Student mobility

Globalisation, the fact that Europe is growing closer together and the formation of a European Higher Education Areaopens up new horizons for graduates. Good knowledge of foreign languages and personal experience of both the economic and social conditions and the culture and mentality of other countries are nowadays regarded as basic requirements for graduates in many sectors of the labour market. It is this trend that has prompted the development of EU programmes to promote cooperation in higher education and student mobility and also the national, regional and bilateral initiatives that provide incentives for study/placements abroad and fund and develop new courses of study. National initiatives include, amongst other examples, the increased promotion of study abroad and in particular of a full course of study in another EU country or in Switzerland as part of the Federal Training Assistance Act (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz – BAföG) and likewise special support programmes implemented by some Länder.

In April 2013 the Federation and the Länder adopted a joint Strategy of the Federal and Länder Ministers of Science for the Internationalisation of Institutions of Higher Education in Germany (Strategie der Wissenschaftsminister/innen von Bund und Ländern für die Internationalisierung der Hochschulen in Deutschland). This develops joint objectives for areas of action relating to internationalisation. The paper is based on the main idea that internationalisation is a central element for the development of an institutional profile for German institutions of higher education. The Federation and Länder want to support this process and have agreed on joint objectives and approaches in nine fields of action:

• Strategic internationalisation
• Improving the legal framework
• Establishing a welcoming culture
• Establishing an international campus
• Increasing the international mobility of students
• Improving the international appeal of Germany as a higher education location
• Attracting excellent junior scientists from abroad
• Extending international research collaborations
• Establishing offers for transnational university education

The internationalisation goals are to be realised by the Länder and the Federation at their own responsibility within the scope of the constitutional responsibilities and respecting the autonomy of the institutions of higher education.

Through placements abroad during courses of study, prospective academics can acquire additional competences and develop personally. International experiences are moreover becoming increasingly important on the labour market and in science. The Federation and the Länder therefore seek to ensure that one in two higher education graduates has gained study-related experience abroad and at least one in three can provide evidence of a period of study abroad lasting at least three months or equivalent to 15 ECTS.

Mobility is already well developed even now. In total in the 2020/2021 winter semester 324,729 international students studied at German higher education institutions. At the same time more and more German students are studying abroad with the aim of obtaining a higher education qualification: in 2018 in total around 135,000 German students were enrolled at higher education institutions abroad.

The main host countries for German students wishing to obtain their degree abroad are Austria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the USA, China and France. These seven states accounted for three-quarters of German students abroad. The member states of the European Union accounted for more than two thirds (69.8 per cent) of German students abroad, while a further 12.6 per cent went to other European countries. A total of 82.4 per cent of German students abroad therefore remained in Europe. 8.3 per cent of German students abroad opted for the Americas, 7.4 per cent for Asia, 1.2 per cent for Australia and Oceania and 0.7 per cent for Africa.

Information on the foreign language assistant exchange programme of the Educational Exchange Service (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst – PAD) of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (Kultusministerkonferenz), in which prospective foreign language teachers are exchanged, can be found in the section on teacher mobility.

In Germany, the task of promoting relations between higher education institutions and foreign countries through the exchange of students and academics is the responsibility of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD), a self-governing organisation of German higher education institutions and their student bodies. The programmes of the DAAD to promote internationalisation at German higher education institutions aim at creating the organisational and financial framework for studies/a placement abroad, international cooperation and the establishment of strategic partnerships between higher education institutions as well as further development of courses of study and higher education qualifications. Furthermore, the measures already carried out shall be incorporated into a strategy for internationalisation involving the entire institution of higher education.

The internationalisation of higher education institutions is regarded as a complex process which links the interests of students and academics, the higher education institutions, the aims of foreign cultural and education policy, national science policy, development cooperation, and the requirements of all international partners.

At the beginning of 2020, the DAAD adopted a new "Strategy 2025": This focuses on three strategic fields of action:

1. "Recognising and supporting potentials worldwide":

Providing scholarships remains the DAAD’s "core business". In 2020 alone it was able to support over 15,000 German and international students, doctoral candidates and researchers with scholarships and individual programmes.

2. "Strengthening the strategic academic network":

This includes international degree programmes, and the PROMOS programme to enhance the mobility of German students, which finances short stays for German students abroad. As part of the programme launched in 2010 with funding from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF), in 2020 4,262 scholarships were awarded by 312 higher education institutions. In order to meet the specific requirements of Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften, the BMBF has launched a specific programme for the internationalisation of Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften via the DAAD. Initiation and preparation measures, the development of model and cooperation projects with international partners as well as individual scholarships for students, lecturers and researchers are awarded.

3. "Providing expertise for international relations": 

In the future, the DAAD will apply its compe-tences and expertise even more to providing information and advisory services to institutions of higher education and other academic exchange stakeholders, both in Germany and abroad. With its decades of experience in programme work and its unique worldwide network of 18 regional offices and 51 Information Centres IC) and Information Points (IP), the DAAD brings tremendous knowledge of higher education systems and national science systems around the world.

