On 21 January 2016, Henrike Lähnemann officially assumed her duties as professor of medieval German literature and linguistics at the University of Oxford, England, with a public inaugural lecture on manuscripts from North German convents. The event was the starting signal for a partnership between the Universities of Oxford and Freiburg that is receiving funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Volkswagen Foundation. The medieval studies professor will spend two months each year at the University of Freiburg as a fellow of the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), thus intensifying the close cooperation in medieval German studies between the two universities.

Bonn, 13/01/2016. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e. V.) are launching a joint tandem programme for Syrian students. The partners recently signed a corresponding agreement. Around 67 holders of scholarships from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation support the integration of DAAD-funded Syrian students at over 20 universities; more are to join in the coming weeks.

Bonn, 21/12/2015. To facilitate access to higher education for refugees who are qualified to study, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has established a long-term package of measures with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). In the next four years, approximately €100 million are available for support and counselling required for access to higher education, improvement of the ability to start academic studies and enhancement of integration at universities. €27 million of the total sum are allocated for 2016.

Bonn, 10.12.2015. Germany has become increasingly attractive to students from the United States. Compared to the previous year, the number of Americans who came to Germany for study-related purposes in 2014 increased by nine percent. This amounted to a record-breaking 10,377 US students who completed a semester abroad, internship, summer school or language course in Germany. The interest in studying in the US, however, continued to decline among Germans according to this year’s “Open Doors” report by the Institute of International Education (IIE).

Bonn, 24/11/2015. In the 2015/16 winter semester, 271 Syrian students with a DAAD scholarship started their studies at a German university. The Federal Foreign Office and the DAAD welcomed the scholarship holders, who discussed their first experiences, their expectations of studying in Germany as well as the opportunities for an academic reconstruction of Syria with representatives of politics and academia. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) invited applications to the “Leadership for Syria” scholarship programme funded by the Federal Foreign Office back in October 2014. The federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg provided additional scholarships.