University in Germany
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
University profile
The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK Berlin) is one of the largest and most diverse art universities in Europe, where artistic teaching and practice meet scholarly discourse. Its history reaches back to the founding of the Brandenburg-Prussian Academy of the Arts in 1696, and the university has held the name Universität der Künste since November 2001. It describes itself as the only artistic institution of higher education in Berlin with university status, and holds the right to award doctorates and habilitations in the academic disciplines of its faculties.
Teaching is organised in four faculties: Fakultät Bildende Kunst (fine arts, including art teacher training), Fakultät Gestaltung (architecture, product and fashion design, art and media, visual communication, and society and economic communication), Fakultät Musik (orchestral and chamber music, early and contemporary music, church music, conducting, composition, sound engineering and music teacher training) and Fakultät Darstellende Kunst (acting, musical/show, scenography and related stage arts). The Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin (HZT) and the Jazz-Institut Berlin, run jointly with the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, complete the profile, and the Zentralinstitut für Weiterbildung und Transfer offers continuing education. More than 70 degree programmes cover the full range of the arts and the sciences related to them.
About 4,500 students study at UdK Berlin, around one third of them international. More than 700 events take place each year, including the annual Rundgang open days in mid-July. The university trains art, music and theatre/drama teachers for Berlin schools, with the second teaching subject taken at the Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität or Technische Universität Berlin.
Research combines artistic practice with academic study. Permanent units include the Design Research Lab, the Vilém Flusser Archiv, the Graduiertenschule and several research centres in music education and music technology. The university library shares a building at Fasanenstraße 88 with the TU Berlin library, open around the clock since May 2025. The student body has its own organisation, the Studierendenschaft, and the university appoints officers for equal opportunities, diversity and anti-discrimination, and for students with disabilities and chronic illness.
International students apply directly to the university on the same footing as German applicants. The International Office runs International Student Services (advice for applicants and students, with consultation hours at Einsteinufer 43 and online), exchange programmes, and grants. The initiative FIT@UdK supports international students and alumni with study success and career entry in Germany for 2024 to 2028.
UdK Berlin charges no tuition fees, including for international students, except for some continuing-education Master programmes. All students at Berlin universities pay a semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag), currently about 370 euros per semester, covering the contribution to the studierendenWERK BERLIN, the student body fee, the re-registration fee and the Deutschlandsemesterticket. This is not tuition.
Talented, financially disadvantaged international students taking their final examinations within one year of the deadline (BA, MA, Absolvent*in, Meisterschüler*in) can receive 900 euros in total, paid in two monthly instalments of 450 euros. Funded by the DAAD with Federal Foreign Office funds. Applicants must not hold German citizenship or have gained the university entrance qualification in Germany, must be enrolled, face financial difficulty, hold a German tax identification number and not receive other DAAD or Deutschlandstipendium awards (BAföG recipients may apply). Deadlines: summer semester 15 February to 15 April, winter semester 15 July to 15 September. Apply through the MoveON portal with a recommendation letter, monthly expenses and bank statements.
Further grants for international students include grants for more equal opportunities (STIBET I) for students with special challenges such as refugees, disability or chronic illness, or caring duties, and the annual DAAD Prize for an international student of outstanding achievement. Details: Grants for international students. UdK students going abroad can apply for DAAD, Fulbright and PROMOS scholarships (Grants overview).
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View scholarships for Universität der Künste Berlin →There is no uniform application deadline; deadlines differ by programme and, for the winter semester, can begin as early as January. Examples: Architektur (Bachelor) 5 February to 5 March; Visuelle Kommunikation (Bachelor) 15 January to 15 February with portfolio upload from 1 February to 15 March; Art in Context (Master) 15 February to 15 March. The winter semester starts on 1 October and the summer semester on 1 April; some programmes admit only for one of them. Only the cooperative Master Design and Computation with TU Berlin has a Numerus Clausus; all other programmes admit through an artistic selection procedure run by UdK Berlin directly. An application fee of 30 to 50 euros per application applies, is not refunded, and is due within the deadline; teacher-training subjects with an urgent need in Berlin schools are exempt.
Architecture, Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftskommunikation, Tonmeister and all teacher-training programmes require the Allgemeine Hochschulreife (for example Abitur) as well as proof of artistic talent; admission through professional qualification is possible under Section 11 of the Berlin Higher Education Act. For programmes such as Design, Visuelle Kommunikation and Künstlerisch-pädagogische Ausbildung Musik the Hochschulreife is normally required, with exceptions where the committee finds exceptional artistic talent. Many purely artistic programmes (for example Bildende Kunst or instrumental training) require only completed compulsory schooling. Applicants apply in the my.udk portal and upload documents and portfolio through Bemus. The selection typically has a pre-selection from the portfolio and an entrance examination in person; for Visuelle Kommunikation, entrance examinations are expected in mid-June.
International applicants apply directly to UdK Berlin on the same terms as German applicants. For some Bachelor programmes (Architektur, Design, Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftskommunikation, Visuelle Kommunikation, Künstlerisch-pädagogische Ausbildung Musik, Kirchenmusik, Tonmeister, all teacher training, Kunst und Medien) and for all Master programmes where the first degree was earned abroad, a preliminary review document (VPD) from uni-assist e.V. is required. Applicants from China, India and Vietnam need an APS certificate. UdK Berlin does not run a Studienkolleg; where the Abitur-equivalent is missing, a Studienkolleg elsewhere with the Feststellungsprüfung is needed, and purely artistic programmes do not require one.
Most programmes require German, usually B2 or C1; the level is set per programme. For B2 and C1 programmes, a lower level (B1 or B2 respectively) is accepted at application, but full B2 or C1 is required for enrolment. Accepted proof includes DSH 1 (B2) and DSH 2 (C1), telc, Goethe-Institut certificates, DSD II, the Studienkolleg Feststellungsprüfung, TestDaF (3/3/4/4 for B2; level 4 in all parts for C1) and ÖSD. English-taught programmes require B2 or C1; accepted proof includes IELTS Academic (5.5 to 6.5 for B2, 6.5 for C1), TOEFL iBT (72 to 94 for B2, 100 for C1), Cambridge, telc and Pearson PTE (59 to 75 for B2, 76 for C1).
A first professional degree in a relevant artistic or design field is required, together with artistic talent, portfolio or audition and the programme's language level. Art in Context, for example, also requires at least one year of qualified professional experience and German C1, with a standard period of four semesters (or six part-time) and 120 credit points. Applicants without a degree at deadline submit a transcript of records.
UdK Berlin awards doctorates in the academic disciplines of its faculties, for example Dr. phil. in theatre studies, music education and musicology, and Dr.-Ing. or Dr. phil. in design; faculty-specific information and doctoral regulations are provided by each faculty.
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