The German and British former EU official Alan Smith is regarded as the co-founder of the Erasmus programme. During his work in the sector of international education cooperation, he has crossed paths with the DAAD many times.  

Mr Smith, in your video for our “100 Years” celebration, you said your career had been punctuated by multiple encounters with the DAAD. Can you be more specific?

Gladly. During my whole career in the area of international cooperation in education, and even before, the DAAD has been a repeated source of personal support and professional expertise. And my story also illustrates various facets of the DAAD's role in shaping the “Europe of Higher Education”, which seems so self-evident today.

Where did the story begin?

At London’s University College. I finished my German Studies degree there in 1971 and the DAAD kindly awarded me a postgraduate scholarship at the University of Marburg, where I had earlier spent two undergraduate years (beginning in the formative “student revolution” year 1968!). I never completed that research, but I’m sure that receiving the DAAD’s support helped significantly in finding my first job in the international department of the West German Rectors Conference (WRK).

And in that role, you came into contact with the DAAD again?

Very much so. For example, I represented the WRK on various DAAD selection committees, but the most important contact was with the DAAD branch offices in Paris and London, which cooperated closely with us in trying to create a system of “Equivalences” to improve the reciprocal recognition of study and qualifications between Germany and other countries. The DAAD has retained its firm commitment to this goal, as its role in promoting the European Credit Transfer System ECTS shows.

But the story did not end there?

No, in 1978 I moved to the European Institute for Education and Social Policy in Paris, where I was responsible in particular for the operational management of the EU’s “Joint Study Programme (JSP) Scheme”—in retrospect the forerunner of Erasmus. Soon afterwards the DAAD began its similar programme for “Integrated Study Abroad (IAS)”. Initially there was some scepticism in the DAAD about EU involvement in supporting international HE cooperation and mobility, but it was soon recognised that it offered great opportunities for synergy and active collaboration.

Co-creator of the Erasmus programme

And then you moved on to Brussels?

Yes, as head of the European Institute’s Brussels office, and it was from there that we ran both the Joint Study Programme Scheme and, in the mid-1980s, the “Study Abroad Evaluation Project (SAEP)”, the first major international project for the evaluation of study abroad programmes and their impacts. Both JSP and IAS projects were among those selected for analysis, and this commitment to research and analysis in the field of international education is another continuing aspect of the DAAD’s activities which deserves recognition.

Then came Erasmus …

Indeed! Towards the end of 1985 everything changed with the Commission's proposal to launch Erasmus as a fully-fledged programme of grants for student and staff mobility, based on university cooperation across the national borders. I was privileged to be closely involved in designing the programme and to head the Erasmus Bureau during its first five years. One of our first major implementation tasks was to establish a network of National Agencies. In Germany, the DAAD was our natural partner, and it has remained a highly respected National Agency ever since—from small beginnings to the large DAAD department we see today.

But soon after Erasmus was launched, the Berlin Wall came down …

Exciting times! One of the main challenges was to integrate the higher education institutions in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) into Erasmus, and again we worked hand-in-hand with the DAAD in making it happen.

Launch of the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA)

So, the DAAD was now established as the Erasmus National Agency in Germany, but all over Europe there were organisations facing the same challenge?

Exactly, and in this situation, I came to know and value a further dimension of the DAAD’s contribution to international higher education cooperation. The early 1990s—due above all to the increasing momentum of Erasmus, and in Central and Eastern Europe to the launch of Tempus—saw a quick expansion of existing organisations in this field and, in many cases, the creation of new ones. In this situation, there was an increasingly felt need for organisations to learn from one another and share their expertise. So the idea was born to create a European association for this purpose, and the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) was the result. DAAD, together with Dutch partner NUFFIC, was a strong driving force behind this initiative and as ACA´s founding Director I worked closely with them and others to bring it about. Over three decades, the DAAD support has been unwavering.

Then you became an EU official in the formal sense. But that was not the end of your cooperation with the DAAD?

Far from it! In various positions within the Commission, notably as Coordinator of Erasmus but also during an assignment with Erasmus Mundus, I was delighted to have the opportunity of renewing our cooperation, for example in developing plans to make the EU a more attractive destination for international students.

And even in retirement your links with DAAD have continued?

Yes indeed. In particular, two things in connection with the 30th anniversary of ERASMUS stand out. First, DAAD kindly asked me to contribute an in-depth article on the creation of the programme for the special publication to mark the event. And second, I was invited to co-stage a dialogue on “The ERASMUS Programme – then and now” at the anniversary conference.

“Erasmus – then and now”: That could be seen as a leitmotif for your multifaceted involvement with the DAAD over the years …

I guess so, especially if we include the decade before Erasmus even came along! Certainly, my relationship with DAAD is one I have always highly appreciated. To prove it, I have finally joined the Alumni Association of former DAAD scholarship holders, so you could say that “The wheel has come full circle!”