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International CooperationAction Plan of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

International Cooperation Action Plan of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Welcome to the “International Cooperation” Action Plan

Our world continues to grow ever closer together. The science, industry and society sectors are constantly changing. New competitors are rushing into markets, new potential partners are emerging, and thus coop-eration and competition are never far apart. To tackle challenges such as the spread of digital technologies in our everyday life, demographic trends and shortages of skilled manpower, we have to think and act globally.

With its “International Cooperation” Action Plan, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is contributing significantly to the worldwide develop-ment of Germany’s great potential to shape trends. The Action Plan highlights the ways in which we will need to shape international cooperation in the coming years in order to strengthen education, science, research and innovation in Germany and to successfully protect Germany’s competitiveness in the global market. At the same time, it also reflects the fact that worldwide coop-

eration in science and research is a key to sustainable and peaceful development.

With various initiatives and measures, such as the “Ideas Competition on the European Research Council (ERC)” and the “Research Marketing Alliance”, we will seek to make our actions even more systematic and even better oriented to Germany’s science and research sectors. In addition, the Action Plan is expected to pro-vide impetus for the Federal Government’s Strategy for the Internationalization of Science, a strategy that we plan to refine in this legislative period.

WELCOME

Prof. Dr. Johanna WankaFederal Minister of Education and Research

1CONTENTS

Contents

1. Introduction 6

2. Data, facts and analysis 10

3. Germany, Europe and the world 22

4. Measures and beacons 58

Target area 1: Scientific excellence via international cooperation 59

Target area 2: Developing innovation potential internationally 75

Target area 3: Strengthening cooperation with developing and newly industrialized countries 84

Target area 4: Assuming international responsibility and contributing

to the solution of global challenges 91

Target area 5: Creating perspectives through education – for people and the economy 98

5. Supporting measures 106

6. Annex 116

Overview of “beacons” 116

Glossary 122

List of abbreviations 131

SUMMARY

Summary of the central points of the BMBF’s “International Cooperation” action plan”

Why an action plan?

As a result of globalisation and growing international interdependencies, education, research and innovation in Germany are under constant pressure to evolve and adapt.

The current Coalition Agreement sets forth the following regarding this issue:

“We are facing new challenges as a result of increas-ing international competition, including competition from rapidly growing emerging countries; of rapid scien-tific and technological progress – especially the spread of digital technologies; of demographic change, especially in combination with shortages of skilled workers; and of looming scarcities of natural resources. We will therefore focus our strategy in the years to come on innovation, on investments, on full employment in good and productive jobs and on internationalization.”

The complex systemic changes, and dynamic eco-nomic, ecological and social upheavals and challenges, which we are facing in the 21st century are altering our perspectives regarding the education, research and innovation policies that we need, at the national and international levels. These changes and challenges call for new answers.

This is the context in which the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is presenting this Action Plan.

The Action Plan links up with the Federal Govern-ment’s BMBF-led Strategy for the Internationalization of Science and Research (“Strengthening Germany’s Role in the Global Knowledge Society”, 2008).

The Action Plan’s various chapters cover the follow-ing key areas:

• outlining the analytical principles needed to strategi-cally place the relevant international instruments and projects on a sound basis of evidence;

• pooling the various BMBF strategies in order to es-tablish a standard frame of reference;

• using the resulting new frame of reference for future specialized, regionally oriented and Länder-oriented strategies;

• increasing the impact of the various BMBF activi-ties by intensifying the focus on objectives and by enhancing coordination;

• establishing a basis for stronger networking activi-ties between stakeholders in the fields of research and education policy, with a view to ensuring a more coherent international presence;

• identifying and implementing projects which can serve as examples for further measures with regard to structural approach, networking and impact (so-called “beacons”) and

• increasing the visibility of Germany and of its excel-lent education, research and innovation sectors.

The Action Plan fits with Germany’s current position in science and research, and its international cooperation in vocational training, and it is designed to provide a perspective on the ways in which the BMBF is going to structure its international cooperation in the coming years.

2

SUMMARY

What objectives are we aiming for?

An analysis of the available data confirms that the German education, research and innovation system compares very well internationally.

Furthermore, Germany plays a powerful role inter-nationally, on the various relevant levels, as a driving force, initiator and innovator. It has a strong, well-de-veloped national basis for such action.

In our international cooperation, we will thus continue to focus on excellence. This will call for high-quality commitments on the part of all stake-holders. Initiative also plays a vital role in the success of such efforts, along with coherent planning of national, international and European measures.

The analysis has drawn five central conclusions, and these are the keys to Germany’s future success, in the face of international competition, as a centre for education, research and innovation:

1. More mobile: Germany needs to continue increasing the mobility of trainees, students and scientists – both to and from Germany – in order, inter alia, to meet future requirements for skilled employees.

2. More effective: Germany needs to make its cooper-ation and funding procedures as simple as possible, and it needs to reduce and eliminate obstacles to bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

3. More efficient: At both the national and international levels, Germany needs to improve its networking, and it needs to promote networking at all levels and between all stakeholders.

4. More focused: Germany needs to intensify its empha-sis on quality and excellence in its international coop-eration – and to do so on a “win-win” basis.

5. More attentive to its own competitiveness: Germany needs to define and highlight its own interests more clearly, and it needs to also see international cooper-ation as an opportunity to strengthen the competi-tiveness of German industry (to develop markets) and science.

