Regional Conference
Academic Cooperation in South Eastern Europe: Dynamics and Aims in the Light of Scientific and Political Changes
5 – 7 October 2012 in Tirana
I The DAAD would like to express its gratitude to the University of Tirana, for the generous support and readiness to host the German Academic Exchange Service and its guests. Our special thanks go to Dr Holger Kächelein and Jürgen Röhling, DAAD Lecturers both teaching at the Unviersity of Tirana as well as Enian Lamce for their great organisational help. Last but not least we would like to thank the German Federal Foreign Office for funding this event in Tirana.
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Contents
Addresses ...... 6 Contacts ...... 8 Introduction ...... 9 Programme ...... 11 Music ...... 15 Cultural Programme ...... 17 Speakers ...... 19 DAAD Representatives ...... 24 The German Academic Exchange Service ...... 26 DAAD-Cooperation with South Eastern Europe – Academic Exchange with South Eastern Europe ...... 28 DAAD Special Programme “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe” ...... 31
III Addresses
Conference Venues
University of Tirana – Faculty of Law (1)
Freedom Building (Godina Liria) phone +355 (0)4 22 28 40 Qyteti Studenti (Ish-Kinoklubi) Rruga “Arben Broci” fax +355 (0)4 22 23 981 Tirana, Albania www.unitir.edu.al
Accommodation
Tirana International Hotel (2)
Sheshi Skenderbej, 8 phone +355 (0)42 23 41 85 Tiranë Shqipëri fax +355 (0)42 23 41 88 Tirana, Albania e-mail [email protected] www.tiranainternational.com
Rogner Hotel Europapark (3)
Bulevardi Deshmoret e Kombit phone +355 (0)4 223 50 35 Tirana, Albania fax +355 (0)4 223 50 50 e-mail [email protected] www.hotel-europapark.com
Hotel Iliria (4)
Rruga e Elbasanit phone +355 (0)42 37 17 00 (perballe Fakultetit te Gjuheve te Huaja) e-mail [email protected] Tirana, Albania www.hoteliliriatirana.com
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2
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Restaurants
Restaurant Sarajet (5)
Rruga Abdi Toptani phone +355 (0)4 242 12 84 (afer Torre Drin) +355 (0)4 224 30 38 Tirana, Albania e-mail [email protected] www.sarajet.com
7 Contacts
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Thomas Zettler phone +49 (0)228 882-453 Section 324 fax +49 (0)228 882-9453 Head of Section e-mail [email protected]
Dr Anne Rörig phone +49 (0)228 882-110 Section 324 fax +49 (0)228 882-9110 Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe e-mail [email protected]
Jana Schwarz phone +49 (0)228 882-641 Section 324 fax +49 (0)228 882-9641 Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe e-mail [email protected]
Sigrid Dossow phone +49 (0)228 882-450 Section 213 fax +49 (0)228 882-132 Events, Visitors Programmes e-mail [email protected]
Kennedyallee 50 53175 Bonn www.daad.de
Deutsche Botschaft in Tirana / German Embassy in Tirana
Rruga Skenderbej, 8 phone +355 (42) 274 505 Tirana, Albania fax +355 (42) 232 050 e-mail [email protected] www.tirana.diplo.de
8 Introduction
The conference “Academic Cooperation in South Eastern Europe: Dynamics and Aims in the Light of Scientific and Political Changes” is the second regional conference within the DAAD’s special programme “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe”. We will look back on the programme’s main developments of the past few years.
Presently, 19 DAAD-sponsored networks are boosting academic teaching at Southeast European higher education institutions in a wide range of relevant subject areas. The programme started off with collaborative schemes in the engineering and natural sciences in 1999. But over the last two years, projects have also been established in the field of cultural studies and law that directly address and discuss the conflicts of the nineties from an academic angle. For example, a cultural studies network focusing on cultures of remembering and identity concepts in South Eastern Europe is breaking new academic ground. In 2012, a project was launched on International and European Law. There will be a considerable demand for cooperation in these subject areas in future, too, also against the background of preparing the Southeast European countries for EU accession.
At the start of the programme, in terms of contents, individual emergency and development activities addressing individual issues as well as initial joint workshops on neutral ground were at the forefront. Today, more than 140 higher education partners are cooperating intensively in joint summer schools, specialised courses, study programme modules and Master’s programmes as well as, lately, in postgraduate schools. For instance, a network for civil engineers links up small, specialised departments with only a few doctoral students in a cross-country scheme, creating a regional college with an attractive range of subjects that supervises its doctoral students on a common basis. This requires cooperation at institution management level, too. Here, the
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aim is to further develop such existing positive examples in order to make use of them as models for other departments as well.
