Impressions from Dakar:More than 170 participants. from 19 African countries. jointly addressed questions. related to quality assurancein higher education

guests included german. Ambassador to senegal. Bernhard Kampmann(bottom left)***

steP teaches African university graduates how to successfully launch abusiness

entrepreneurship. seminarsin Africa. From university graduate to business ownerthe Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) helps. university students help themselves - and it works. Students. who.completethe STEP programme go on to found their own..companies and create new jobsin Africa. The.daad.supports theprogramme together with theGerman UNESCO.commission andthe BASF Foundation. STEP was. initiated by Prof. Dr. Michael Frese. fromthe University of Lüneburg

STEP is targeted towards students. from various academic disciplines. who have no previous trainingin economics or business. thethree-month entrepreneurship. seminar provides basic knowledge of accounting, market analysis and marketing. Participants. learn how to find amarket nicheand how to build abusiness. with limited resources. The STEP. training sessions themselves are. also assessed and evaluated

Bythe timethe training is.completed,the groups pay back. almost all ofthe 100 dollars they. receive as seed capital at thestart ofthe programme. Participants often beginthe programme with small, everyday. business ideas. The goalin theearly stages is to learn how to “raise” acompany from thebeginning and gain practical. experience. After an initial learning phase, participants often. go on to found more.complex..companies

Mastering set­backs. “STEP demonstrates that entrepreneurial spirit is something. that can be learned, even when. things don’t always.run smoothly

Along with providing business. know-how andthe necessary. seed money,the programme. teachesthe skills entrepreneurs. need to respond constructively to set-backs and ‘drought’ periods,”. explains Ursula Hardenbicker. who headsthe DAAD’s University. Cooperation Projects section

This is accomplished by cultivating soft skills such as perseverance and flexibility

Programme is expandingthe STEP programme was. launchedin Ugandain 2008 and. is now also offered at universitiesin Kenya, Tanzania, Rwandaand Liberia. Similar projectsin Latin America (Mexico) andthe Philippinesare currentlyinthe.planning phase. “STEP. is an impressive example of what can be achieved through. higher education cooperation. with developing countries,”. says Hardenbicker. “The interdisciplinary and very hands-on,practical approach creates new. opportunities and new solutions tothe serious problems faced. by university graduatesin thesecountries. The regional growth. ofthe programme and thecombination of different funding institutions help ensure thesuccess and long-term viability. ofthe programme. ” Followingthe programme’s first phase. from 2008 to 2011,the.daad.is. supportingthe second phase(tothe end of 2015) with atotal. of 230,000 eurosin funding. through its “Subject-related. Partnerships with Institutions of Higher Educationin Developing. Countries” programme.DIES - Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies. Subject-related partnerships with higher education institutionsin developing countries. “exceed” - Higher Education Excellencein Development Cooperation. Special programme for Iraq / Middle East. Cultural Dialogue withthe Islamic World. German-Arab Transformation Partnership. Academic rehabilitation South-Eastern Europe. Academic rehabilitation Afghanistan. table 4: Programmes for promoting development and dialoguein 2014( selection)

number of projects. number of beneficiaries. expenditures inthousand eUR

up ofthe University of Bonn, Cologne University of Applied Sciences andthe United Nations. University was selected to supportthe PAU Institute of Water and Energy Sciences ( PAUWES)in Tlemcen, Algeria. Measuring impactsthe impact of development policy and intervention is much debated withinthe field of development cooperationthe questions raised. also apply to.daad.programmes: What arethe direct and long-term impacts? How can. measurement and evaluation ofthe results beimproved? To help answer these questions, theDAAD is developing its own monitoring system. based on in-depth discussions conducted with. university represent atives and donors during. 2014the first step to define impact frameworksand indicators for each ofthe programmesthe next step is to introduce new data collection. instruments and revise existing reporting formatsthe goal is to have monitoring systems. thatare fully anchoredinthe respective programmes, and that provide astructured way to collect and evaluate programme data. Initial success was achieved withthe evaluation. ofthe “Excellence Centers for Exchange and.development” (exceed).completedin 2014 Asa. result ofthe positive programme evaluation,the “exceed” programme was renewed for an. additional five years Since 2009,the.daad.has. supported five German universities and their.developing country partnersin establishing. globally networked.competency centres focused. on future-oriented issues related to water, food,resource management, humane work and working conditions, and health. Collaboration withthe GIZ was also expanded. into additional countries and regions Along with. existing collaborationsin Brazil, Africa, Mongolia andthe Middle East, joint projects were also. launchedin Senegalinthe area of renewable. energy New in-country/in-region scholarships. provide support to Syrian refugeesin Jordan,andin Afghanistanthe.daad.and GIZ are. teaming up to supportthe education and training of qualified experts and managersin theAfghan.commodities and mining sectors. «the.daad.and gIZare supportingthe development ofthe Pan­African. University

