Germany’s universities of applied sciences, are to receive additional support to enhance their level of internationalisation in comparison to traditional universities.
For its new ‘HAW International’ programme, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has now selected 31 model projects which are to receive about €21 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The key aspects of the programme are to further enhance the global competitiveness of this type of institution via international collaboration in close cooperation with industry and to better prepare students for the requirements of a labour market strongly shaped by internationality. In this context, digitisation is to play a greater role, too.
The programme has two funding lines, in the first of which the DAAD supports the development and implementation of internationalisation strategies and the establishment of international networks for studying, teaching, research and transfer of research results to industry.
The second funding line focuses on the development of practice-oriented study programmes together with international cooperation partners and the creation of mobility and exchange formats.
“With HAW International, we are seeking to support Germany’s universities of applied sciences in enhancing their attractiveness globally and making this successful type of university even more popular worldwide,” says DAAD President Joybrato Mukherjee. “Germany’s higher education system as a whole is going to benefit from us assisting universities of applied sciences in gaining an even sharper international profile.”