What kind of asupporting role. can historians.playin politics and. diplomacy?. Politicians need to learn more. about their nation’s history and. its.complex network of international ties and relationships - and allow their decision-making to be informed by this knowledge. Our work can help them.deepen their understanding and. gain amore historical, holistic. perspective. In emotionally. charged conflicts such as theUkraine crisis, however, historical argumentation is futile
Nonetheless, historians must. remind politicians that abad. peace is always better than war
Whatare your hopes for history. as an academic discipline?..russian and German historians. should invite each other to conferences, initiate collaborative. research projects, and co-publish. This isthe best way to overcomethe past..coming to terms. with
including willingness to.compromise and. open ness to changein 2014,the.daad.finalised astrategy paper on cooperation with thepost-Soviet regionthe paper recommends an. increasein multilateral cooperation projectsand exchange programmes, and urges greater. differentiation specific tothe region It also. recommends that future programmes consider. more carefullythe higher education policy. prioritiesinthe respective partner countries inresponse tothe
Young researchers were. honoured atthe Willy.
summer schools, winter. schools, internships and. study semesters - for german students,the “goeast”. programme provides. numerous opportunities for. getting to know eastern. europe better.
german and.russian. historians discussed europe,east Asia and latin America. duringthe “Week of theYoung Researcher” inst. Petersburg***
german universities are. attracting more and more. American students. Master’s.degree programmes taughtin englishare especially. popular
The “land of opportunity” continues to attract. more and more university students from aroundthe world -in 2014,in fact, 8 1 percent more thanthe previous year But academic exchangein theother direction is thriving as well, with moreand more studentsinthe US and Canada expanding their horizons and going abroadin the2012/13 academic year, atotal of 289,408 students. fromthe US went abroad to study, which marked. a 2 1 percent increase overthe previous year. Germanyin particular is becoming more and. more attractive to US students There were. roughly 10,000 students from North America. studyingin Germany - anew record Successful..daad.programmes.play an important rolein this. Mobility might be onthe rise on both sides ofthe Atlantic, but American and German students. have different motivations for studying abroad..compared to years past, Germans choosing to studyinthe US todayare less interested inobtaining adegree from an American university. Students.coming to Germany fromthe US, onthe other hand,are more and more. North America. A reception for some. 300 RIse scholarship holders was heldinthe old. auditorium at Heidelberg.
University.***
interestedin.completing afull degree programme Master’s degree programmes taught inEnglishare particularly popular Nonetheless,short-term stays abroad remain popular among. American and Canadian university students..daad.scholarship programmes have responded. accordingly, withthe Research Internships inScience and Engineering (RISE) programme,which facilitates two-to-three month research. internshipsin Germany, leadingthe way. A success story: 10 years of RIseinthe past, North American and British university students were less likely to study abroad. than students from other countriesthe DAAD. took action to reverse this trend and initiated. RISEin 2004 - ascholarship programme.designed to attract North American and British. students to Germany for short academic stays. RISE was aimed at bachelor’s studentsin thenatural sciences and engineering who were. interestedin.completing aresearch internship at. a German university or research institute While. mobility patterns among American students. have changed since 2004,the RISE programme. continues to grow and achieved anew record in2014 with 13,000 applications As demonstrated. overthe last ten years, one ofthe positive secondary effects ofthe RISE programme is that. many RISE scholarship holders return to Germany later to pursue further academic studya. clear success,the RISE programme concept has. meanwhile been adapted to additional countries and target groups. germany experts and multipliersin July 2014, agroup of master’s and PhD. students fromthe DAAD-supported Centres for. German and European Studies travelled through. northern and southern Germany on astudy. tour focused on sustainabilityinthe cities of Hamburg and Freiburg Participants met and. spoke with researchers, policy makers and. members ofthe business.community, establishing new contacts and gaining insight into. current social issuesthe study tour was initiated by two German Studies lecturers