The central challenge is to cooperate at a cross-border level while taking into account the still existing political controversies, differing academic structures and brain drain tendencies. In addition to international understanding, the establishment of regional competence centres also aims at enhancing the strengths of developing locations and setting up departments in the structurally weaker countries of the region. In addition, the creation of prospects not only for junior scientists and scholars “from” the region, but also “in” the region itself, e.g. at these competence centres, is being addressed. Good progress has already been made in the field of studying, and what counts now is to enable the graduates to embark on an academic career. To this end, the network partners are jointly upgrading Master’s and doctoral student courses, e.g. in the subject area of chemistry, and providing special support for junior scientists in this area via Germany, Third Country and Sur Place Grants. In order to create prospects at local level, the sponsoring of research potentials in the MA, PhD and post-doc field is also becoming more and more relevant.
With this regional Conference, DAAD intends to offer all participants an opportunity for an intensive exchange of views, experiences and expectations for future collaboration and thus to jointly form a strategic orientation for the coming years.
10 Programme DAAD Regional Conference Academic Cooperation in South Eastern Europe: Dynamics and Aims in the Light of Scientific and Political Changes Friday, 5 October 2012 University of Tirana – Faculty of Law, Godina Liria
until 03.00 pm Arrival and check-in 03.45 and 04.00 pm Bus Transfer to University 04.00 – 05.00 pm Registration
05.00 pm Musical Prelude Genti Rushi (piano and accordion) Ermal Rodi (saxophone and trumpet)
05.10 pm Welcome Addresses Professor Dr Dhori Kule Rector of the University of Tirana Ulrich Grothus Deputy Secretary General, DAAD Carola Müller -Holtkemper German Ambassador to the Republic of Albania Uta Zapf, MdB Member of the German Bundestag Professor Dr Myqerem Tafaj Minister of Education and Science, Albania
06.00 pm Music
06.15 pm Individual Experience of Scholarship Holders on Networks and Careers Merima Šahinagi ć-Isovi ć / Sergey Churilov Fellows of the Regional Graduate Centre for Civil Engineering / Skopje Mihal Brumbulli / Gordana Rakic Students of the „Joint Master Programme Software Engineering“ Makedonka Dimitrova / Sidita Dibra Participants of the Network „Entrepreneurship and Innovation“
06.45 pm Viewing the Poster Presentation Young scientists introduce their cooperation projects
07.15 pm Bus Departure to Hotel Rogner 07.30 pm Reception and Dinner at Hotel Rogner
11 Saturday, 6 October 2012 University of Tirana – Faculty of Law, Godina Liria
09.00 – 10.00 am Universities in Southeast Eu rope between national needs and European competition – a longue durée perspective on actual challenges
Professor Dr Oliver Jens Schmitt Institute for Eastern European History, University of Vienna, Austria
10.00 – 10.30 am Discussion
10.30 – 11.00 am Coffee / Tea Break
11.00 – 11.30 am Academic Cooperation between Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and the Process of Convergence with the European Union
Thomas Zettler / Dr Anne Rörig DAAD
10.30 am – 12.15 pm Best practice example: Network Catalysers for South Eastern Europe
Professor Dr Evamarie Hey -Hawkins with her network team
The Project Coordinator and her team present their projects in the field of Chemistry and Material Sciences with project partners from Macedonia, Romania, Kosovo and Serbia
12.15 – 01.30 pm Lunchtime Snack
01.30 – 03.30 pm 5 Workshops in parallel
Workshop 1 Building confidence and transforming conflict through the prism of science: What will be the future challenges of legal, sociological and cultural science in the field of teaching and research?
Workshop 2 Perspectives for joint master programmes: How can the given spectrum of MA-study programmes in the region best be supplemented? What are the specific needs of joint master education?
12 Workshop 3 Prospects of structured doctoral training programmes: What is the potential of joint doctoral training? How can we best contribute to shape and reform regional doctoral degree regulations?
Workshop 4 Significance of research and publications for the career of young scientists: How can the research potential of young academics in the region be strengthened and extended?
Workshop 5 Facing and mastering regional differences: How can regional cooperation overcome structural academic imbalances within the region? How can the centres of competence recently established influence this process?
03.30 – 04.15 pm Coffee / Tea Break Reimbursement of Travel Expenses at Conference Office
04.15 – 05.00 pm Presentation of Workshop Results
05.00 – 06.30 pm Panel Discussion How can and should Higher Education Co -ope ration impact the upcoming scientific and political challenges in South Eastern Europe?
