In 2009 the University of Potsdam became a winner in the "Excellence in Teaching" initiative of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Business innovation agency for the German science system).

As the university in large part emerged from the College of Education, emphasis today is still placed on teacher training.

Other lecture halls and buildings were built in the 1950s directly behind the Schloss Babelsberg for the Academy of Justice and the East German state.

At the beginning of the winter semester of the 2020/2021 academic year, roughly 22,000 young people were studying at the University of Potsdam.

Constantly increasing third-party funding volume testifies to the quality of the research conducted at the University today.

With interdisciplinary research agenda, the area of excellence links the departments of Psychology, Linguistics, and Sports and Health Science.

Additional events for training and continuing education for practitioners in the municipal realm are offered by the Institute for Local Government Studies and in international relations by the Human Rights Centre.

Drawing from the broad range of faculty specialties, the thematic concentrations of "Cultures in/of Mobility", "Forms of Life and the Know How of Living" as well as "Region and Identity in Europe" were created.

This emphasis in regard to content encourages interdisciplinary cooperation, but it also incorporates perspectives that are outside the Philosophical Faculty's traditional subject canon.

The research emphases are language, action and behavior, health, professional and popular sports, school and classroom as well as teaching across the life span.

The interplay of different research approaches and methods creates empirical and theoretical knowledge that transmits a complex and differentiated picture of socioeconomic, cultural, and political developmental processes in modern societies—domestically as well as internationally.

The Institute for Local Government Studies (KWI) conducts collaborative research with the law faculty in examining issues faced by municipalities in the new Länder and offers continuing education to its elected officials.

Furthermore, the faculty's Potsdam Center for Public Policy and Management (PCPM) ensures active national and international knowledge transfer with its research and consulting projects as well as opportunities for academically-focused continuing education.

The faculty has been strong in gaining external funding and has established future-oriented concentrations and productive core areas in research and teaching.

The faculty's own concentrations, such as teacher training in mathematics and natural sciences, sensibly complement the focus areas by supporting their interconnectedness and contribute to their continuous advancement and renewal.

It has repeatedly received the "Excellence in Teaching" Award from the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany.

It is not considered a "Volluniversität", i.e. a university offering courses in all traditional disciplines, since it does not comprise institutions for degrees in Medicine and Engineering.

In addition, the university provides seminars, workshops and Executive Master's degree programs to career entrants and managerial staff.

There is, however, a small administrative fee for each semester, which includes a public transport ticket for Berlin and Brandenburg for six months and amounted to EUR 304.16 in 2020.

[7] The University of Potsdam confers the following academic degrees for its undergraduate and graduate programs: To view the lists, click on "show" on the right-hand side.

The teacher education programs at the University of Potsdam are characterized by a significant practical component, including five accompanying internships.

They enable students to pursue political or cultural interests, organize social projects, such as a student-run crisis hotline, and establish contacts beyond their degree program.

There are dining halls on every campus run by the Potsdam Association for Student Affairs with main courses starting at EUR 2.15.

Among others, the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD) offers a very extensive scholarship programme.

Students or post-graduates can apply for a wide variety of scholarships, but the conditions and opportunities vary according to the country of origin and field of study.

The University of Potsdam is well connected: it has found scientific partners of international standing with the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research and the German Institute for Human Nutrition – both institutes of the Leibniz Association – as well as the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam – German Research Centre for Geosciences.

Last but not least, the university collaborates with both institutes of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in the Science Park Potsdam-Golm, a research campus that is growing in significance far beyond Germany's borders.

The university offers a number of German courses, organizes intercultural training workshops, and matches up tandem-partners who want to learn one another's language.

Jewish studies in Israel, sports management in Australia, language and politics in Moscow, or an excursion to Montana to visit the geographical center of the Earth – the choice among about 300 partnerships is great.

The doctoral examination board (Promotionsausschuss) of your institute of interest, or the dean of the law faculty respectively, is responsible for determining questions of equivalency.