The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is one of the largest universities in the world and is considered one of the most renowned universities in Latin America. The cooperation between Freie Universität Berlin and UNAM, which has existed since 1988 and which, among other things, resulted in the establishment of a UNAM field office at Freie Universität in 2018, was significantly driven forward by the LAI.

UNAM is one of the LAI's central cooperation partners, which is particularly evident in the large number of research collaborations between the two institutions. Particularly noteworthy are the International Research Training Groups "Entre Espacios" (2009-2018) and "Temporalities of Future" (2019-2025), which are considered excellent, exceptional projects in the German-Latin American academic landscape.

Another component of the cooperation is the international teaching cooperation between the Escuela de Postgrados of UNAM and the M.A. Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies. In this teaching cooperation, identical courses are offered at both institutions and several joint sessions are organised between the Mexican and German students, where students can exchange ideas across national borders, take different perspectives and gain valuable international experience in virtual space.

The broad cooperation between students and academics at both institutions has also resulted in numerous joint publications.