In addition to these three strategic fields of action, the DAAD Strategy 2025 also identifies eight so-called key topics: "Diversity and Equal Opportunities", "Innovation and Transfer", "Freedom of Science", "Global Issues", "International Professionals for Science and Business" and "Digital Transformation".

Within the scope of Erasmus+, DAAD also acts as a National Agency on behalf of the BMBF and is therefore responsible for the implementation of Erasmus+ in the higher education sector. As part of this mobility programme, the international mobility of students (courses of study and practical placements) is supported inter alia. The prerequisite for funding is cross-border higher education agreements and the undertaking to guarantee the full recognition of the credits obtained abroad by the university of origin. Moreover, the participating institutions of higher education must possess a valid Erasmus Charta for Higher Education. Between the beginning of June 2017 and the end of May 2019 a total of 33,290 students from Germany were given funding for a period of study abroad, and 9,009 students for a work placement abroad. Conversely, around 33,124 Erasmus students from other countries spent a study-related stay at a German higher education institution during the same period. More information can be found on the Internet.

Grants for periods of study abroad are also provided under the Federal Training Assistance Act. Students are able to receive assistance under the Federal Training Assistance Act for a full course of study in a member state of the European Union. Furthermore, financial assistance is provided for practical training and studies of limited duration inside and outside of Europe.

Alongside these funding opportunities at national level, in some Länder there are Land-level programmes to support international student mobility.

Academic Staff Mobility

In foreign educational and cultural policy, special importance is attached to exchange measures in the sector of research and higher education institutions. The exchange of individuals takes place under grant programmes for lecturers and other higher education staff which are predominantly organised by the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. Evaluation of international exchange programmes is generally performed by independent agencies or experts.

In 2020, around 55,200 foreign scientists will be employed at German institutions of higher education, including around 3,600 professors. Since 2016, the number of international staff has increased by 13 per cent. In comparison, the number of German scientists and researchers abroad has only increased by 4 per cent in the same period. At 34.5 per cent, the largest group of foreign academic staff comes from Western Europe. In second and third place among the regions of origin are Asia and the Pacific region (20%) and Central and South Eastern Europe (13%). Of the foreign professors, 66.6 per cent come from Western Europe alone, 9.5 per cent from Central and South-Eastern Europe and 8.8 per cent from North America. The most important countries of origin of international academic staff at German institutions of higher education are Italy, India, China, Austria, the USA, the Russian Federation and Spain. Among international professors, Austria is by far the most common country of origin, followed by Switzerland, Italy and the USA.

The four largest extramural research organisations (AUFE), the Max Planck Society, the Fraunhofer Society, the Helmholtz Association and the Leibniz Association, also employed around 14,100 scientists with foreign nationality in 2019. Their number has almost doubled since 2010.

In 2019, around 32,800 stays of international guest researchers were also funded in Germany by domestic and foreign organisations. Visiting researchers are persons with foreign citizenship who stay in Germany for a limited period of time without being employed within the framework of financial support and who are active in teaching and research at institutions of higher education or other research institutions. There are three major funding organisations in particular that support the vast majority of stays by visiting researchers in Germany: German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG), DAAD and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The DFG alone funds 46 per cent of all visits, the DAAD 38 per cent and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation 7 per cent. Together, they contribute to the funding of 92 per cent of all stays. The most important regions of origin for international guest researchers are Western Europe and Asia and the Pacific region.

The Erasmus+ programme of the European Union also supports temporary stays abroad by guest lecturers. These guest lectureships within Europe can last between two and 60 days. The funding covers teaching stays by academic staff and professors at universities and research institutions as well as employees in companies. The most common country of origin of Erasmus+ guest lecturers in Germany is Poland. Its share alone is 13 per cent. In second and third place, at a considerable distance, are the United Kingdom and Spain (8% each). Austria, France, Italy and Finland (7% each) continue to play an important role.

On the one hand, German academics in other countries work permanently at institutions of higher education and research institutions. On the other hand, many German guest researchers complete a temporary research and teaching stay abroad with the support of various institutions.

According to the available data, most German academics work at higher education institutions in Switzerland, followed by universities in the UK and Austria. This ranking also applies with regard to the numbers of German professors abroad. In 2018, the largest proportions of Germans among all foreign academics can be observed in Austria with 43 per cent and in Switzerland with 31 per cent.

In 2018, around 13,600 stays by German guest researchers abroad were funded by domestic and foreign organisations. Of these, 76 percent were supported by the DAAD, 6 percent by the DFG, 13 percent by other German funding organisations and 5 percent by foreign funding organisations. Western Europe is the predominant host region for German visiting researchers whose stays abroad were supported by the above-mentioned funding organisations. Of these funded stays, about 26 per cent take place in Western European countries. Other significant host regions are North America (18%) and Asia and the Pacific (15%).

In addition, a total of around 3,000 guest lecturers from Germany spent time abroad in 2019 as part of the Erasmus+ programme. A large part of the stays took place in Italy and Spain. Their shares are 11 per cent each. In third and fourth place are France and Poland with 10 per cent each.

Statistics on the international mobility of scientists and researchers may be found in the publication Wissenschaft weltoffen.