Research and academic relations – the priority of our cultural relations policy in 2009
Preparatory German class at Frankfurt University
(Hofmann / DAAD)
Young people need education. And Germany needs well-educated young people to join the workforce. Nowadays, international academic exchange is a key element in this equation.
Be your subject climate change, space research or the architecture of the international financial markets, if you want to be a top researcher and able to answer the pressing questions of our time, you need international contacts. Research and researchers have long left national boundaries behind.
This is important for the individuals concerned – but it is also crucial for society. Without good academics there can be no science and research, no inspiration or innovation, no impetus for growth and prosperity in Germany.
And that is why the Federal Foreign Office has made research and academic relations the priority of its cultural relations policy in 2009. Existing measures to promote international academic exchange will be consolidated and extended, new instruments will be developed.
Chinese student in the library
(Lichtenscheidt / DAAD)
Germany has a firm foundation on which to build – some 250,000 foreign students are already enrolled at German universities. Their number has risen by 100,000 over the past ten years – an increase of some 66%. Germany is thus the third most popular destination – after the USA and Great Britain – for international students.
The world of education and research is set to become yet more international in the years to come. At present some 2.7 million people study abroad; by 2025 this figure is expected to rise to over 7 million.
Signing a cooperation agreement in Spitzbergen
(dpa / picture-alliance)
This is where the Research and Academic Relations Initiative comes in. It is designed to consolidate and enhance Germany's position in this developing international network of science and research. Its goals include:
- Promoting academic exchange and the establishment of an enduring network of academics and researchers,
- Advertising Germany as a study and research destination and attracting the best minds by offering good scholarships,
- Supporting cooperation between institutions of higher education and research institutes,
- Raising the profile of Germany as a home of science by maintaining a presence in key locations around the world.
The initiative will be launched at a conference at the Federal Foreign Office from 19 to 20 January. Together with distinguished academics and researchers from Germany and abroad, Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan will discuss research and academic relations goals and prospects in the global knowledge society.
Last updated 02.01.2009