currently. researching and teaching at Canadian universities as part ofthe DAAD’s German Studies. guest lectureship programme Launched in1984,the programme sends junior researchersinthe fields of history, sociology, politics and. cultural studies to work for two to five years. Pamela Taylor from New Jersey was. awardedthe.daad.Prize for Outstanding. Achievement. During her master’s. programmein Business Administration atthe HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Taylor was not only theschool’s top foreign student, but was. also involvedinthe school’s own Energy. Club, which.organises conferences on. energy-related topics. The 1,000-euro. prize is intended to highlightthe positive. contribution of foreign students to higher educationin Germany. in 2014, there were 200 recipients ofthe prizein Germany
Us stUDent ReCeIVes.daad.PRIZe. After ten years,the RISE scholarship programme is still breaking. records. In 2014, 13,000 students. applied tothe programme - more. than ever before
›at leading North American universities with thegoal of strengtheningthe presence of Germanand European themes, theories and methods inNorth American curricula and initiating transatlantic partnerships. Networking and strengthening transatlantic. relationships was alsothe goal of some 400 participantsinthe 14th Annual Meeting of theGerman Academic International Network (GAIN)
heldin Bostonin September 2014 GAIN -a. joint initiative ofthe DAAD,the Humboldt. Foundation (AvH) andthe German Research. Foundation (DFG) - connects over 5***
scientists and scholars workinginthe US and. Canada Via newsletters, workshops and webinars, GAIN helps its members stay abreast of developmentsin Germany and helps ease their. reintegration intothe German science system. once they return home Attendeesin Boston. could familiarise themselves withthe German. science system and sound out their individualcareer options and opportunities Forthe first. time,the event was also partly open to international researchers, and many took advantage. ofthe opportunitythe conference focused on. research careersin both academia and industryand highlighted alternatives to acareer inacademics Atthe GAIN career fair some 70 institutions - universities, non-university fundingand research institutions, and private-sector..companies - took part. «.
ten YeARs oF YoUng AMBAssADoRsin noRth AMeRICA. Attendingthe gAIn. annual meetingin Boston:Prof. Andreas Barner, President, “stifterverband für. die deutsche Wissenschaft”;. Dorothee Dzwonnek, secretary general, DFg; Cornelia. Quennetthielen, state secretary, BMBF; Prof. Margret. Wintermantel, President,DAAD; Dr. enno Aufderheide,secretary general, humboldt Foundation (l. to r. ). Anna sailor studies. Mechanical engineering inthe Us atthe University of WisconsinMadison. she. came to tU Berlinin ***
for athreemonth research. internship withthe experimental Fluid Mechanics. research group; her supervisor was holger nawroth
sailor and nawroth both. spoke about their experience withthe Research. Internshipin science and. engineering (RIse) programme
Unique impressions. RIse scholarship holderand supervisor reflect on their. experiences. What were your most. memorable RISE experiences?. Anna sailor:the internship was. truly unique, different from. any thing
had experienced. before.
did not know what to expect, but it was definitelya. worthwhile experience for***
I enjoyed working with sucha. diverse group of people - thedifferent ages and many different backgrounds. It was also. very exciting to be given so much. freedomin terms of my project. tasks. Butthe most important. experience was probably outsidethe research. The conversations with colleagues and other. students during lunch gave me. a chance to really get to know. them, to learn more about German culture and share stories
holger nawroth: Anna came to us with limited experience inimportant areas for our field,such as.combustion and data. analysis. But she made astrong. first impression on us. She was.dedicated to learningthe programming language and willing to dive intothe literature; she. showed perseverance when it. came to solving problems, and. was always interestedin thenew tasks assigned to her. This. persistence.combined with her..commitment, work ethic, teamwork and tremendous achievements wasthe most important. experience for us as supervisors
How didthe internship. benefit you?. holger nawroth: We met with. Anna regularly to talk about her. work, review progress reportsand define next steps and. objectives. The procedure was. different than what we’re used. to, but it was interesting to all. of us; we learned from it and,thanks to Anna’s outstanding. achievements, it was also. worthwhile
Anna sailor:the biggest benefit. for me wasthe new level of independencein my work
Instead of asking for help,
now. have more trustin my ability to solve problems myself.