Ulrich Grothus (chair) Deputy Secretary General, DAAD
Uta Zapf, MdB Member of the German Bundestag
Professor Dr Elior Vila Assistant professor, Programme-Alumnus, project participant
Professor Dr Elena Dumova -Jovanoska Vice-rector for Education at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, project partner
Professor Dr Dhori Kule Rector of the University of Tirana, former project partner
07.30 pm Dinner with Music
13 Sunday, 7 October 2012
09.00 am Check out
09.30 am – 12.30 pm Cultural Programme in four Groups
1. National Historical Museum 2. National Galery of Arts 3. Et`hem Bey Mosque 4. Blloku
Meeting point Groups 1–3: will meet at Skanderbeg Square (Sheshi Skënderbej), in front of the Skanderbeg statue Group 4: will meet in front of Hotel Rogner
01.00 pm Departure
In the course of the conference photos will be taken by a photographer and by DAAD colleagues in order to use these photos. If you do not address the photographers, it is assumed that you agree to this procedure.
14 Music
The duo Genti Rushi (piano and accordion)
and
Ermal Rodi (saxophone and trumpet)
The Duo has started collaboration in 2008 as part of Jazz music projects in Albania. They combine jazz with elements of Albanian traditional music. Recently they performed in the Tirana Jazz and World Music 2012 together with the singer Rona known as Nishliu. The pianist and composer Genti Rushi is one of the pioneers of jazz music in Albania from the 1990s on. He has regularly participated in all Jazz festivals held in Albania. He studied composition at the Academy of Arts in Tirana and jazz piano with Prof. Thomas Hufschmidt at the renowned Essen Folkwang University of the Arts with a DAAD scholarship. Since 2008 Genti Rushi is professor of jazz music at the University of Arts in Tirana. Ermal Rodi graduated clarinet at the University of Arts Tirana in 2009. He started very early to play jazz with various groups. His style can be described as a mixture of jazz with folk music and other traditions. Although very young he performed a large number of concerts. He is multi- instrumentalist and he is considered as the future of jazz music in Albania. Together with musicians from the Balkans Ermal Rodi played in the Balkan Spirit Concert and many other events. Recently he has been part of the “Backyard Jazz Orchestra” Germany.
15 The Sarajet
Situated in a newly renovated house of the 19th century, the Sarajet restaurant is one of the most original restaurants in Tirana offering Albanian as well as Mediterranean specialties. The building is an old Ottoman style house which has retained most of its original features including fire places and beautiful hand carved wooden ceilings. The name also dates back to Ottoman times, it means “palace”. The Sarajet was built in 1837 by one of the largest families of Tirana, the Toptanas. During the reign of Ahmet Zog it became a national library. In 1963 was declared a cultural monument.
Saturday night – Music
The musicians – Altin Naqellari, Bledar Caci and Astrit Koco , have all studied at Tirana Arts Academy. Altin Naqellari has specialized in Clarinet. He was a member of Albatros, one of the first music bands in Albania after communism. Bledar Caci plays the Clarinet und the Buzuk. Astrit Koco plays the Clarinet as well. The group performs different kinds of music as traditional music, popular music, Balkan music, Jazz etc.
16 Cultural Programme
Sunday, 7 October 2012 from 9.30 am to ca. 12.30 pm
Meeting point: Groups 1–3 will meet at Skanderbeg Square (Sheshi Skënderbej), in front of the Skanderbeg statue Group 4 will meet in front of Hotel Rogner
1. National Historical Museum The National Historical Museum of Albania in Tirana (Skanderbeg Square) focusses on the sections antiquity, medieval times, Skanderbeg and his time, nation building (19 th century), World War II, communist Albania. Some sections have been rebuilt recently, others remain unchanged. It hosts some of the country`s finest examples of antique art including mosaics and a remarkable collection of Byzantine icons. The mosaic on the facade of the building depicts important figures and scenes of Albania’s history.
2. National Galery of Arts Visit to the Exhibition “120 Years of the Art of Painting and Sculpture in Albania” in the National Gallery of Arts, where you can find the full variety of Albanian paintings and sculptures from the 19 th century up to now. The Gallery has an impressive focus on arts under communism, showing threats artists had to face but also what was artistically possible under the doctrine of Socialist Realism. An important collection of the National Gallery is the collection of formalist painting in the early 1970s which is related to currents such as expressionism, fauvism, and cubism. It could survive by relating to the official themes of Socialist Realism, mainly those of the worker at the forefront of the work.
17 3. Et`hem Bey Mosque This excursion will visit the Et`hem Bey Mosque and the new Orthodox Cathedral of Tirana, showing two examples of the religious variety of today`s Albania after a devastating period of state-decreed atheism with, consequently, the destruction of religious places and persecution of priests of all religions. Today Albania is a country which can be proud of its religious tolerance. The mosque was built around 1800 and still shows beautiful frescos with motives hardly seen in Islamic art; whereas the huge Orthodox Cathedral is completely new and was finished only recently.
