New York University becomes a strategic partner university of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Photo credit: © Samuel Stuart Hollenshead / NYU Photo Bureau

20.01.2026
New York University becomes a strategic partner university of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Brain City Berlin

In December 2025, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) and New York University (NYU) concluded an agreement on a strategic partnership. The aim is to deepen mutual exchange and systematically expand cooperation in teaching, research and innovation.

HU President Prof. Dr Julia von Blumenthal and NYU President Prof. Dr Linda G. Mills signed the agreement on 16 December 2025 in New York City. This marks the beginning of a new phase of cooperation that builds on a long-standing relationship. Since their partnership agreement in 1995, HU and NYU have continuously expanded their collaboration over the past three decades.

“It was a very intensive and productive exchange in New York,” says von Blumenthal. “Strong international partnerships make universities more resilient in the face of the major challenges of our time; I am looking forward to the projects we will realise together in the coming years.”

International collaboration in the Brain City Berlin

The new agreement is intended to further strengthen cooperation between the Brain City Berlin and New York. Joint initiatives are planned across all areas of the university, from study and teaching to research, innovation and knowledge transfer, as well as exchange at the administrative level. The strategic partnership underlines Berlin’s ambition to actively shape global cooperation as an internationally connected science location.

With more than 60,000 students, New York University is the largest private university in the United States and currently ranks 33rd among the world’s best universities in the Times Higher Education ranking. As a globally oriented university, NYU is represented by several international sites. A campus in Berlin enables direct exchange on the ground for members of HU and NYU.

In addition, NYU maintains further partnerships at its Berlin location for the exchange of students and researchers. For example, NYU Professor Radha S. Hegde held the position of Dahlem International Network Professor for Gender Studies in 2019.

Global partnerships in Berlin science

In light of the diverse challenges facing science and society, strategic international research collaborations are becoming increasingly important. They create spaces for joint research, open up new perspectives and help to develop innovative responses to global questions.

Initiatives such as the partnership between HU and NYU make an important contribution in this regard. The Berlin University Alliance is also expanding international collaborations between the Brain City Berlin and leading universities in Oxford, Melbourne and Singapore. The Berlin Center for Global Engagement focuses in particular on partnerships with the Global South, thereby strengthening the internationalisation of research and science diplomacy.