Strengthening HE relations between Germany and the US
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) was delighted to learn about the increase of the interest of the American partners regarding the academic cooperation with Germany.
This positive news was followed after a recent visit to the US by Professor Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, the president of the organization, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the DAAD Regional Office in New York and to meet senior officials from the US State Department.
Mukherjee said:
“German and US universities have traditionally maintained close and good relations and have hence also been able to successfully master the challenges of the last few years,” Mukherjee said. “It is all the more gratifying that the new US administration under Joe Biden once again attributes high significance to academic collaboration across the Atlantic.”
He underlined the challenges that international academic collaboration was currently facing such as the coronavirus pandemic, research on and fighting the climate change crisis and restricted academic freedom in many countries around the world and threats to students and researchers in countries such as Afghanistan.
The recent data from DAAD have shown an increase in demand for its grant programmes supporting academic exchange from German and US students.
The number of German applicants for a foreign exchange scholarship in the US has seen an increase of around 50% this year, while applications from the US for one-year research scholarships in Germany increased by 20%.
The numbers above show a strong interest in research and study despite the travel restrictions and visa procedures. However, the US still has entry restrictions for researchers academics from Germany. DAAD hopes that new guidelines would be issued by the US authorities, especially for fully vaccinated applicants as it is in the interest of the US to allow the researchers to be able to cooperate and be able to travel and work alongside their colleagues in the US.
DAAD’s President also talked about the planned opening of the new German Center for Research and Innovation (DWIH) in San Francisco in 2022. The centre aims to enable stronger networking between the dynamic innovation landscape of Silicon Valley and the US West Coast and universities in Germany.
