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The DAAD currently supports one Centre of Excellence in Research and Teaching with funds from the German Federal Foreign Office- the German-Colombian Peace Institute (CAPAZ). Four other Centres of Excellence were funded from 2009 to 2024 in Chile, Colombia, Russia and Thailand.
The aim of the Centres of Excellence is to highlight the particular strengths of German science and promote international networking, particularly in the area of excellent training for young researchers. In addition, these transnational projects aim to have an impact on civil society. A requirement for a promising project is intensive and equal co-operation with partner institutions in the respective target countries in order to achieve long-term effects in the partner countries.
Instituto Colombo-Alemán para la Paz (CAPAZ), Colombia
The German-Colombian Peace Institute promotes the exchange of knowledge and experience in peace work by establishing networks between universities, research centres, civil organisations and government institutions. Research results on topics such as coming to terms with the past and conflict prevention have a direct impact on civil society.
Mission
Academic work on the Colombian peace process and the transition towards a post-conflict society
Promoting high-quality research and teaching on transitional justice and human rights, peacebuilding, and conflict as well as territorial reconfigurations
Consolidating bi-national research networks in peace and conflict studies
Enabling knowledge transfer
Consultancy on policy-making
For about 50 years civil war raged in Colombia between left-wing guerrilla groups and the Colombian military. When the armed conflict ended in 2016/17, the Instituto CAPAZ, the youngest of the DAAD-funded Centres of Excellence, began its work.
It’s the first bi-national institute to provide scientific support for the peace process in Latin America. With this unique selling point, the Instituto CAPAZ has successfully positioned itself in the Colombian academic landscape. As a research, study and advisory institution, it provides expertise on central issues of peace studies, historical research, conflict prevention and the shaping of a post-conflict society. The institute works with stakeholders in civil society, regional and national government as well as the transitional justice institutions that are involved in the peace process.
Programme Background
The DAAD programme ‘Centres of Excellence in Research and Teaching’ was developed from the Foreign Science Initiative, which was initiated by the Federal Foreign Office in 2009. The aim was to promote cross-border networking in the German science and research community and to strengthen scientific and academic dialogue.
Programme objectives
The Centres of Excellence are located at renowned universities that already have well established partnerships with German universities. The programme focuses on subject areas in which international cooperation is of particular interest to Germany and the respective partner country and for which there is high potential on both sides. The aim is to emphasise the particular strengths of German science and promote international networking, particularly in the area of promoting young researchers in science and teaching. An important focus lies in the training of future professionals and leaders if there is a corresponding need in the target countries. In addition, outreach to the interested public is of great importance: for example, centres with a specific political focus have also created an important pillar for strengthening areas of the public sector by making their expertise available via policy advice, among other things. Over the years, the funded centres have developed into flagship projects for scientific cooperation and showcase German teaching and research.
CORPORATION CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN MARINE SCIENCES (CEMARIN), COLOMBIA
The oceans are increasingly affected by human activities, and the livelihoods of coastal communities, animals and plants are threatened. CEMarin deals with the underlying causes through interdisciplinary research and teaching.
Mission
CEMarin is an international, non-profit organisation, founded by Colombian and German universities in 2009. It aims at answering fundamental environmental
and socio-economical questions related to marine ecosystems in Latin America. It integrates interdisciplinary marine research with innovative postgraduate training and international networking across disciplines in the natural and social sciences.
CEMarin was founded in Santa Marta and has been headquartered in Bogotá since 2015. The cooperation is based on long-standing academic relations between Germany and Colombia.The German-Colombian Centre of Excellence is focusing on a concept of strong cooperation with around 100 scientists from different disciplines working at CEMarin.
Research is conducted in the disciplines of marine biology, chemistry, geography, oceanography, engineering, social sciences, economics and environmental law. The scientists can conduct their research in a geographically favourable location – Colombia borders on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific. Their research topics are of worldwide interest. One focus is on the training of doctoral students and postdocs.