also. helped writethe scientific reports. on our research topic, which. was totally new for me
What about your experience. withthe German culture?. Anna sailor:the working environmentin Germany seems to be regulated abit more formally. thaninthe US, but it also seems. friendlier; strangers greeted. meinthe lab orinthe elevator
I found it difficult to write ona. German keyboard. But my biggest achievement was probably. when
ordered coffee (in German) and nobody noticed that.
was an American
Anna sailor with acolleague from her research. group
cooperation with Latin. America once again focused on Brazil Together. with its Brazilian partner Coordenação de
Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior(CAPES),the.daad.celebratedthe 20th anniversary of one ofthe most successful bilateral. programmes, PROBRAL, which unites Germanand Brazilian researchers and doctoral candidatesin joint research projectsthe goal ofthe programme is to advance overall scientific. knowledge, strengthenthe bonds between German and Brazilian science and research, and. provide young researchers with international. trainingthe.daad.and CAPES marked theanniversary year with aspecial conference event. PROBRAL will continue to strengthen bilateral. relations intothe future followingthe successful. evaluation ofthe programmein ***
With Brazil developing into astrategic higher. education partner for Germany, members of theacademic.communityin both countries - including science and research funding.organisations- convenedin 2014 to consider ways to enhance. academic collabo ration At aconference inBrasilia, they discussed university internationalisation strategies, empha sisingthe benefits of working with selected partners to establish and. implement long-term stable collaborative relationships on several different levels. Latin America. 2014 was an intense time for German-Brazilian relations. It marked theend ofthe official “Year of Germany”in Brazil, during whichthe DAAD,together withthe German House of Science and Innovation (DWIH),organised atotal of 140 science eventsin Brazil, and it wasthe year of Germany’s World Cup victoryin Rio. Onthe occasion ofthe World Cup,the.daad.helped produce adictionary dedicated to German and Brazilian. football. Based on scientific analysis ofthe language of football, and. publishedin cooperation withthe Liaison Office Latin America of theUniversity Alliance.ruhr,the dictionary’s 111 terms highlightthe similarities and differences between German and Brazilian football. While theBrazilians might simplifythe “lange Ecke” and “kurze Ecke” distinction. with asingle term forthe near and far corners ofthe goal, for example,they also add “complexity” with colourful technical terms such as. “chaleira” (tea pot), aform of dribbling wherethe attacking.player lobsthe ball gently overthe head ofthe defender
InteRnAtIonAl UnDeRstAnDIng thRoUgh FootBAll. Celebrating 20 years of PRoBRAl: scientists,researchers and represent atives fromthe.daad.and. CAPes get together inBrazil.***
the highly successful. programme Ciência sem. Fronteiras begins its second. roundinBy 2018 theBrazilian government wants to provide an additional. 100,000 scholarships (top)
staff atthe regional officein Rio de Janeiro promotethe CsF programme at. Brazilian universities
signature project Ciência sem Fronteiras(science without Borders)
The first phase ofthe Ciência sem Fronteiras(CsF) programme, for whichthe.daad.is theGerman cooperation partner, came to asuccessful conclusionin 2014 CsF has done agreat deal. forthe mobility of Brazilian university students. Over 4,000 students and some 400 PhD candidates and postgraduates.completed an academic. stayin Germany duringthe programme’s first. phase, with more than 100 German universities. or research institutes taking part Withthe reelection of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff,CsF, which is one ofthe government’s signature. projects, was extended untilthe end of ***
withthe goal of supporting an additional. 100,000 Brazilian students and young researchers to study or work abroadthe private sector is. also offering scholarships. On avisit to Germanyin October 2014, Chilean. President Michelle Bachelet - herself aDAAD. alumna - stressedthe importance of higheredu cation cooperation between Chile and. Germany andthe benefits of enhanced collaboration, especiallyinthe area of mining Since. 2009,the.daad.has also supported Heidelberg.
