FUELS has been established at Freie Universität Berlin in 2019. As a research center, it pursues a broad range of approaches to the empirical study of the law, its operation and effects on society. FUELS serves as a platform for different projects and fields, promoting exchange on empirical findings, empirical methods, and on how they relate to other branches of legal scholarship. FUELS also seeks to offer training and advice to legal scholars embarking on empirical research projects in law, including the use of empirical results from (other) social sciences. Projects at FUELS use both quantitative and qualitative empirical methods, including surveys, interviews, court records, experiments, and the analysis of observational data.

FUELS is part of LSC—The Laws of Social Cohesion, a collaborative endeavor with the Law & Society Institute and Recht im Kontext of Humboldt University, funded by the Berlin University Alliance.

A short introduction to empirical research in law by FUELS member Andreas Engert (reflecting his methodological approach): Empirische Rechtswissenschaft, published in Freie Universität's student-edited Berliner Rechtszeitschrift.

The official inaugural event of FUELS, combined with inaugural lectures of Professors Drenkhahn and Engert, took place after the CoViD pandemic on October 13, 2023.