4. Blloku Have a walk through the “playground of the new Albanian elite”, the “Blloku” (or “Ish-Blloku”, literally “The (ex-)Block”), a part of Tirana which in communist times was a residential area exclusively for Enver Hoxha, whose residence can be seen almost unchanged, his ministers and other members of the nomenklatura – today transformed into Tirana`s prospering nightlife district with lots of trendy bars, swanky restaurants, cafes and apartment houses. At night dominated by live music pubs; in the early hours a place to experience Albanian history and have a good coffee.
18 Speakers
Professor Dr Elena Dumova-Jovanoska Vice-rector for Education at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje
Vice-rector for Academic Affairs and Professor of Structural Analysis, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Macedonia President of the Executive Board of the Scholarship Foundation for Civil Engineering and Geodesy students Editor of Civil Engineering Faculty’s Journal of Scientific Paper’s 2004–2005 Member of Macedonian Bologna Follow-up Group 2003–2004 External Participant, Agency for Evaluation of High Education in Republic of Macedonia Vice-dean for Education and Science of the Civil Engineering Faculty
Regional Coordinator of South-Eastern European Centre for Doctoral Studies SEEFORM; Member of Educational Committee, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Macedonia; General Secretary of Macedonian Association of Mechanics
Main focus: Structural Engineering, Structural Analysis, Seismic Design, Vulnerability, Masonry Structures www.ukim.edu.mk
19 Professor Dr Evamarie Hey-Hawkins Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, University of Leipzig
Since 1999 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (CChem FRSC) Since 1993 Chair of Organometallic Chemistry and Photochemistry; Hey-Hawkins Research Group, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy, University of Leipzig 1991–1992 Lecturer, University of Heidelberg 1990–1993 Guest Researcher, University of Karlsruhe (Heisenberg Fellowship) 1990–1991 Lecturer, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 1988–1990 Research Associate, Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart 1986–1987 Guest Researcher, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (DFG Grant) 1985–1986 Guest Researcher, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia (Liebig Fellowship, VCI) 1984–1985 Guest Researcher, University of Sussex, GB (Liebig Fellowship, VCI) 1983–1988 Habilitation, University of Marburg 1976–1983 PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) in Chemistry, University of Marburg
Main focus: Inorganic Chemistry, Organometallic Chemistry www.uni-leipzig.de/chemie/hh
Professor Dr Dhori Kule Rector of the University of Tirana
Since 2008 Rector of the University of Tirana 2000–2002 Several Short Term Research Stays in Germany 1997–2007 Dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciencies, University of Tirana 1996 Full Professor, University of Tirana 1994 PhD, University of Tirana 1992–1996 International Studies in Italy, Poland, USA, GB and Greece Since 1984 Lecturer for Economics, University of Tirana 1981–1984 Lecturer for Economics in Berat
20 1977–1981 Diploma in Economics, University of Tirana
Member of the Balkan Universities Network (BUN) Author of numerous scientific textbooks in Economics and expert papers in the areas of Economics in the transition period of Albania http://unitir.edu.al
Carola Müller-Holtkemper German Ambassador to the Republic of Albania
Since 2010 German Ambassador to the Republic of Albania 2007–2010 Head of Division for East Africa, German Foreign Ministry 2006–2007 Assignement to German Embassy in Khartoum and Mission to Juba, Southern Sudan 2004–2006 Minister Counsellor at the German Embassy in Rabat, Morocco 2003–2004 Chargé d’affaires at the German Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq 1999–2003 German Foreign Ministry, United Nations Department 1996–1999 German Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia 1992–1999 Counsellor for Political Affairs, German Embassy in Cairo, Egypt 1990–1992 First Sectretary, Department for Economic Affairs, German Foreign Ministry 1987–1990 First Secretary, German Embassy in Amman, Jordan 1986–1987 Second Secretary, Economic Affairs Department, German Foreign Ministry 1985–1986 Postgraduate Diplomatic Training at the Academy of the German Foreign Ministry 1983–1985 Advisor to Société Tuniso-Saoudienne d’Investissement et du Développement (STUSID), Tunis, Tunisia 1981–1983 Loan Officer at Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) 1980–1981 Junior Economist, Department for Economic Analysis at Banco Nacional de México (BANAMEX), Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico 1978–1980 Studies of Economics, especially Monetary and Fiscal Policy and Econometric Methods, University of Frankfurt 1977–1978 Studies of Economics, Université Paris IX-Dauphine, France 1974–1977 Studies of Economics and Business Administration, University of Frankfurt www.tirana.diplo.de
21 Professor Dr Oliver Jens Schmitt Institute for Eastern European History, University of Vienna, Austria
Since 2011 Full Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences 2010 Guest Professeur at the Collège de France, Paris Since 2010 Director of the Institute for East European History, University of Vienna, Austria Since 2005 Professor of Southeast European History, Institute for Eastern European History, University of Vienna, Austria 2004–2005 Research Professor, University of Berne, Switzerland 2003 Habilitation in East and Southeast European History, University of Regensburg 2001–2004 Lecturer at the Department of East and Southeast European History, University of Munich 2000 PhD (Dr. phil.) in Southeast European History, University of Munich 1997 Diploma, University of Vienna, Austria 1993–2000 Study of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, East European History, Ancient and Medieval History and Greek Philology in Basel, Vienna, Berlin and Munich
Main Focus: Social and cultural history of the Albanians; social and economic history of the Venetian presence in Southeast Europe; microhistory of Late Medieval Dalmatia; Social history of the fascist; Legionary movement in Inter-war Rumania http://iog.univie.ac.at
Professor Dr Myqerem Tafaj Minister of Education and Science, Albania