University’s Center of Excellencein Researchand Teachingin Santiago de Chile with its four. focus areas Medical Physics, Medical Informatics,Geo- and Environmental Sciences, and Astronomythe facility was evaluatedin 2014 and will. receive funding for an additional five years. new projects with Argentina.despite achallenging economic climate, cooperation with Argentina remains strong theGerman-Argentine University Centre (DAHZ)
provides students, doctoral candidates and. researchers with exchange opportunities as. well as German-Argentine double degree programmes, including seven master’s and five. PhD programmes Since 2014,the centre has. supported seven projects to initiate additional. double degree programmes, two binational. Virtual trade fair with. real impact. Brazilians find their german. universityin September 2014, scholarship. holdersinthe Brazilian programme Ciência sem Fronteiras. Alemanha (CsF) came to Germany to.complete ahalf year of language training before enrollingin aGerman university degree. programmeinthe natural. sciences, engineering and life. sciences. “We use this time to introducethe scholarship holders to German universities,” says. Katharina Riehle, Acting Head. of Section for Brazil, Chile,Paraguay and Uruguay, explainingthe DAAD’s rolein theprocess
This is done by way of adatabase. listing openings at universities. across Germany. Forthe first. timein 2014,the.daad.enhancedthe process by bringing universities and prospective students indirect contact with one another
The virtual education fair “Meet. your Future University” took..place on 10 September 2014,organised and hosted by Alumniportal Deutschland. A total of Chilean President Michelle. Bachelet visited germany inoctober ***
the DAAD. alumna emphasised theimportance of higher education partnerships betweenthe two countries
A lecture atthe germanArgentine University Centre.***
research projects, as well as two exchange. projectsinthe engineering sciences, bringingthe total number of DAHZ-supported university. partnerships to 23 Additional calls for applicationsare.planned forMexico is looking to establish asystem of integrated degree programmes based onthe German. modelthe DUALMEX project financed by theDAAD andthe Mexican ministry of education..organised several workshops and events on this. topic Representatives from German universities. of applied sciences met with vice chancellorsand faculty from Mexican technical and polytechnic universities Meetingsin Mexico included. visits to several technical colleges as well as to German.companies ahigh-ranking delegation. from Mexico travelled to Germany to learn more. about integrated degree programmes. «. 136 university staff representing. 42 German universities hosted. lectures, discussion sessionsand information booths for thebenefit of some 1,300 virtual. visitors, who were able to learn. aboutthe various German universities. The one difference froma. real-world fair was that conversations were not conducted inperson but via.computer keyboards, which were put to thetest bythe crush of visitors
Most popular among visitors. werethe internationally. renowned universities. “RWTH. Aachen ledthe way with nearly. 800 visitors and TU München.
