DAAD invites representatives from universities, research institutions, and funding agencies in the United States and Canada, as well as colleagues from the fields of education policy and politics to join us for our “Germany Today” Information Tour 2016.

This year’s trip will focus on the initiatives of German Higher Education institutions to develop professional opportunities for its graduates at a national and international level. The success of the German economy and labour market relies strongly on the transfer of German universities’ research results to practical application by German industry, especially by small and medium-sized companies. Hence, employability is a topic at all levels of higher education. This proximity to the labour market has a long tradition in German engineering education. Employability is, however, an issue for all disciplines and we will discuss it with representatives from various disciplines, who will craft their discussions for US and Canadian representatives of different types of institutions and target groups (students, doctoral candidates and postdocs).

DAAD’s information tour “Germany Today 2016” is generally designed to give participants both a broader overview of Germany’s higher education landscape and a more in-depth understanding of recent developments within individual institutions. We will discuss funding opportunities, internationalization strategies, and the potential for co-operation between German and North American institutions.

On this trip, the group will visit institutions in Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Darmstadt and Bonn:

1. Destinations in Stuttgart will be the University of Stuttgart (a comprehensive university with a focus on technical and physical disciplines), the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (the first higher education institution in Germany to integrate academic studies with workplace training), an international company which closely cooperates with universities, and an institute of the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft  (Europe’s largest application-oriented research organization).
2. The next stop will be the University of Heidelberg, which is not only the oldest German University with a long-standing international orientation, but also one of Germany's eleven elite "Universities of Excellence."
3. Destinations in Darmstadt will be the Technische Universität Darmstadt (an institution with many years of experience in combining outstanding research with robust practical applicability) and the Hochschule Darmstadt (one of Germany’s largest Universities of Applied Sciences, an institution type which was first founded in Germany, representing a close relationship between higher education and the employment system but with an increasingly dynamic research portfolio).
4. Finally the group will meet representatives of some of Germany’s most important funding organisations in Bonn to discuss recent developments in funding policy and the challenge of optimizing the support of young academic talents.

(preliminary program, subject to change)

The program will be interactive: our hosts will provide valuable insights into their activities, and you will be asked to share your perspective and expertise with them, as well.

Information provided during this week will include:

• An overview of Germany’s higher education and research systems
• Specific examples of recent developments in higher education in Germany
• Insights into universities’ institutional internationalization strategies
• Details about select BA and MA programs at recognized universities and universities of applied science
• PhD programs/training, and transatlantic mobility
  

North American participants in this program are typically senior administrators at leading universities in the U.S. and Canada (such as vice presidents for international affairs or heads of international offices), policy makers in federal and state/provincial governments or associations, and other experts in the higher education field.

The program will be in English. Program-related costs in Germany (accommodation, domestic travel, most meals) will be covered by DAAD. The program officially starts in Stuttgart on Sunday afternoon, June 12, 2016 and ends with a dinner on Friday evening, June 17, in Bonn. The night from Friday, June 17, through Saturday, June 18, is still booked and covered by DAAD in our hotel in Bonn (including breakfast). Intercontinental travel is at the participant’s expense. 

Applicants must have U.S./Canadian citizenship or permanent residency, and have special interest in Germany and transatlantic co-operation, and a relevant professional position. They should not have recently participated in another information trip to Germany.

Applications – ideally as one pdf-document - must be received by March 14, 2016. Please contact Ms. Uta Gaedeke at DAAD’s New York Office at 212-758-3223 x209 or at [email protected] for further information.