Since 2009 Minister of Education and Science 2005–2009 Adviser to the Prime Minister 2001–2005 Professor at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart Since 1997 Professor, Agricultural University of Tirana 1997 Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research 1996 Director of Research, Albanian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research 1992–1995 PhD, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 1989–1991 Lecturer, Agricultural University of Tirana 1982–1988 Assistant, Agricultural University of Tirana
22 Uta Zapf, MdB Member of the German Bundestag
Since 2007 Co-president of the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament (PNND) Since 1990 Member of the German Bundestag: − Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs − Chairwoman of the Sub-Committee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation − Deputy member of the Committee on Defence since − Chairwoman of the German-Belarusian Parliamentary Friendship Group − Deputy Chairwoman of the Round Table South Eastern Europe of the SPD Parliamentary Group − Member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the States of South-Eastern Europe and the German-Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group − Vice-president of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly − Head of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus Deputy Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs of the SPD Parliamentary Group − Member of the Committee for International Policy, SPD − Member of the Coordination Group Turkey of the SPD Since 1983 Board Member of the SPD executive committee of South Hesse, since 1990 SPD District Vice-chairwoman Since 1972 Member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) Before 1972 Teacher in Adult Education and Freelance Editor After 1961 Studying German, English and Literature, University of Munich
Vice President of the Southeast Europe Association (SOG), Member of the Network Crisis Prevention of the East West Institute, of the Advisory Board for Civilian Crisis Prevention of the German Government and of the Supervisory Board of the German government’s Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF)
Main focus: Disarmament, arms control, security policy, crisis prevention, South Eastern Europe (Turkey, Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe), Afghanistan, Belarus http://uta-zapf.de
23 DAAD Representatives
Ulrich Grothus Deputy Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Since 2012 Head of DAAD Berlin office Since 2008 Deputy Secretary General; Director, Strategy and Projects, DAAD 2004–2008 Director, Regional Office for the U.S. and Canada, New York City, USA 2001–2004 Deputy Secretary General; Director, Supra Regional Programmes, DAAD 1998–2000 Director, DAAD Paris Branch Office, France 1995–1998 Programme Director, Northern Hemisphere (Europe, North America, CIS), DAAD 1991–1995 Programme Director, Southern Hemisphere (Asia, Africa, Latin America), DAAD 1990–1991 Head of Department, General Affairs of International Academic Cooperation, DAAD 1988–1990 Head of the President's Office, DAAD 1982–1987 Senior Administrative Officer, International Division (Western Europe), West German Rectors’ Conference, Bonn 1976–1982 Journalist, Hanover, Frankfurt Main, Cologne, and Rome, Italy 1976 Master (Diploma) in Political Science, Free University (FU) Berlin 1970–1976 Studying Political Science, German Language and Literature, FU Berlin www.daad.de
24 Dr Anne Rörig Programme Manager “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe” at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Since 2010 Programme Manager “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe”, DAAD 2008–2010 Programme Manager for European Research Cooperation at the German Research Foundation (DFG) 2006–2008 Research Assistant for the project “”Person” and “Subject” in a German-Russian Cultural Transfer”, University of Bochum 2002–2006 DAAD lecturer at the Technical University of Tbilisi, Georgia 1999–2002 Graduate Programme “Cultural Consciousness and Social Change in the Russian and Sovjet Society of the 20 th Century, DFG, University of Bochum 1999 Magister Examination in Philosophy, University of Cologne www.daad.de/stabilitaetspakt
Thomas Zettler Head of Section “South East Europe”, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Since 2009 Head of Section “South East Europe”, DAAD 2002–2009 Programme Manager within different DAAD Sections including the Stability Pact Programme “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe” 1997–2002 DAAD lecturer, National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, and Head of the DAAD Information Centre Kyiv, both Ukraine 1989–1997 Teaching German as a Foreign Language in Bonn, Neuwied and at the Barnaul State Pedagogical University, Russian Federation 1989 Second State Examination, Bonn 1985 First State Examination in German and Russian, Bonn www.daad.de
25 Change by Exchange –
The German Academic Exchange Service
Brief Description 2011
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is the largest funding organisation in the world supporting the international exchange of students and scholars. Since it was founded in 1925, more than 1,5 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. Its budget is derived mainly from the federal funding for various ministries, from the European Union and a number of enter-prises, organisations and foreign governments. Its head office is in Bonn, but the DAAD also has an office in the German capital, Berlin, to which the famous Berlin Artists-in- Residence Programme (Berliner Künstlerprogramm) is closely affiliated. It maintains contact with and provides advice to its main partner countries on every continent via a network of 14 regional offices, 51 information centres, 471 lector positions and more than 170 alumni associations. The DAAD runs over 250 programmes, through which it funds more than 68,000 German and foreign scholars worldwide per annum. These programmes range from semesters abroad for undergraduates to doctoral programmes, from internships to visiting lectureships, and from information- gathering visits to assisting with the establishment of new universities abroad. It supports the international activities of German institutions of higher education through marketing services, publications, the staging of events and training courses.
