From the 2nd semester onwards, Bachelor students will find the so-called "ABV modules" in the study plan. The study area General Professional Preparation (ABV) offers modules aimed at the acquisition of practice-related competencies. The aim is to qualify graduates for increasingly complex academic job markets. 

The ABV study area is divided into different areas and modules offered by different departments at Freie Universität.

The School of Business & Economics offers ABV modules as part of the so-called "subject-related additional qualification". These include, for example, event management, basics of scientific work, research work, and programming for economists.
The offer can be found in the course catalog.

The offer is supplemented by ABV modules offered at Freie Universität for students of all disciplines (e.g. by the Language Center, ZEDAT, etc.):

• General Professional Skills courses of FU Berlin

• Foreign languages

(e.g. Arabic, Dutch, English, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish)
Register early for language courses.

Please register directly with the Language Center, usually by Wednesday, 3:00 p.m., the last week before classes begin. For students with previous knowledge, registration also often requires participation in a placement test. Deadlines are even earlier. Please check the course catalog for the exact dates.

The registration is binding for Bachelor students. Places are allocated by the Language Center. After successful registration at the Language Center, an additional registration in Campus Management is required. Registration via Campus Management alone is not sufficient!

• Information and media skills

(e.g. electronic publishing, computer-based project management, internet use & presentation, information literacy, operating system & programming, layout & design of print media, electronic data analysis & statistics)

• Gender and diversity awareness

(e.g. gender and diversity: central social categories in the 21st century, gender, diversity, gender mainstreaming, diversity management)

• Organizational and management

(e.g., basics of starting a business, starting a student company - funpreneur competition, e-business (ABV), case studies in the international learning network, writing a business plan)

Note: For students of business administration or economics this subsection is excluded - apart from a few exceptions on business start-up.

• Communicatiion skills e.g. conducting conversations and negotiations, presenting, discussing, moderating, optimizing personal work processes).
• Sustainable development (example here)
• Research orientation (example here)
• Media Practice (example here)

• The ABV competency can also be acquired as a professional internship.

The internship is intended to give students an insight into possible occupational and professional fields and to confront them with the requirements and characteristics of practice. It serves to verify the acquired knowledge and thus has an orientation function for a realistic orientation of the studies. In principle, the internship modules of the ABV are the responsibility of the Career Service of Freie Universität Berlin.
Internship modules include a colloquium and an internship report and take place during the course of study. They are registered and completed via the Campus Management System. It is irrelevant whether the practical activity is completed as a classic internship in full-time employment, e.g. during the semester break, or in regular part-time employment (e.g. as a working student). However, the internship should not be carried out in the parental company.

The mnadatory internship module within the study area General Vocational Preparation (ABV) consists of two components:

• Professional Internship
• Colloquium (workshops on different topics).

Active and regular participation in the classroom sessions and the internship report are mandatory. In addition, the confirmation of the internship employer must list the activities, the period of the internship and the total number of hours worked. The original with the company stamp must be submitted for recognition.

Registration via Campus Management (CM) for the attendance events!!! The registration is necessary, even if there is no internship position yet. You can do the internship before but also after completing the module. You will have to complete the ABV section by the end of your studies. The registration is done by the Career Service (careerservice@fu-berlin.de).

Possible variants of the internship (based on 40 hours per week full-time)

5 crredits	120 hrs	3 weeks + Event and self-study time
10 credits	240 hrs	6 weeks + Event and self-study time
15 credits	360 hrs	9 weeks + Event and self-study time

Alternatively an internship can be completed abroad with 20, 25 or 30 credits.

Erasmus+ internship funding is supervised by the Student Mobility Office (erasmus-support@fu-berlin.de).

All information about Erasmus+ internships can be found here.

Earlier internships can also be recognized if they meet the requirements mentioned here and did not take place more than 2 years before admission to studies.

Internship report

• The report is a prerequisite for crediting. It should be 6 pages long and sent by e-mail to the Career-Service.
• The report is not graded.
• The report does not have to be confirmed by the School.
• The following form is available as a cover sheet for the report.
• The core of the report should be a description of the company and its activities.
• The following questions could be a guide for you in this regard:

- Could you apply knowledge from your studies during the internship?
- What impact has the internship experience on your studies?
- How did you experience everyday life on the job?
- What expectations did you have of the internship?
- How was the supervision?
- What knowledge and skills did you acquire?
- What was the connection between your studies and the internship?
- Would you recommend the company or an internship of this type as instructive?

FAQ

1. Under what circumstances can practical activities or work experience be recognized?
Direct recognition of internship modules by the schoolk only occurs in exceptional cases and requires proof of the total hours completed for the corresponding module. This proof typically takes the form of a certificate. In case of continuing activities, an interim report from the employer stating the regular working hours and the area of responsibility is sufficient, provided that the hours to be recognized have already been completed. Direct recognition by the school will be granted, subject to review by the program coordinator, in the following cases:
- Completed professional courses relevant to business (15 credits).
- Internships and professional activities, in the above sense, which were completed before admission to the Bachelor's program at the FU Berlin, but no longer than two years prior to initial enrollment.
- Self-employed activities upon presentation of corresponding confirmations of employment by several clients.
2. Who do I go to for recognition of work experience as an internship module?
Please contact the Examination Office (pruefungsbuero@wiwiss.fu-berlin.de, 838-59666) or your program coordinator.
3. Can military service or equivalent substitute service be credited as a professional internship?
No. There is no recognition of activities named "alternative service" in accordance with Article 12a, Paragraph 2 of the German Basic Law, which were performed in lieu of military service to fulfill compulsory military service (civilian service, voluntary social or ecological year, or similar).
4. Does recognition mean that I do not have to attend a colloquium or write a report?
Yes, if an activity is directly credited , then there is no need to attend a colloquium and write a report afterwards.
5. Can a commercial/vocational training be credited?
Yes. You can have your training credited with the maximum number of LP (15 credits). You can apply for the credit  to your study program coordinator.
6. Is it possible to complete the internship in two parts?
Yes. For example, you can divide a 15 credit internship into e.g. 2 x 5 weeks. However, if the companies are different, this is not recommended because the learning effect is low. You also have to write a report and hand it in at the Career Service Center.
However, it is not intended in Campus Management that you first register for a 5 credit module and then register for another 10 credit module. Please consider in advance exactly what the scope of the internship should be in order to avoid irritations during the crediting process.
7. Can periods of work as a working student. Teaching Assistant or a regular employment relationship be included in the internship module?
Not as a rule. This must be checked by the examination board in each individual case. The background to this is that you, as a student, get to know everyday working life outside the university.