hadthe most inquiries with. over 300 chats,” reports Riehle
Atthe same time,the DAAD. achieved its goal of directing. attention tothe smaller, less. visible universities: “More than. 30 percent of participants told us. thatthe fair introduced them to previously unknown or. unfamiliar German universities,”. says Riehle. A good example. wasthe University of Applied. Sciences Zwickau (WHZ), which. had previously seen jus***
applications from CsF scholarship holders. Afterthe virtual. education fair,the number of applicants tripled
enhancing digital visibility. One ofthe goals was to establish. direct contact and findthe “perfect match” between Brazilian. scholarship holders and German. universities. The event also fit inwiththe DAAD’s larger digitalisation strategy. “We want to enhancethe digital visibility of German universities and facilitatethe internationalisation of German science and research,”. explains DAAD’s Katrin HaufeWadle, acontent manager for. Alumniportal Deutschland
Many ofthe participating universities had little experience. with virtual fairs, but received. tipsin preparation forthe event
One prerequisite for success at avirtual fair: ahigh-quality. marketing video that introduces. virtual visitors tothe university
Also recommendedare pre-written text modules (translated. into several different languages)
to help staff respond to inquiries. duringthe fair. Haufe-Wadle. was.pleased withthe results ofthe first-time event: “The virtual. fair was abig success and abenefit for all involved. ”. Virtual reality:CsF scholarship holders. visitedthe education fair. via PC, Mac or mobile.device
We want to enhancethe digital visibility of German universitiesand facilitatethe internationalisation of German science and. research***
›the 2014 call for applications forthe “leadership for. syria” programme generated. tremendous interest, as. evidenced bythe more than. 5,000 applications received
Syria - acountry besieged by terror and civil. war - has avery young population: 56 percent. of its citizensare younger than 25 and are.desperately looking for education, direction and. hope forthe future “We cannot stand by and. watchthe conflictin Syria resultin alost generation,” said German Federal Foreign Minister. Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 27 October 2014 atthe launch of one ofthe largest and most.complex individual scholarship programmesin thehistory ofthe DAADthe programme, entitled. “Leadership for Syria”, began by offeringa. maximum of 200 scholarships to Syrian university students Another first: not only does theprogramme accept applications from Syria andthe surrounding region, but also from Germany. One.component ofthe “Leadership for Syria”. programme is amandatory study programme ingood governance, civil society and sustainable. project management, designed to ensure thatthe scholarship holders make alasting contribution to re-building academic and civil institutionsin post-war Syriathe tremendous interestinthe programme was evidenced by therecord number of applicants - over
Travel tothe region for German university representatives was severely limitedin anumber. of countries - including Libya, Yemen, as well. as large parts of Iraq and Afghanistan - theunstable security situation essentially precluded. any such activity As aresult, more and more. projects and cooperation measuresare taking..placein Germany Still very popularare theGerman-Arab Transformation Partnership. programme activities at German universities,which have been expanded beyond Egypt and. Tunisia to countries such as Jordan and Morocco. A new call for applicationsin 2014 involved.decisions on alarge number of new funding. measures and project extensionsthe focus. remained on developing infrastructures within. Arab partner universities as well as introducing. North Africa andthe Middle East. Establishing sustainable infrastructure***
modern curricula and new degree programmes. withthe primary goal of increasingthe employability of university graduates. Mining at Afghan universities. This also applies to Afghanistan, which is establishing asystem of higher education and training specific tothe mining industryin order to boostthe Afghan economy Since 2001, programmesin Afghanistan have also focused onthe fields of economics and information technology These focus areas will be maintained and. further expanded followingthe withdrawal of international security forcesin December ***
Throughoutthe region there is still agreat deal. of interestin establishing new transnational. universities modelled on examples such as theGerman Universityin Cairo (GUC) or theGerman Jordanian University (GJU)the DAAD. responds to inquiries from government ministries (in Tunisia, for example) and agrowing. number of private investors by providing. market analyses and other advisory services. With cooperation between Iran, German universities andthe.daad.re-invigoratedin recent. years, ahighlightin 2014 wasthe visit of DAAD. President Prof Dr Margret Wintermantel to Tehran and Isfahan Accompanied by five. German university rectors, Wintermantel visited. several prominent universitiesin Iran and,together with enthusiastic.daad.alumni,officially openedthe new.daad.information. centre housedinthe German-Iranian Chamber. of Industry and.commerce With over 6***
Iranian university studentsin Germany today,outstanding educational and research facilities,and highly qualified students and researchers,Iran is developing more and more into an interesting partner for Germanyinthe area of higher education, and remains extremely importantin terms of foreign cultural policy. «..daad.secretary general. Dr. Dorothea Rüland(3rd from l. )in Rabat ata. gathering of 120 alumni. from Morocco and tunisiain November 2014,.daad.Secretary. General Dr. Dorothea Rüland and German. parliament member Dr. Daniela De Ridder. greeted 120 alumni from Morocco, Tunisiaand Algeria atthe 2014 alumni meetinginthe Moroccan capital Rabat. The event. focused on environmental issues such asthe relationship between ecology and. tourism, andthe relationship between. ecology and agriculture. Specific discussion. topics included water scarcity, coastal. pollution and waste management - problems that go handin hand withthe region’s economic growth. “The alumni showed great interestin thetopics discussed and will be using their local alumni networks to continue. working onthe individual issues,” says Heike Heinen, project manager. for higher education. projectsinthe DAAD’s. North Africa and Middle East section. “This. waythe event hasa. lasting impact. ”. ALUMNI. TREFFEN. PROGRAMM. Ökologie im Maghreb - Lebensräume. schützen, Zukunft gestalten. L‘écologie au Maghreb - protéger. l’habitat, construire l’avenir. Rabat, Marokko.