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The DAAD’s programmes have the following five strategic goals:
− to encourage outstanding young students and academics from abroad to come to Germany for study and research visits and, if possible, to maintain contact with them as partners life-long; − to qualify young German researchers and professionals at the very best institutions around the world in a spirit of tolerance and openness; − to promote the internationality and appeal of Germany’s institutions of higher education; − to support German language, literature and cultural studies at foreign universities; − to assist developing countries in the southern hemisphere and reforming countries in the former Eastern Bloc in the establishment of effective higher education systems.
For more information please refer to the Annual Report or the DAAD brochure “Change by Exchange” on our website www.daad.de.
27 DAAD-Cooperation with South Eastern Europe – Academic Exchange with South Eastern Europe
Academic exchange between Germany and the countries of South Eastern Europe has been decisively shaped and funded by the DAAD for nearly 60 years now. Besides our classical programmes for the exchange of students, graduates and scientists which are being offered worldwide, many special programmes have been developed for the South Eastern European countries over the course of time, thus responding to special needs and the special political situation in the region.
The DAAD launched its first special programme in 1956, under the lead management of the Ford Foundation. The programme supported 164 students who had fled after the Hungarian Uprising. Many of them took up careers in education, research or art in Germany and have continued up until today to play a decisive part in expanding academic cooperation between Germany and Hungary. From as early as in the mid 1950s, the DAAD was able to register intensive exchange with Yugoslavia, particularly in the Internship Programme. Over many years, Yugoslavia remained the only South Eastern European country in which the DAAD was able to make a sustained contribution to funding and supporting German Studies Departments in the region by placing Lektors there – with Lektorships being successfully established in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Zagreb, Ljubljana and Skopje. Only in 1971 were two further Lektorships to follow in South Eastern Europe (namely in Iasi and ClujNapoca, both in Romania).
From 1963 onwards, the DAAD undertook intensive efforts to expand the West German universities' contacts with Eastern Europe and South Eastern Europe. This is reflected in the gradually increasing number of exchanges with Bulgaria, Hungary and – slightly later – with Romania as well. The measures focused on science and technology subjects. In the 1980s, the Inter University Centre in Dubrovnik, Croatia played an important role as a platform for exchange between Germany and South Eastern Europe. It was only as late as in 1989 that a DAAD scholarship programme was first offered for Albania.
Contacts with the universities of South Eastern Europe consolidated in 1974 to form the special programme of Eastern Partnerships. However, this programme only boomed in the 1990s when, after reunification, the eastern
28 German universities' good contacts in the region began to take effect. Within a short period of time, the number rose from 160 funding recipients (1997) to 557 funding recipients (1999) involved in 124 partnerships with institutions in South Eastern Europe. At present, around 70 % of the exchange with South Eastern Europe takes place in the form of university partnerships.
Besides these developments, the 1990s and Yugoslavia's fall and disintegration into individual states plus the transformation-related crisis of the countries in South East Europe also called for new measures and programmes to be developed in the field of higher education to promote exchange with this region. The DAAD responded immediately to the changing situation by offering country-specific scholarship programmes to all the successor states of the former Yugoslavia and establishing a funding policy that placed a new accent on law, economics and business administration, and social sciences. So-called sur-place programmes were established which above all aim to help to prevent the brain drain in the war-torn and economically shaken countries of South Eastern Europe. A typical example of this was the special programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina that was established in 1996 and aimed, not least, to provide sur-place funding for war-disabled students and lecturers.