PAUWES -. Pan African University. Institute of Waterand Energy Sciences(incl. Climate Change)

http://www.**ad.de

Support and Consulting of PAuWeS concerningthe recruitment. Process of Academic Staff

Establishment of adraft salary scheme for thePan African University

Nomination of an African selection.committee for theappointment of academic staff

Support of PAUWES duringthe appointment process. by an independent academic counsellor and.organization. ofthe selection.committee meeting for academic staffin Tlemcen

Publication ofthe Call for Applications for academic staffinthe.daad.network worldwide

Training ofthe PAUWES Project Management Unit in“academic staff recruitment”. Cooperation between. PAuWeS and German higher. education institutions

Facilitatingthe Call for Applications for Cooperation of German Higher Education Institutions with PAUWES. Selected universities for Cooperation:

University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF)

Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Institute for. Technology and Resources Managementinthe Tropics and. Subtropics (ITT)

United Nations University, Institute for Environment and. Human Security (UNU-EHS)

Areas of support forthe Cooperation:

Implementation and modification ofthe curricula as well. asin launching ofthe teaching programmes

Development of PhD-Curricula and establishing of applied. graduate schools or PhD courses

Qualification of post-graduates, PhD candidates and Postdocs. as young professionalsin research, politics and economicsinthe fields of water and energyin Africa

Development of aresearch profile that supports problem. solving and innovationin Africa’s water and energy sectors

Contribution (scientific publications, events, conferences. etc. ) to Pan African and international scientific discourse inthe water and energy sectors. Accolades:the global. University network for. Innovation Africa and theAfrican Quality Assurance. network honoured theDAAD for its rolein improvingthe quality of higher. educationin Africa. Mexico City. New York. Rio de Janeiro. San José Caracas. Santiago de Chile. Toronto. Bogotá. San Francisco. Buenos Aires. São Paulo***

›. A total of 48 german universities and institutions. were on hand atthe nAFsA. Annual Conference and. expoin san Diego - aclear. sign thatthe north American. market remains important to german universities

the.daad.took partin theannual conference of theeuropean Association for. International education(eAIe)in Prague

Expertise for. academic. collaborationsthe DAAD’s core expertise is built on its longstanding experiencein internationalisation and. collaborative partnershipsin higher education. Today,the.daad.continually expands its. knowledge through its worldwide network of regional offices and information centres, as well. as throughthe dialogue with other experts. aroundthe globe Since 2010,the network has. also includedthe German Houses of Researchand Innovation (DWIHs)the.daad.is involvedin all six DWIH facilities and isin charge of managingthe DWIH at four locations aprimary. goal ofthe DWIH is to tap regional knowledge. on behalf of German universities at international.platforms such as conferencesand trade fairs,the.daad.provides German. universities with opportunities to present themselves, and createsthe framework for dialogueand exchange among university representativesand expertsin addition, research studies.commissioned bythe.daad.provide insight into. various issues related to internationalisationin demand worldwidein May 2014the.daad.presented two studies atthe “Going Global” conference.organised bythe British Councilthe first study consideredthe impact of transnational education on thehost countries (see p 45);the second analysedthe objectives of countries with large foreign. scholarship programmes Both studies attracted. a great deal of interestthe 2014 NAFSA Annual Conference and Expoin San Diego wasthe largest yet, drawing nearly. 10,000 participantsthe Germany pavilion atthe San Diego conference, which was managed. bythe DAAD,.comprised 48 participating universities and institutions - anumber that highlightsthe importance ofthe North American. market for German universities Also popularBonn. Berlin

