Tailor-made programmes for DIES alumni are intended to promote networking at national and regional level and increase the impact of DIES training courses, which are only open to a limited number of participants.

In particular, DIES alumni are supported in becoming active as multipliers on higher education management topics locally and in passing on the knowledge they have acquired in the courses in their home countries.

National or regional alumni networks provide a framework for the exchange of experiences between graduates of different DIES training courses.

As part of the National Multiplication Trainings (NMT), the University of Potsdam has been offering DIES alumni worldwide the opportunity to apply for support for training and multiplication measures carried out independently since 2017.

All NMT projects take up nationally relevant topics from the DIES training courses and adapt them to the specific local conditions. The NMT measures are designed and implemented independently and autonomously by DIES alumni.

In 2024, an NMT was conducted in Mauritius for the first time, which was reported on in University World News.

If you would like to get an impression of what an active NMT in Vietnam looks like, here is a short video from the year 2026.

 

Content:

Multiplication training courses dealing with numerous higher education management related subjects

Target Group:

Teams consisting of multiple DIES-alumni

Structure:

Call for application in 2019

Cooperation Partners:

University of Potsdam

Funding:

Participant fees may apply

Link: 

http://www.dies-nmt.org/

East Africa:

The DIES alumni network in East Africa (Regional East African DIES Multiplication Alumni Network REAL) passes on knowledge and experience of university management gained in DIES training courses, thus contributing to the development of universities in the region. REAL offers alumni from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda a forum to share ideas and organise professional development courses of their own.

 

West Africa:

West African Anglophone Quality Assurance Network (WAAQAN)

This network is an initiative that emerged from a DIES training course on internal quality assurance (2014 to 2016) for higher education institutions in Anglophone West African countries. 
The DIES programme supported the foundation of the association and since then there has been an exchange of news in both directions. Most recently, DIES was able to support one of the annual conferences - 2024 under the title “Sharing Experiences on Internal Quality Assurance in Anglophone West Africa Countries HEIs” from September 2-4, 2024 in Ghana at the Regional Maritime University.
 

Latin America and the Caribbean:

CALCA

CALCA is a Latin American network of DAAD alumni specializing in the internationalization of higher education across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Established during the pandemic in 2021, CALCA connects all LAC cohorts of the DIES Management of Internationalisation (MoI) programme, uniting 49 alumni from 14 countries.

The network's name, 'Conecta América Latina – Caribe – Alemania' (Connecting Latin America, the Caribbean and Germany), reflects its mission to strengthen connections within the region and with Germany. CALCA views innovation as the addition of new dimensions to established knowledge in the internationalisation of higher education, based on individual and collective experiences, while preserving the distinctive Latin American spirit that defines its identity.

Grounded in the DIES MoI values of dialogue and innovation, CALCA fosters collaboration among alumni of all generations and maintains open communication with current and future participants. Its working groups (Communication, Research and Connection) advance initiatives proposed by coordinators, using dialogue as a core tool while embracing flexibility and responsiveness to emerging trends in the internationalisation of higher education.
 

Further Information:

CALCA on LinkedIn

Website CALCA

ASEAN Quality Assurance Alumni Association

The network is an initiative that emerged from the DIES project ASEAN-QA. ASEAN-QAA was founded in response to the mutual interest of graduates of the various training courses on internal quality assurance that were offered during the project between 2011 and 2018 in networking and pooling resources. The ASEAN-QAA is a non-profit association of all those interested and involved in the development of quality assurance in Southeast Asian universities and their academic institutions. Every two years, a regional forum is organized on a current topic in quality assurance.  

Further information:
ASEAN QA Association – Connect, Share and Change 

 

Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia:

SAM21

The network SAM21 (Southeast Asia Mobility for 21st Century Skills) was established in 2017 following the initiative of three former UNILEAD alumni from Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The network is aimed at DIES alumni from the three regions. The primary objective of the initiative is to facilitate enhanced student mobility between the three regions, while also promoting collaboration and ongoing professional development within the DIES community. SAM regularly organises Design Thinking and STEM project sessions, workshops, and mentoring activities. These events are intended to support students and lecturers in the higher education institutions of the three regions in their mobility.

Further information:

Homepage of SAM21

Further publications and information material can be found in the “DIES-Alumni” section under DIES Publications & Teaching Material.