DAAD Eastern Partnerships

The programme can be seen as a remnant of former West Germany’s Ostpolitik. In 1973, it had been agreed to develop stronger ties with universities in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries.

Today, the DAAD continues this programme on behalf of the German federal government. The political development had led to a fast increase in grant applications: from 9 in the year 1974 to 108 in 1989. The programme had reached its peak of 888 applications in 1992, when the overall volume of awarded grants climbed to 4.4m Deutsche Mark.

The programme was consolidated over the years that followed. German universities can now draw from grants that stretch over a period of three years each, giving them greater autonomy and a higher planning security. At the same time, the DAAD managed to by and by reduce the overall volume of grants, as German universities began to use own resources and additional outside subsidies for their partnership projects.

The three-year programme aims to encourage universities to set priorities while establishing their own approach for partnerships and collaborations. All universities may renew their application during the third year.

The objective of the Eastern Partnerships Programme is to build better relationships between German universities and higher education institutions in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, including the countries of the Russian Commonwealth.

The DAAD wants to contribute to:

• the strengthening of existing and generating new and sustainable ties with universities in the programme’s target regions.
• collaborations in teaching and research with a solid academic grounding.
• the mobility of academics, graduates and students within those partnerships.
• a sustainable structural improvement of conditions for teaching and research in the partner countries.
• the internationalization of German and foreign universities.

is a university partnership agreement signed by the heads of both partner institutions.

are the exchange of German and foreign professors, academics, students and graduates.

• The DAAD grants a travel allowance for German participants.
• The DAAD grants a subsistence allowance for foreign participants.
• Personnel and non-personnel costs are not eligible.