Paris. Nairobi. Cairo. Warsaw. Tokyo. New Delhi. Jakarta. Beijing. London. Hanoi. Brussels. Moscow. Accra. Yaoundé. Ho Chi Minh City. Bangkok. Singapore. Sydney. Johannesburg. Hong Kong. Shanghai. Taipei City. Pune. Chennai. Islamabad. Bishkek. Dushanbe. Almaty. Istanbul. East Jerusalem. Amman. Tunis Erbil Tehran. Tbilisi. Prague. Athens. Riga. Madrid. Rome. Budapest. Belgrade. Kuala Lumpur. Seoul. Guangzhou. Novosibirsk. Ankara. Abu Dhabi. Baku. Yerevan. Bucharest. St. Petersburg. Kiev. Kabul. Minsk. Addis Ababa. Kazan. Tashkent

Tel Aviv. Beirut

15 Regional offices. 56 Information Centres (ICs)

DAAD head office and. Berlin office. April 2015the.daad.was active. aroundthe globe promoting. studyin germany

werethe 2014 annual conferences ofthe European Association for International Education(EAIE)in Prague, andthe Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) inSeoulthe.daad.was featured onthe conference. agenda at both conferences, and took advantage. ofthe opportunity to meet with several institutional partnersthe.daad.provided German. university representa tives with informationaland networking eventsthe.daad.also focused its attentionin 2014 on. dual study programmesthe importance of dual. study programmes has grown significantly overthe last few years, but aspects of internationalisationin this context have hardly been considered up until nowthe.daad.study “Dual Study. Programmesin Global Context”, financed by theStifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft,closes this knowledge gapthe study provides. a systematic analysis ofthe internationalisation. potential of dual and applied study programmes. as well as possibilities for transferringthe dual. studies model from Germany to other countriesthe study was publishedin December 2014 and. is available onlinein PDF format. networking with experts. Since 2006,the.daad.Network Conference has. provided participants with expert, first-hand. knowledge onthe global educational market. Once againin 2014, some 170 university representatives from over 100 universities gatheredin Bonn, where they engaged one-on-one with..daad.experts to expand their knowledge, discuss collaborative projects, and receive valuable. tips on exchange projects and higher education. marketing “Speed networking” provided agood. opportunity for participants to expand their. own networks, and lectures onthe educationand university landscapein 16 different countries helped round outthe conference programme Conference participants, among them. Dr Irma de Melo-Reimers, Managing Director. ofthe Bavarian University Center for Latin. America (BAYLAT), foundthe conference to bevery valuable “The Network Con ference provides an ideal.platform for meeting important.decision-makers and experts from around theworldin just ashort amount of time,” said de

Melo-Reimers “It’s an excellent opportunity forthe exchange on academic and institutionallevel collaboration ”. «. First­hand knowledge - atthe network Conference,university representatives. discussed collabor ation. projects with.daad.expertsand received valuable. tips on exchange projectsand higher education. marketing. Highlight***

John Mcnamara presentedthe study on transnational. education (right). Dr. Dorothea Rüland and Prof

halil Akkanat review thefirst year ofthe turkishgerman University (upper. left). Former President ofthe german Bundestag Rita. süssmuth takes partin thediscussion (lower left)

transnational education enhancesthe quality. ofthe local education sector. Germany is an established.playerinthe area of transnational education (TNE), and more and more. German universitiesare offering entire degree. programmes abroad orare involvedin establishing. bi-national universities. The.daad.has supported. these efforts since 2001 with its transnational. education programme financed bythe Federal. Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Over. 70 projects with more than 10,000 graduates have. been funded so far throughthe DAAD, and currently some 25,000 studentsare enrolledin transnational programmes, whichare usually degree. programmes offered by German universities incollaboration with local university partners. theprogramme thus makes asignificant contribution tothe growing presence of German universities. onthe international higher education market

Transnational collaboration is awin for both sides

German universities enhance their international. reputations, establish and expand academic partnerships, and can recruit highly qualified master’sand doctoral candidates fromthe partner countries. The benefits forthe partner countries were. confirmed by astudy jointly.commissioned by theBritish Council andthe DAAD. According to thestudy, transnational education programmes. increase access to high quality study opportunities,help enhancethe quality of local educational. systems and - especially for studentsin emerging. countries - offer an affordable alternative to studying abroad

