DAAD Strategy 2030 aims to make Germany a science, innovation hub; help foreign students during war, pandemic

NEW DELHI: Germany will focus on providing support to foreign students during war and pandemic as part of its new initiative under the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Strategy 2030. The nation, as part of the new strategy, will also focus on inviting international students as future specialists and become an innovation hub.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic have shown how quickly the framework and conditions for foreign science policy can change. Our new strategy therefore offers orientation and flexibility to respond to such dynamics,” Joybrato Mukherjee, president at DAAD, said.

Everyone is living in an era of change that is described by shifts in the international order with global challenges, says DAAD president, in an official statement.

DAAD will be focussing on four priorities, “strengthening Germany as a location for science, innovation and business; finding solutions to global challenges; expanding science diplomacy; promoting democracy and social bonding,” the association of German universities said.

In 2024, the DAAD conducted a survey, according to which the total number of international students in Germany had increased from 85,000 to 92,000. Around 50% of the institutes in the country saw 5% or more growth in international students, as per the survey.

DAAD Strategy 2030: ‘Change through exchange’

"This state of change is challenging us: we need to think in a science-based and transnational way to secure the standing of Germany and its universities in the global academic system,” Mukherjee said.

The DAAD president further explained Strategy 2030 by saying that it serves as a compass for internationalisation and academic exchange in geopolitically turbulent times. "One hundred years after our foundation, we still want to contribute to the personal development of open-minded people and successfully shape global change in line with our motto 'change through exchange," he added.

Emphasising the importance of “region-specific advice” for German universities to organise international cooperation in challenging times, DAAD said: “During geopolitical change, Germany also promotes the maintenance and expansion of strategic partnerships from the perspective of foreign science realpolitik.”