The DAAD is the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers. Since it was founded in 1925, around 2.8 million scholars in Germany and abroad have received DAAD funding. It is a registered association and its members are German institutions of higher education and student bodies. Its activities go far beyond simply awarding grants and scholarships. The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad, assists developing countries in establishing effective universities and advises decision makers on matters of cultural, education and development policy.

… is our contribution to shaping a global society that finds solutions to the pressing issues of tomorrow. The DAAD stimulates internationalisation and global responsibility. It acts as an independent intermediary between various partners and their interests. The real motors of change, however, are students and researchers who cross borders every day through their work, and the institutions of higher education which support them in their commitment.

The most important responsibilities of the DAAD include granting scholarships, promoting the internationalisation activities of German universities and research organisations, strengthening German cultural and language studies abroad and helping developing countries establish productive higher education institutions. The DAAD is also the National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation.

In practically every corner of the world, DAAD employees share their expertise and ensure that international experience from many different perspectives is channelled into their projects. The DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage for more than 70 countries, approximately 408 Lectureships and 81 ‘Langzeitdozenturen’ und ʻGerman Studies Dozenturen’, 20 Centres of German and European Studies, 32 German-language degree programmes in Central and Eastern Europe, a diverse range of DAAD-funded university projects abroad, ranging from individual courses to establishing new universities, and a pool of 430,000 alumni. It is this network which provides the DAAD with a comprehensive view of the political, economic, social and higher-educational circumstances in each respective country.