program. Tuition for the second term are due in February but can be paid beforehand if desired. You need to proof payment of tuition and semester fees and contributions in order to enroll at the university. For more information, please check our section on tuition and fees.

If you decide to drop out of the program after you have been admitted but before the program starts, or if you interrupt the program during the first four weeks of the first semester, you will have to pay half the tuition for the first semester. Any additional payments which you may have made will be reimbursed. If you decide to drop out at a later point, you will have to pay tuition in full.

The semester fees and contributions cover the so-called "semester ticket" for local public transportation (tariff zones ABC). For more information, please check our section on tuition and fees.

While in Berlin

Berlin offers numerous affordable accommodation facilities for students, and yet, its housing situation is rather competitive. We advise you to start search for a place as soon as possible.

The Berlin Student Union (Studierendenwerk Berlin) manages about 40 residences with approximately 10,500 rooms all over Berlin. You can apply through their portal. In order to do so, you either have to have your student ID or, if you haven’t received one yet, your admission notice and proof that you paid the semester fees. You will find more information about the different halls, their locations, and their terms of rent at the Union’s website. If you wish to contact the Union directly, you can do so at Hardenbergstr. 34 (room 6) in 10623 Berlin or at info@stw.berlin.

The Student Village Schlachtensee offers furnished housing for students close to campus. With various stores and public transportation near-by, their apartments are a good option for those who seek a quiet, yet well-connected living experience in the city’s green Southwest.

The House of Nations offers rooms and apartments in different parts of town. You will find more information on location, availability and renting options on their website.

The registered society Förderkreis Junge Politik e.V. offers student rooms and flats in the city center at reasonable costs. With proof of our enrollment, you can submit applications online.

For regular flats and flat-sharing, you may want to try the following websites:

Even though you do not need to know German to attend our program, you might be interested in taking language classes. The options for doing so are manifold.

The university’s Language Center offers a host of courses throughout the year. The courses on offer during the semester cover Levels A1 to C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). To take part in a language course, there are several conditions. You must be enrolled at Freie Universität Berlin. You must also take part in an onSET-Deutsch placement test. Following the test, you must then register for a course at the level you were assigned based on the placement test. If you would like to attend an intensive language course before the beginning of the semester, please check out the information under Preparatory German Language Programme.

If you are interested in a more personal way of studying, you might want to check out the Center’s offers for tandem language partnerships.

Apart from the university, there are many different language schools which offer German classes at different levels and conditions. Amongst them are Berlin’s branch of the Goethe-Institut, Germany’s respected cultural institute, as well as the state’s adult education centers, the so-called Volkshochschulen. You can find the latter in all parts of town; they offer an immense variety of classes on all kinds of topics.

According to German law, everyone who lives in Germany must have adequate health insurance. If you want to get or renew a visa for work or study, you need to prove that you are covered by a suitable health insurance policy.

Before enrolling, you have to obtain a health insurance certificate from your health care provider. It must certify that you:

  • are insured or
  • are exempt (versicherungsfrei) or have been exempted (von der Versicherungspflicht befreit) from health insurance or
  • are not obliged to have health insurance (nicht versicherungspflichtig).

You must provide your insurance certificate along with the university’s enrollment documents.

If you want, you may enter into a student health insurance agreement with any public health care provider in Germany. Should you be insured with a private health care provider in a non-EU and non-EWR country, you can choose whether to terminate your contract and take out German student health insurance, or whether to request an exemption from insurance obligations. Should you choose to request an exemption, you can do so using the (online) services of AOK Berlin Brandenburg. For this, you need to scan your insurance card (name and validity must be legible) or and the main page of your passport and mail them to studentservice@nordost.aok.de with a request for an exemption. AOK Berlin Brandenburg will send the certificate of exemption directly to the university. Once the university has received your exemption, you can complete your enrollment. The exemption cannot be revoked and is valid for the entirety of your studies.

If you are from a EU or EWR country, you are already exempt from the obligation to have health insurance. You can mail a scan of your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to studentservice@nordost.aok.de for confirmation of the exemption.

Many of our students work part-time besides their studies. We encourage such professional commitment but recommend to carefully assess indidiviual workload capacities and the effects a job affiliation may have on your student performance.

If you are looking for a job, you may start your search on the FU Job Portal.

Please also consider the following sites for your job search:

Also, the Student Union (Studierendenwerk) provides not only a list of current job vacancies (in German) but also useful information about general regulations regarding student jobs in Germany.

Student Life

The university’s library resources are outstanding. Besides the central University Library with its over two million items, the Law Library will probably of special interest to you. Open seven days a week, the Law Library holds a collection of about 800,000 print items and grants access to about 40 legal databases as well as hundreds of non-legal databases. In addition, you will have exclusive access to specialized books and readers on business, competition and regulatory law. You may want to join one of the guided library tours and workshops to help optimize your research.

The United Nations and European Union Documentation Center provides you with assistance in finding original documents or case law on European or international law and politics. Their collection includes the United Nations' publications from 1956 onwards and the European Union's Working Papers from 1963 onwards as well as UN and EU printed monographic publications and periodicals. In addition, the Documentation Center holds specialized literature on the two institutions.

Berlin’s State Library is Germany’s largest academic general library with over 13 million print items. An ever-growing number of databases and digital resources complements the library collections. Registration is currently free of charge. You will obtain access to the library’s services and both of its buildings with large reading rooms.

If you wish, you may also register as an external user at the libraries of other universities in Berlin such as Technische Universität Berlin (TU), Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK) or Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU).

Freie Universität supports its members to better balance working life, studies, and academic qualification processes with family responsibilities. The Dual Career & Family Service offers all students information and confidential advising services on all questions relating to better balancing work, studies, and family life.

Students with children are offered different childcare options as well as special rooms to spend time with their children.

As a student of FU Berlin, there is a variety of sporting activities you can join. The university sports center (Hochschulsport) offers a wide range of sports, workshops and sport trips. Every semester, you can choose from over 800 courses and events representing over 120 sport disciplines. On their website, you find more information about the course program, event calendar and registration procedures.

For many students, enrolling at a university marks the start of a new stage in their lives. As exciting and enriching as student life may be, it also requires different ways of organizing everyday life, thus, often causing insecurity and discomfort. Freie Universität Berlin supports its students by offering a number of places to turn to for advice and information.

  • The Student Services Center (SSC) is the first address for all concerns related to studying at Freie Universität. Those seeking advice should first contact the Info-Service Studium with any concerns, however.
  • The Psychological Counseling Service offers you individual counseling, training courses, and workshops. They can support you in your personal development and in improving your study skills. Also, personal problems can be addressed at this service unit.
  • For MBL-FU students, specialized academic advising is available throughout the entire study year. The MBL-FU staff is glad to help out with any questions you may have during your studies with us. We offer counseling in English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.