German Academic Exchange Service

Geschichte

The German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation.OrganisationDAAD is a private, federally funded and state-funded, self-governing national agency of the institutions of higher education in Germany, representing 365 German higher education institutions .The DAAD itself does not offer programs of study or courses, but awards competitive, merit-based grants for use toward study and/or research in Germany at any of the accredited German institutions of higher education. It also awards grants to German students, doctoral students, and scholars for studies and research abroad. With an annual budget of nearly 400 million Euros and supporting approximately 50,000 grantees annually, approximately 11,000 of which are on long-term scholarships, the DAAD is in fact the largest such academic grant organisation worldwide. The organisation was founded on 1 January 1925 but closed down in 1945, only to be refounded again in 1950.Headquarters and regional officesThe DAAD headquarters are in Bonn and there are 15 international regional branch offices which exist to provide information and advice on study and research opportunities, as well as available grants, tailored to students and academics within their region.The DAAD New York office serves residents of the United States and Canada who are enrolled or employed at American and Canadian higher education institutions, and would like to study or pursue research in Germany. From the perspective of this side of the exchange, the DAAD's mission is to facilitate American and Canadian students' access to the distinguished German institutions of higher education and research—from research universities (Universitäten) to universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschule), colleges of music and art, libraries and archives, and research institutions such as the Max Planck Institutes.