Positive examplethe results ofthe study were presented and discussedin Berlin atthe.daad.conference “Transnational Education: Goals and Impacts”, which is..organised bythe.daad.every two years. More than. 200 participants from Germany and abroad attendedthe 2014 conference - aclear sign that interestin transnational education continues to growA. recent example confirmedthe results ofthe study;. according to Turkey’s national rankings, degree. programmes offered bythe Turkish-German University (TDU)are already amongthe bestinthe country. TDU Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Halil Akkanatand.daad.Secretary General Dr. Dorothea Rüland. highlighted this positive outcome during their. review of TDU’s first yearin operation

Acrossthe big pond. First­class academic training for. Americans and germansthe USA has long been adestination of choice for German students wanting to study abroad,but today more and more. American studentsare.coming to Germany to study. This was. confirmed bythe 2014 “Wissenschaft weltoffen” report, an. annual publication ofthe DAADandthe German Centre for. Research on Higher Educationand Science Studies (DZHW),which provides current data onthe international nature of studies and researchin Germany

One thing is clear: Germanyandthe USA both offer visiting. students afirst-class academic. experience

the right decision. After.completing his bachelor’s.degreein Material Sciences atthe University of Washington,Guy Guday chose to pursuea. joint master’s degreein Polymer. Science offered bythe Freie Universität Berlin,the Humboldt. Universität zu Berlin, TU Berlinandthe University of Potsdam

Guday’s decisionin favour of Germany was based mainly on. two factors:the outstanding. academic reputation ofthe universitiesin Berlin and Potsdam,andthe good research environmentin Germany. “I had already..completed apart of my bachelor’s. thesis atthe TU Berlin because. they hadthe equipment

needed. for my research, and then my. professor recommended this. master’s programme,” says Guday,23, who has no regrets about his.decision. “The programme costs. much less than it wouldin theUS, but I’m still getting first-class. academic trainingin asmall.degree programme with avery. good student-professor ratio,”. says Guday

Small class-size and strong. teaching pulled German master’s. student Lisa Merteninthe opposite direction - for asemester at Boston University. “The professors were there specifically to teach and could givethe studentsthe same amount of attention. they would receivein Germany,”. says Merten, who is pursuinga. master’sin Applied Media. Research at TU Dresden

Her timeinthe US exposed her to theunfamiliar way of life at aprivate. university. “The university takescare of everything,” says Merten

“There is astudent health. service and even alaundry and. cleaning service, which didn’t. seem very ‘real world’ to me. ”. enriching residencein germany. By now Guy Guday has mastered. everyday lifein his new home. Berlin

“The bureaucracy is theonly thing that’s still hard for me,but fortunat***

have German. friends to help me out with. that,” he says. “And

really like. livingin Berlin

It’s abig city, but. relaxed atthe same time and. incredibly diverse. ” For Guday,his timein Germany has beena. very enriching experience. “I’m. getting to know anew cultureand language, and atthe same. time working toward an international master’s degree, which. will hopefully be aplus for mycareer. ”. Lisa Merten also appreciates theopportunity to expand her own. horizons. “The first-hand experience with another culture has. changedthe way

look at my. own culture,” she says. “And my. image ofthe USA has become. more.complex and multilayered. ”. For lisa Merten, thesemesterin Boston was an. opportunity not to bemissed (right)

guy guday came from. Washington to Berlin to pursue his master’s degree(below)

IIThe DAAD. worldwide“Science Bridging Nations” wasthe motto ofthe first German-Turkish Year of Research,Education and Innovation 2014, which focused. on future issues of regional and global signif icance For both Germany and Turkey,the goal. was to strengthen bilateral cooperationin education, science and research and to increase thevisibility of such cooperation atthe local level. A wide range of activities included “Turkish. Weeks” at German universities, support for. university-industry partnerships, and acreative..competitionthe year’s highlight wasthe official opening ofthe Turkish-German University(TDU)in Istanbul atthe end of Aprilthe.daad.had.played. a major rolein supporting and. promotingthe TDU project. Northern, Southernand Western Europe. As part ofthe German-Turkish Year of Research, Education and Innovation. 2014, German Federal President Joachim Gauck and then Turkish President. Abdullah Gül officially openedthe Turkish-German University (TDU) inIstanbulin April ***

