After five years, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is taking stock of its funding programme for the internationalisation of universities of applied sciences (HAWs). At a conference in Karlsruhe today, the DAAD will be presenting the results of the "HAW.International" programme to date. The programme, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is expected to run until 2029.

"For us, the HAW.International programme is a beacon in the promotion of internationalisation. It ensures greater global visibility for Germany's universities of applied sciences. The results so far also show how effective the support for UASs in internationalisation is," said DAAD President Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee. "More than two thirds of universities of applied sciences in Germany have already taken part in the programme. In the coming years, we want to support as many universities of applied sciences as possible in expanding their international competitiveness and preparing students for the challenges of the globalised world of work."

After five years, the DAAD is taking stock of the programme: since its launch, 119 projects have been funded, more than 7,000 students, teachers and researchers have been supported and the BMBF has provided over 70 million euros for this purpose. Universities and partner institutions from around 100 countries worldwide have been involved in the projects, with the focus of the universities' international networking on North America and Europe. 

With this programme, the DAAD offers universities of applied sciences tailor-made support to expand global networks in research, teaching and transfer and to enable their students to gain international experience. In addition to funding the universities, the DAAD awards individual scholarships for semester stays, internships or final theses abroad as part of the programme. In October, the DAAD selected ten new projects for a further round of the programme, which will be funded until 2027.

Background

The HAW.International funding programme was launched in March 2019 and is financed by the BMBF. It supports universities of applied sciences in Germany in the development of a sustainable international profile and international networking. HAW.International supports internationalisation projects as well as individual students, lecturers and researchers in their international projects. The programme is currently planned to run until 2029.

The expansion of the internationalisation of universities of applied sciences in Germany is also reflected in the development of the number of international students: In the winter semester 2012/2013, 44,000 international students were enrolled at Germany's universities of applied sciences, ten years later this figure had already risen to 110,200. The proportion of international students at universities of applied sciences thus increased from 5.8 to ten per cent.