The DAAD has been funding the exchange of academics and researchers in joint research projects since 1998, working together in this respect with the Hungarian Scholarship Commission Magyar ÖsztödijBizottsag (MÖB). This cooperation was the first Project-related exchange of academics and researchers programme (PPP) to be run with an Eastern European country. Others, with Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, have followed since then.Over the next few years DAAD will seek to expand this kind of cooperation with South- East European governments and line ministries.
In the future DAAD also shall maintain and continue to develop its offering of individual grants or scholarships, for example through supplementary post- graduate funding programmes in structured PhD courses (the “graduate schools” at German universities). These individual programmes promote exchange in “both directions”: a German PhD student wishing to carry out a year’s research in Zagreb can apply just as much as a Croatian or Bulgarian Bachelor’s graduate seeking to complete his Master’s studies at a German university.
Where possible in terms of content, DAAD charts its course together with partners. For example, three years ago we launched the DAAD / OSI
29 Programme for the Western Balkans in cooperation with the Open Society Foundation. The scope of this programme allows us to annually fund up to 16 scholarships for Master’s courses at German universities. Eligible candidates are South-East European graduates in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. These scholarships are equally funded by the DAAD and the OSF.
In addition, DAAD’s funding offering continues to give prominence to specialist courses, PhD seminars, and Go-East summer schools – either by the PROMOS programme, or through funding via other programmes (such as “Go East”). These specialist courses and PhD seminars lead not only to far- reaching scientific cooperations but also to curricula reform initiatives and the development of joint study programmes with foreign partners.In particular DAAD regards the establishment of joint degrees or double degrees based on common curricula as an achievement heralding a new level of quality. We support this development through special programmes – for example, the Bachelor-Plus Programme or the Double-Degree Programme. In particularly successful cases, projects focused on jointly developing study courses (or even faculties and universities) are eligible for special and long-term DAAD funding as a “Higher Education Project Abroad”. A case in point is the “German Language Faculty” at the Technical University of Sofia, whose study programmes for Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Business Administration was jointly developed together with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the Technical University of Braunschweig, and the University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management (FOM) in Essen. Increasingly such large-scale higher education projects are also turning to the joint development of PhD programmes and research activities which seek the involvement of local business communities.
We set great store by staying in contact with our former DAAD scholarship holders. For example, our so-called re-invitation programme (research stays lasting up to 3 months at German universities or research institutes) foster the contact between our alumni and the German universities. In addition to this, we promote the activities of DAAD alumni associations abroad, stage large alumni conventions abroad, and support the development of the “Alumni Portal Germany”. This alumni portal serves not only as a forum for DAAD funding recipients but also for the alumni of various German organisations. It allows alumni to maintain contact with German partners or seek job opportunities at German companies and organisations in their respective region.
30 DAAD Special Programme “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe”
This programme was set up in 1999, after the ending of the armed conflicts in South Eastern Europe, and develops subject networks with several southeast European higher education institutions and German partners respectively. While supporting regional cooperation and, hence, international under- standing, the network projects also represent a considerable contribution to enhancing academic teaching in South Eastern Europe. In addition, they foster and internationalise junior scientists and scholars.
The latest most important developments
1. DAAD funding
The programme in figures: The DAAD programme “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe” has been sponsored by the Foreign Office since 1999, originally in the context of the German contribution to the “Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe”. It’s funding volume so far (1999–2012) is 31.5 mill. €. In 2012, a total of 19 project-related partnerships between more than 140 German and Southeast European higher education institutions are being funded. By the end of 2011, more than 17,000 individuals had been sponsored (more than 70 % of whom within the SEE region), and 24 students / graduates in study courses at a host institution in the region had received a DAAD grant in the context of individual support. Funding within networks: In all projects, German higher education institutions cooperate with several institutions from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. In addition, institutions from Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldavia, Romania, Slovenia and Hungary can become involved in the scheme. With DAAD funding, regional academic networks have been created in which academics, higher education lecturers and students from various ethnic groups and nationalities develop joint projects that they have chosen according to subject criteria. Here, projects aimed at improving teaching and research and promoting junior scientists and scholars are at the forefront. Special support for subject courses / doctoral seminars and a limited number of regional “competence centres” in South Eastern Europe continues to form a funding priority in the
31 programme. Here, with a view to sustainability, it is above all the development of teaching modules and the establishment of Master’s and PhD study courses in South Eastern Europe that are at the forefront. This regional focus of the programme is supplemented by the award of grants to those taking part in the project for the purpose of research and study stays of students, graduates and academics from South Eastern Europe at the German partner institutions. In addition to access to modern specialist literature and the acquisition of international subject and cultural experience, these stays also enable academic activities in modern laboratories. Furthermore, practical training alongside studies is offered. Smaller alumni measures within the networks contribute to maintaining links with grantees now working in industry or administration and enabling these links to benefit the networks. In order to ensure the sustainability of the projects, the DAAD intends to increasingly support measures contributing to the integration of the Southeast European network partners into European education and research programmes. Successful proposals have been submitted for EU programmes (above all Tempus-CARDS) from within several of the networks. Individual grants in Germany: The activities of the networks have also gone hand in hand with a greater demand for regular DAAD grants from the region, which the DAAD is meeting by awarding individual study and research stays at German higher education institutions. Here, the focus is on promoting junior scientists and scholars. These grants enhance the region’s links with Germany, thus making a significant contribution to developing German- Southeast European higher education relations. In parallel, programmes have been established in the field of “ German language courses accompanying studies at non-philological faculties in South Eastern Europe”. These courses are a response to the interest taken in the German language that has grown through cooperation in the networks. In several cases, they have resulted in the faculties concerned deciding to establish German as an optional compulsory subject (2 nd foreign language).
