A new prize has been announced for the German university that best promotes international study and exchanges for foreigners as well as its own students and staff.

Photo: DAAD

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) promotes the internationalisation of Germany’s university system. It wants universities to set up what it calls “hospitable frameworks for foreigners” who want to study or teach in Germany, and it wants German institutions to better position themselves in the international education market. The DAAD has therefore announced an award for the International University of the Year, to be presented for the first time next month to a higher education institution that has successfully developed an international outlook in its work – that means offering programs for more foreigners to study in Germany and promoting the international mobility of its own students and staff.

The 50,000-euro prize is to become an annual award. A major business association which promotes German science, the Stifterverband, is involved with the DAAD in establishing the award.

The motto for this year’s prize is “Successful Strategies for the Foreign Mobility of German Students.” Out of 26 German universities and educational institutions that competed for this year’s prize, five finalists have been selected. The winner will be announced at an international education conference in Berlin at the end of next month.