Three bachelor’s and two master’s degree programmes had already been launchedin cooperation with German universities backin September ***

Two bachelor’s degree programmes were. then addedin time forthe 2014/15 winter semester. Subjects range from. Industrial Engineering and Mechatronics Systems to Political Science,Public Administration, Law and Business Administration. TDU also offers. master’s degree programmesin Intercultural Management and International and European Affairs. Before beginning their programmes, many. students take German language classes at TDU’s language centre. Additional degree programmes will be added beginninginthe 2015/16 winter. semester. Currently 316 studentsare enrolled;. eventually, TDU wants to accommodate up to 5,000 students

heADs oF stAte InAUgURAte. tURKIsh­geRMAn UnIVeRsItY. “science Bridging nations”. wasthe motto ofthe first german­turkish Year of Research,education and Innovation ***

focused on future issues. overthe course of one year, thenumber of university partnerships rose from 850 to 1***

49 to further advance academic collaboration. between Germany and Turkey,the.daad.joined. withthe Turkish Council of Higher Education(YÖK) to.organise aconferencein Istanbul at theend of October 2014 Both sides demonstrated. tremendous interestin German-Turkish partnerships, as evidenced bythe large number of scientists, researchers and university representatives who gatheredin Istanbul forthe conference This first German-Turkish Year of Research, Education and Innovation further. unlockedthe potentialinthe existing bonds. between Germany and Turkey Atthe start of theyear, for example,the Higher Education.compass, aguide to higher educationin Germany. published bythe German Rectors’ Conference,indicated some 850 cooperation partnerships. between Germany and Turkey; bythe end ofthe yearthe number had risen to 1,130 projects. Along with Turkey, Greece was another point. of focus forthe DAADinthe region As part ofthe “University Partnerships with Greece”. programme, eleven German-Greek collaborative. projects were launchedin addition, ten representatives fromthe participating Greek universities spent one weekin Germanythe goal ofthe visit was to deepen relationships and solidifythe informational basis for collaboration thedelegation from Greece was particularly interestedin practical education and training, and inGermany’s integrated degree programmes theguests visited funding.organisations and theForschungszentrum Jülich research centre Their. itinerary also included talks with key.playersin German-Greek relationsthe visit of then. Greek President Karolos Papoulias to Berlin was. occasion to present one of Germany’s current. foreign policy initiatives: funding for researchin German-Greek history (beginningin 1830)

with afocus onthe two World Wars Backed bythe German-Greek Future Fund,the goal of theinitiative is to contribute to acommon culture. of remembrance. ›.

networks: greek representatives fromthe “University. Partnerships with greece”. programme visited germany. 50..commemorating thegerman­French past:historian gerd Krumeich. led atour ofthe memorialin Verdun and spoke to themedia

the dynamic german­French duo. German-French collaborationinthe area of science and research is afundamental.component. ofthe European Research Areainthe context. ofthe EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for. Research (FP7), French research teams collaborated with German researchers on more than. 4,000 projects Bythe same token, French. researchers were involvedin approximately half. of all German applications approved for funding bythe new EU framework programme. Horizon 2020 alook atthe figures for cooperative partnershipsin higher education confirmsthe strength ofthe German-French duo With. some 2,900 cooperation agreements, France is thenumber-one international partner for German. universitiesthe participating institutions work. closely across national borders, andthe success. ofthe German-French connection is reflectedin university curricula thatare aligned and. integrated withthe respective international. partnersinthe fall of 2014,the.daad.regional. officein Paris initiated a“researcher dialogue”. event, which presented outstanding joint projectsand facilitated dialogue and discussion One. hundred and fifty German and French scientists,researchers, university lecturers/professorsand students came together forthe event to discuss topics such asthe opportunities and risks. associated with researcher mobility. Brussels and european higher. education collaboration. European collaborationin higher education was. alsothe subject of aconferencein November. 2014,.organised bythe.daad.regional office inLondon together with British and French partnersthe future ofthe United Kingdomin theEuropean Union is acommon topic of discussion todayinthe UK, which makesthe debate. aboutthe European contribution to national. higher education and research structures ahot. topic as wellthe conference gave university. representatives from all three countries thechance to inform themselves on current European funding opportunities and associated. guidelines University-industry partnerships were. amongthe focal areas atthe conference. «. With some 2,900 cooperative agreements, France isthe most important international partner for german. universit***

