General Professional Skills (GPS) Area (ABV, Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung)
The GPS subject area is part of the Bachelor's degree programs at Freie Universität Berlin and is geared towards the acquisition of practical and career-preparatory skills.
The aim is to impart interdisciplinary key competences, practice-related additional qualifications and practical work experience in career-oriented fields of competence in order to provide graduates with general qualifications for increasingly complex labour markets.
The GPS study program includes a compulsory internship (at least 120 hours) and a wide range of competence areas. In the individual areas of competence, 5, 10 or a maximum of 15 credit points can be acquired.
Foreign languages, information and media skills, media practice, gender and diversity skills, organization and management, communication skills, sustainable development, research orientation, subject-related additional qualifications.
A maximum of 15 credit points may be earned in one area of competence.
Exception: With an internship abroad totaling 30 credit points, the GPS area would be fully covered and no further areas of competence would have to be completed.
The courses offered can generally be booked directly via Campus Management.
You can find an overview of the areas of expertise here: https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/bachelor/abv/kompetenzbereiche/index.html
As part of the general career preparation program, you must complete an internship. This can be an internship in Germany or a longer internship abroad - several internships can also be combined.
Further information (including the time required) can be found at: https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/bachelor/abv/index.html
The internship assessment and recognition is generally carried out by the FU Career Service. They check whether the relevant requirements, qualification goals, etc. are met. For internships where the Career Service cannot assess this or where there is already experience, the GPS (ABV) representatives must assess the proximity to the subject and then send a corresponding confirmation to the Career Service. If you are unsure and need confirmation of the proximity to the subject, please contact your GPS (ABV) representative.
You can only register for and complete one internship module in the GPS - however, it is possible to combine several internships as part of one internship module. For example, if you have completed two recognized internships with a total of 360 hours, you can register for the 15 credit points internship module in Campus Management.
In the internship modules (5, 10 and 15 credit points), it is also possible to combine internships that you have completed both in Germany and abroad.
Our GPS officers are responsible for recognizing internships completed before the degree program. Therefore, please get in touch with your responsible GPS officer. Submit an internship report and proof of the internship you completed. The GPS officer will then issue a recommendation for recognition by the examination board, provided that all requirements are met.
In principle, the internship must be related to the major degree program, as you will also obtain a degree in this subject. There are certainly cases in which the internship can also be (partially) related to the chosen module program. However, you should note that you must ultimately establish a link to the degree program (i.e. the major subject) in the internship report and reflect on the content.
You can apply for compulsory internship certificates either from the Office of Academic Affairs or from your GPS officer. To do so, send an informal email from your FU email address.