2. Evaluation and strategic issues
The high quality standards in terms of subjects that the projects can boast and their positive impact in the context of higher education cooperation in and with South Eastern Europe was impressively confirmed in several evaluations in the years 2006–2010. In addition, in 2010/2011, the evaluation of an in-depth studies programme at the Department of Social Work at the University of
32 Pristina demonstrated that there is a particular need for further reconstruction work, also in Kosovo. This prompted the announcement of “Special courses and research / upgrading stays” for Albanian, Bosnian and Kosovar junior scientists and scholars via which 15 research stays and 5 special courses have already been put into practice. The activities range from biomedical research in Kosovo to the setting up of a special branch of study for medical law in Sarajevo. In 2011, the GIZ-initiated “South East European Law School Network” commenced its activities as an association of 11 law faculties in the six countries of the Western Balkans. This has enabled the DAAD and GIZ to link their initiatives in the region . This allows a combination of relevant legal reform areas with study course and student support programmes. In a joint effort, the two organisations are able to provide targeted assistance for the faculties involved in the region and thus also recognise developments at an early stage in order to take appropriate action. In 2012, for the first time in South Eastern Europe, the DAAD and GIZ are also jointly organising the interdisciplinary summer school on “Social Dimensions of Human Trafficking”. In the context of the evaluation of some DAAD programmes, an evaluation of the activities of the “Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe” is also being carried out from which we are reckoning with important results regarding the further orientation of our programme and cooperation with South East European institutions in general.
Facts and figures
Sponsored partnerships between German and Southeast European higher education institutions (2001–2012)
2001 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Medicine / health sciences 5 3 3 4 8 9 7 6 7 5 4 2
Social sciences 7 7 8 6 5 5 4 4 3 6 4 4
Agriculture / forestry, animal 5 7 7 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 husbandry
Informatics and mathematics 6 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 5 3 2 2
Engineering and natural 17 18 20 17 20 17 11 10 9 9 7 11 sciences
Total 40 42 45 38 42 39 28 26 24 21 17 19
33 Partner institutes and faculties involved at Southeast European higher education institutions
2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12
Albania 13 14 11 14 14 19 15 22 16 16 15 12 14
Bosnia and 24 27 19 21 18 25 20 19 17 19 20 12 9 Herzegovina
Bulgaria 13 13 15 20 21 22 19 15 12 12 11 8 7
Kosovo 11 13 10 10 8 10 14 10 11 9 6 6 6
Croatia 15 13 11 11 10 16 10 10 11 12 17 13 13
Macedonia 20 19 17 16 19 21 20 23 22 24 19 14 16
Montenegro 4 4 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 7 5 7 5
Romania 5 6 8 7 9 11 12 10 9 14 9 7 6
Serbia 30 33 38 39 41 41 39 37 31 27 25 20 23
Slovenia 3 2 3 2 1 2 4 2 1 6 8 6 5
Hungary 3 4 5 3 6 5 6 4 4 2 2 1 2
Total 141 148 142 148 151 176 162 157 137 148 137 106 107
Academics funded in Stability Pact Networks in 2010/2011:
Sum Foreigners Germans Total
2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011
Total SEE 946 821 121 139 1,067 960
Funding volume so far of Academic Reconstruction of South Eastern Europe (2000–2012 in TEUR): 31,529 TEUR (project funds + overheads)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Approved 1,916 2,372 3,155 3,041 3,341 2,646 2,186
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Approved 1,585 2,934 2,304 2,292 1,661 2,096
34 Notes
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Coordination Sigrid Dossow DAAD Bonn
Press Date 28 September 2012
Editorial Office quadrinom text und projekt, Berlin info(at)quadrinom.de www.quadrinom.de Photo on Cover Professor Dr Friedrich Dinkelacker
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Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Kennedyallee 50 53175 Bonn Germany
Tel. +49-(0)-2 28-8 82-0 Fax +49-(0)-2 28-8 82-4 44 E-Mail [email protected] www.daad.de
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