Many memories of asingle event. Field trip finds.common groundin 2014, nations throughout. Europe.commemoratedthe 100th. anniversary ofthe outbreak ofthe First World War -the “Great. War” as it’s knownin France and. Great Britain. Even today, views. on this war could hardly be more. different. Across Europe,the.commemorative events of 2014, thewaysin which wartime eventsare portrayed, andthe established cultures of remembranceare very different depending. onthe given country or region

Amidst such differences,attempts to.come to acommon. understanding and overcome. old divides become allthe more. valuable. With support from theDAAD regional officein Paris,studentsinthe master’s degree. programme Etudes germaniques atthe Université Sorbonne. Nouvelle - Paris 3 ventured just. such an attempt together with. members ofthe newly established alumni club “Association. Pierre Bertaux” and.daad.Alumni. France

The two-day event “Verdun - Onthe way to aGerman-French.commemoration?” was conceivedand.organised bythe students. themselves underthe direction. of Andrea Lauterwein, Maître de

Conférencesinthe German.department at Paris 3

At thescene ofthe bloodbathin Verdun,where mass graves and adisfigured landscape recallthe***

days of gruesome trench warfareandthe most costly battle ofthe war, French historian Gérard. Domange and his German counterpart Gerd Krumeich talked. aboutthe events and how they. have been perceived differently. bythe French and Germans eversince. Whilethe French remember mainly adefence of their. homeland againstthe mortal. enemy,the Germans rememberthe hopeless, merciless futility. ofthe “Hell of Verdun”

Delicate dialogue on. “l(fā)a grande guerre”the two experts onthe history. of World War

have become. friends through their work, and. for many years have championed. a joint German-French effort to.come to terms withthe war. According to Christiane Schmeken,Director ofthe.daad.regional. officein Paris, such efforts are. few and far between. “Their.dedication to finding.common. ground on this very sensitive. topic is extremely valuable. because, especiallyinthe areas. directly impacted bythe war,the memories ofthe bitter. enmity between Germany and. France.run alot deeper than. we would like to believe,” says. Schmeken

No wonder then, that theexperience with Domange and. Krumeich made such alasting. impression onthe students

For them,the deeper look intothe different German and French. cultures of remembrance helped. create newer, more positive. memories. “The trip was very. moving; it made adeep impression on me and I’m sure thevivid memories will stay with me. for along time,” said German. Studies major Juliette Gramaglia

“Allthe more because we were. able to rise tothe challenge of working through this together. It. was truly aformative and rewarding experience for all of us. ”. students atthe Université sorbonne. nouvelle re­investigatethe Battle of Verdun

Views on this war. could hardly be more. different

i Sthe Ukraine conflict also. impacted academic. exchange;the.daad.evacuated several lektors and. many lektorships had to beclosed until further notice

The Ukraine conflict is not only asource of deep concern aroundthe world, but has hada. negative impact on academic exchange with. Germany’s eastern neighbours as wellthe DAAD. reacted immediately tothe violence by evacuating several Lektors from eastern Ukraine and. discontinuing many Lektorshipsthe unrestand anxietyinthe region was also reflected inthe many inquiries directed atthe.daad.Many. universities were concerned aboutthe future of their partnerships with Ukrainian and.russian. universities For much ofthe world, it came as. a shock to see military escalation disrupt theseemingly stable European peacein such ashort. amount of time Todaythe conflict impacts not. only.russia and Ukraine, but countries throughoutthe region wherethe situation has raised. questions about their security and long-term. approach to foreign policy. special programme established. Foreign cultural and educational policy becomes. tremendously importantinthe wake of political. crises such asthe Ukraine conflict It must. respond tothe new situation and work towards. a lasting solution tothe conflict While military. or economic strength can be effectivein asserting political demands and pursuing short-term. interests, civil dialogue is critical to achieving. a balance of interests overthe long term,Central and Eastern. Europe, CISthe art exhibition “The Ukrainians” atthe daadgaleriein Berlin last May. aimed to portraythe Ukraine conflict throughthe eyes of local arti***

