Centres for German and European Studies - Support framework

Students pouring out of a lecture hall

The interdisciplinary Centres for German and European Studies bring together science, politics and the public in their work with Germany and Europe.

The main aim of promoting the centres is to provide a young generation of multipliers with German and European expertise that ensures continuity in cooperation between Germany and its partner countries.

The funding of the Centres for German and European Studies is provided by the Federal Foreign Office and amounts to up to € 250,000 per centre per year. What all the countries in which the centres are located have in common is that the Federal Republic of Germany relies heavily on a young generation of experts with up-to-date and sound German and European knowledge. Key to the support of a centre at a foreign university is its technical and structural potential, a lighthouse function for interdisciplinary employment with Germany in the context of an enlarged Europe. A second important criterion for funding is the willingness of the foreign higher education institution and its institutional sponsors to wholly commit themselves in terms of content and financially to the centre over the long-term. For quality assurance purposes, the centres are evaluated on a regular basis after five years in each case; if necessary, additional interim evaluations will be carried out.

Main focus of the centres

The main focus of the centres are:

  • extending interdisciplinary teaching and support and increasing the quality of education in the graduate area of the corresponding subjects,
  • developing, testing and implementing new courses of study (primarily Master’s/doctorate),
  • expanding project-related research on the development of the Federal Republic of Germany in contemporary history and the present,
  • establishing a guest lecturer or lecture programme with leading experts from Germany and Europe,
  • broadcasting beyond the centres to a broader public in the region and partner country, on the one hand as a national Reference Centre for German and European Studies and on the other hand in the field of policy advice.

Profiles of the centres

The profiles of the centres vary according to location, both in terms of their interdisciplinary focus between social and cultural sciences as well as their institutional form. They include the more research-oriented, social science centres; a network structure in France that coordinates what the thirteen participating institutions offer and also offers an accompanying teaching programme promoting bilateral research projects of a socio-cultural and cultural nature; and centres that, in addition to teaching and research, put a strong emphasis on public relations and their presence in the society and politics of the partner country.

In North America and the United Kingdom, interdisciplinary studies of Germany and Europe have been funded by the DAAD for a number of years through calls for nationwide tenders for project funding for cooperation projects by North American and British universities, each with a three-year project horizon. Further information on "Promoting German (and European) Studies" can be found on the websites of our branch offices in New York and London.

DAAD - Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst - German Academic Exchange Service