Uhr..daad.AlUMnI on BehAlF oFthe enVIRonMent69
securing cultural. resources. leading archaeologists meetin Ammanthe ancient city of Petra carved. intothe cliffs of southern Jordan. orthe ancient oasis-city Palmyrain Syria have long attracted. tourists from aroundthe world
“Forthe countries they represent. a tangible economic factor and,atthe same time, apart of their. own history and identity,” says. Prof. Dr. Friederike Fless, President ofthe German Archaeological Institute (DAI). Even todaythe cultures ofthe ancient Near. East retain their international. significance - motivation enough. forthe.daad.to bring leading. international archaeologists together for asymposium entitled. “Preservingthe Past - Constructingthe Future”. The event took..placein Amman, Jordan as part. ofthe German Weeks 2014 and. brought together experts from. Jordan, neighbouring Arab countries and Germany. Symposium. participants sent aclear signalin support of efforts to preserveand protectthe excavation sitesand precious cultural heritage ofthe Arab world
Their goal is to increase public. awarenessinthe Arab countries. forthe social and economic. value of ancient cultural sites,thus achieving greater integration ofthe past intothe presentand future. For Prof. Munther. Jamhawi, Director General of theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan,the core question is how to manage tourist attractions insuch away that reaches everyone. Enhancingthe supporting. role of science and research inthe area is certainly an important. issue. “In countries such as Egypt. or Jordan there is still alarge discrepancy between research and. that which is.communicated. or presented tothe public,” says. Thomas Weber,.daad.lecturer. for Archaeology atthe University. of Jordan and initiator of theinternational conference. But. interpreting archaeological findsand.communicatingthe results tothe publicare skills that first. need to be learned
the right academic training. Cultural heritage as an academic. discipline was an important. focus atthe conference. “Learning how to present historical. sites is ahigh-priority task when. it.comes to educating theyounger generation,” summarised Prof. Moawiyah Ibrahim,Jordan Representative to theWorld Heritage.committee
UNESCO. The.daad.has been. activein this area for many years,facilitating university partnerships and academic exchangein Jordan andthe neighbouring Arab countries. One important project isthe Joint Masterin Heritage Conservation and. Site Management betweenthe Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg andthe Helwan Universityin Egypt,in cooperation withthe German Archaeological. Institute
Other discussion topics at theconference includedthe restoration of historic city districts andthe threat to cultural resources. posed by military conflicts and. international art smuggling
Con ference participants agreed. that transferring cultural- historic. knowledge and values to thenext generation can succeed only. if today’s education programmes. also convey current technologiesand opportunitiesinthe area. of digital media. As it is, theresources available to university. facultyinthe Arab countries still. vary considerably - yet another. challenge forthe future
the ancient city. of Petra is aunique. cultural heritage***
Sub-Saharan Africa. Higher education development was atthe core. of.daad.activityin Africain