GERMAN-SOUTHEAST ASIAN CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR PUBLIC POLICY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE (CPG), THAILAND
CPG in Thailand is an independent research institute and think tank providing consultancy and advisory services on issues in the intersecting field of law and politics including democracy, rule of law and human rights as well as international relations and geopolitics. At the same time it serves as a ‘German’ centre contributing to strengthening the visibility of German science and German science diplomacy in Thailand, Southeast Asia and beyond.
CPG was founded in 2009 as a joint, affiliated institute by four law faculties: Thammasat University Bangkok, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, the University of Münster and the University of Passau. The challenge was enormous – to establish a German centre in Bangkok inspired by German concepts of constitutional law and to support stable, constitutional governance in the countries of Southeast Asia in the long term. The centre is meant to offer both academic training and consultancy in the areas of public law, democracy, and human rights.
It is a unique research, competence and information centre in the region that always integrates current topics: The academics interpret political events in Thailand and the region and make an important contribution to German and international diplomacy at the centre.
CPG organises around three dozen academic events every year, including conferences and workshops, spring, summer and winter academies, and trainings for students and various professional groups. With its activities, CPG contributes to research, academic discourses and the professionalisation of practitioners in the region and beyond.
At CPG, Thai students learn German, attend events on German-related topics and establish contacts to Germany.
GERMAN-RUSSIAN INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE CENTER (G-RISC), RUSSIA
G-RISC networks outstanding research groups in Germany and Russia in the field of natural sciences. The aim is to give advanced students and scientists the opportunity to gain interdisciplinary and international experience through short but intense and efficient research stays in the partner country.
When it was founded in 2009, the German-Russian Interdisciplinary Science Center could build on almost 40 years of cooperation between the Freie Universität Berlin and St Petersburg State University as well as other Russian-German collaborations.
The German-Russian Centre of Excellence promotes interdisciplinary research in natural sciences. It sees itself as a multidisciplinary platform for research and teaching and bundles the competence of around 440 research groups from 130 institutions. “G-RISC is a virtual centre, it networks scientists and enables them to spend time in the partner country where they can perform cutting-edge research on interdisciplinary topics. Furthermore, conferences and workshops are organised. In addition, academics with experience in interdisciplinary teaching are exchanged between Russia and Germany.
The young researchers generally receive scholarships for one-month research stays in the partner country. Calls for proposals take place twice a year. The administrative hurdles are low. Standards and requirements, however, are high. Only bi-national and interdisciplinary projects are funded. The decisive factor is that the research partners from Russia and Germany face novel interdisciplinary research projects.
So far, G-RISC has awarded scholarships for numerous research institutions based at 50 locations in Germany and 20 in Russia, respectively. In 2018 alone, 86 young scientists were supported in 82 projects.
One indicator of the academic success is the number of peer-reviewed publications in international scientific journals – more than 200 articles have been published in the first nine project years.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AND TEACHING AT THE HEIDELBERG CENTER LATIN AMERICA (HCLA), CHILE
Since 2009, HCLA has been extended into a Centre of Excellence in Research and Teaching with four new scientific fields: Astronomy, Geo- & Environmental Sciences, Medical Informatics and Medical Physics. The internationally oriented range of graduate programmes offered in these areas also aims at students from other Latin American countries.
When the application was submitted in 2009, the subjects of medical informatics and medical physics had not yet been established in Chile. The Universidad de Chile now has a Center for Medical Informatics and Telemedicine (CIMT) and a Center for Health Information Systems (CENS), in which four other Chilean universities are involved.
The Universidad Católica founded a Department of Medical Physics.
Astronomy is a very prestigious field in Chile. Scientists from all over the world use the observatories there. Outstanding research is taking place in this field through joint doctoral projects. Also, chilean primary and secondary school teachers are receiving further training. Teaching materials are translated into Spanish. All participants in the teacher-training course work as multipliers and pass their knowledge on to colleagues.
In the geosciences and environmental sciences, alumni negotiated cooperation agreements with several NGOs. They have organised joint seminars and provided internships.
Thanks to the Centre of Excellence, bi-national doctoral programmes with joint or double degrees have been established. Students wishing to obtain a double degree must spend at least one year at the respective partner university – the Universidad Católica or Heidelberg University.
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Section Transnational Education Projects in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America
