Vorstand beschließt DAAD-Strategie 2020

Scholarships for high achievers, outward-looking structures, and knowledge for scientific and academic cooperations

Bonn, 7 February 2013. On 5 February 2013, the Executive Committee of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) adopted its Strategy 2020, outlining the future objectives of the DAAD: scholarships for the best German and international students, academics, and researchers, enabling them to study and research abroad and creating structures to boost internationalisation efforts at Germany’s higher education institutions. The focus is also on expanding and supporting expertise on knowledge systems worldwide that is made available for international cooperation. The DAAD hence seeks to further strengthen the competitiveness of Germany as a high-quality centre of science and learning.

''The DAAD enjoys great respect and admiration worldwide. If it didn’t already exist, it would need to be invented'', comments DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel. Nevertheless, it faces the task of meeting future challenges and getting to grips with the changing framework conditions of internationalisation, the lack of specialists, and the international competition for talented people. The DAAD is therefore focused on three strategic objectives:

Scholarships for the best: 

By providing scholarships to the best German and international students and academics the DAAD seeks to ensure future specialists and executives act in a socially responsible manner and create long-lasting relationships and ties throughout the world. 

Outward-looking structures: 

The DAAD will focus more strongly on developing programmes that higher education institutions can use to realise their own internationalisation strategies. To maintain Germany’s position as a leading host country for internationally mobile students, Germany needs to attract a volume of at least 350,000 foreign students by 2020. The target is to ensure that, by the end of this decade, every second German university graduate will have gathered substantial experience abroad while studying.

Expertise for scientific and academic cooperations:

The DAAD seeks to foster and expand its worldwide network of branch offices, information centres, and lectors (German Studies language assistants) and the expertise of its employees on educational cultures and academic systems and thereby increase its efforts to shape internationally successful corporations.