The exhibition opened just two months after an initial meeting. between curator Bettina Klein andthe Berlin-based artist. Yuri Leiderman, who introduced Klein to members of theUkrainian art scene. “We wanted to react quickly to thecurrent situationinthe Ukraine,” says Klein. “The Ukrainians”. wasthe first art exhibitioninthe German-speaking countries to addressthe unrestin Ukraine. Several ofthe featured. artists worked with video, installations or paintings; others. employed traditional techniques such as pottery or embroidery. More recent artwork. was presented together. with older works. As curator. Klein explains, “Some works. were created long beforethe Maidan protests but. seem to foreshadow them. nonetheless. ”the MAIDAnin Berlin

›53

Highlightthe national technical. University of Ukraine. hostedthe “Ukrainian Civil. society afterthe Maidan”. conference with special. funding fromthe Federal. Foreign office

Responding tothe Ukraine crisisin response tothe political upheaval and military. conflictin Ukraine, many German universities. turned tothe.daad.hoping to make acontribution to democracy andthe.rule of law through academic. exchange and cooperation. In 2014,the.daad.was. able to provide funding to several smaller projects,including aGerman-Polish-Ukrainian summer. school onthe constitutional state, and aseminar. on European security policy. The framework was. provided bythe Promoting Democracyin Ukraine. programme, initiatedin 2008 and financed by theFederal Foreign Office. To develop an appropriate. response tothe situationinthe region,the DAAD. also produced apolicy paperin late 2014 on theUkraine crisis and its consequences. The paper. focuses onthe current state ofthe higher education system andthe status of exchange relationships with Ukraine. The paper also recommends. additional action measures for continued academic. exchange

Promising partnerthe new Ukrainian government is undertaking. ambitious - and promising - reformsinthe area. of higher education. These include significantly. more autonomy for universities, astructured election system whereby universities elect their vice. chancellors for clearly defined termsin office, and. giving universitiesthe right to award PhD degrees. inthe science systems ofthe post-Soviet region,awarding PhDs was afunction often reserved forthe centralised, state-run institutions. Reform.plans. also include measures to ensure sound scientific

scholarly practice - for example, arequirement to publish all doctoral theses onthe Internet. thegovernment also wants to significantly improvethe mobility of students and faculty by giving. universities more freedom to recognise academic.degrees. Whilethe spirit of reform and initial goalsare promising, implementation will not be easy

This is where German universities can provide. valuable support through dialogue, exchange, consulting and subject-specific collaboration

Additional.daad.support measures could help. intensify collaboration with Ukraine, advance. reform efforts and improvethe dialogue with. neighbouring countries. Possible measures include. establishing new specialist centresinthe socialand engineering sciences, expanding multilateral. cooperation, and increasing academic mobility. between Ukraine and Germany

sound political decisionmaking demands historical understanding:Prof. Alexander sergunin. from st. Petersburg. state University

A bad peace is always. better than war. Interview with. Alexander sergunin. Last October, as part ofthe 4th. German-Russian Week of theYoung Researcher, more than 50..russian and German PhD students, postdocs and professors. gatheredin St. Petersburgin thename of global history research

Representatives fromthe DAADandthe German Research Foundation (DFG) were present atthe event, which was sponsored. bythe German House of Researchand Innovation (DWIH) inMoscow. Alsoin attendance was. Professor Alexander Sergunin. from St. Petersburg State. University

Professor Sergunin, why is it so. important to look at history from. a global perspective?the transregional context can bequite illuminating - but after thecollapse of Marxism- Leninism it. was largely ignored, by.russianand German historians alike

The study of history became. particularistic and fragmented;. it discountedthe existence of universal historical laws and. megatrends, andthe fact that. nations tend to developina. similar fashion. The return toa. more global understanding of history is therefore arelatively. new developmentin academia

The conferencein St. Petersburg. was an important step alongthe way towards re-establishingthe global historical approach

The conference gave.russian and. German academicsthe chance to connect and interact at atime. marked by political tension. between.russia and Germany

How much of arole does history..play here?.

believethe misunderstandingsand hypersensitivities from theCold War eraare truly athing ofthe past. The tensions between. our two countries todayare more. a result of divergent expectations that arose afterthe Cold. War. This applies tothe eastern. expansion of NATO andthe EU,for instance, as well as to theformer Soviet republics and. their relationships with.russiaandthe West