Germany needs to enhance its international science cooperation along these lines, and as called for by the Coalition Agreement (cf. Annex 2 for the other objec-tives in the Coalition Agreement which are relevant for the BMBF’s international work).

These objectives provide the framework for defin-ing and describing new lines of action, and they serve as the standard for particularly effective measures, the so-called “beacons” (cf. the Annex).

What actions are we taking?

As lead Ministry in this effort, the BMBF will present an updated Strategy of the Federal Government for the Internationalization of Science and Research. This strategy will define the basic orientation of the Federal Government’s international cooperation with its part-ners worldwide over the years to come.

The BMBF will adopt the following measures in compliance with the Coalition Agreement, and in line with the Internationalization Strategy’s existing four target areas and with a new, fifth target area covering the dynamic field of vocational education and training. These measures are a selection of the BMBF’s activities for promoting international cooperation in education and research.

3

We plan to strengthen research cooperation with the world’s best. Our efforts in this area will include the following:

• Adding new initiatives to the current portfolio of measures and activities for promoting Germany’s research and science sectors. One such initiative is the “Research Marketing Alliance”;

• As lead Ministry, implementing the Federal Gov-ernment’s Strategy on the European Research Area (ERA). Along with political guidelines, the ERA strategy includes a national roadmap with concrete measures for implementation;

• Triggering various activities to support the success-ful implementation of Horizon 2020. For example, the connections between national programmes and Horizon 2020 will be expanded, and the system of incentive mechanisms for stakeholders will be enlarged (specialized strategies and the Europeaniza-tion budget);

• With an “Ideas Competition on the European Re-search Council (ERC)”, supporting German higher education institutions and non-university research institutions in their efforts to maintain and recruit excellent staff;

• Via a new initiative, supporting the interconnection of various organizations’ specialized international activities;

• Expanding the joint funding and programming structures in place with developing, emerging and transformation countries (in addition to continuing tried-and-true cooperation in individual-project frameworks). The future-oriented topics in the Fed-eral Government’s High-Tech Strategy will provide orientation for selection of relevant programmes;

• Supporting efforts to help Central Eastern and South-Eastern European countries participate in the ERA – for example, by establishing networks and research collaborations with the countries of the Danube region;

SUMMARY 4

• Intensifying cooperation with the “EU-13” states and EU accession candidates under a new programme entitled “The Establishment and Expansion of Joint Research Structures in Europe”;

• Pooling the various German alumni initiatives in a single alumni strategy.

We plan to develop international potential for inno-vation. Our efforts in this area will include the following:

• Refining the instruments of the High-Tech Strategy

to make them internationally compatible – in order to strengthen Germany as a centre of innovation and science;

• Establishing a national platform on “Global Knowl-edge Sourcing”;

• With specifically targeted measures, strengthening the transfer of knowledge and the management of intellectual property in European and international projects;

• In our capacity as lead Ministry, presenting a Federal Government “Open Access” strategy.

We plan to intensify cooperation with emerging and developing countries, in lasting ways. Our efforts in this area will include the following:

• Developing separate strategies for our interactions with Central Asia and China. On 20 June 2014, the BMBF introduced its new Africa Strategy for the period 2014 to 2018;

• Implementing the measures plan integrated with-in the Africa Strategy, a plan that provides for the expansion of programmes and projects within the framework of bilateral, multilateral and regional initiatives;

• Strengthening bi-regional dialogues between the EU and developing and emerging countries;

• Supporting the establishment of thematic compe-tence centres in developing and emerging countries;

• Within the framework of the Federal Government’s transformation partnership with the North African countries – particularly Egypt and Tunisia – helping to support modernization efforts and forces for a civil society;

• Supporting the establishment of relevant bilateral higher education institutions, such as the Turk-ish-German University in Istanbul.

We plan to help address global challenges, with efforts that will include the following:

• Establishing a new funding priority in the area of climate protection and energy security;

• Expanding funding initiatives such as “Securing the Global Food Supply (GlobE)”;

• Establishing research networks for health-care inno-vations in Sub-Saharan Africa;

• Supporting the further development of regional integration processes;

• Funding regional academic chairs in Africa, within the framework of a new initiative.

We plan to create new perspectives for people and industry via training and education, with efforts that will include the following:

• Expanding cooperation in the field of vocational education and training;

• In partner countries, helping to establish standards for vocational training that are modelled after Ger-man standards;

• Continuing to promote recognition of vocational qualifications gained abroad and, in this regard, mak-ing full use of the potential of the Federal Recogni-tion Act (Anerkennungsgesetz).

We also plan to do the following:

• Present a concept for cooperation with the OECD;

• Further strengthen the UN presence in Bonn;

• Establish a comprehensive system for monitoring the internationalization of the German research sector, along with relevant internationally oriented devel-opment, and available cooperation opportunities, in important partner countries.

SUMMARY 5

6 INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction

Germany faces new international challenges in education, research and innovation policy – and in its competition with the world’s leading innovation centres.

What countries will attract the most-creative minds, and what countries can develop the best ideas? What countries will present the most promising innovations? What countries will be able to establish emerging key technologies, and what countries will succeed in shap-ing the new lead markets? And, looking beyond the realm of global competition, what countries are going to address global challenges in ways that will benefit all countries?

7INTRODUCTION

The concepts of transferability and exchange are defining parameters in both international relations and national policy-making. Many boundaries between national and international issues are blurring, and the European and global levels of decision-making are becoming more and more important. New forms of cooperation are emerging, and a new level of quality in cooperation is developing.

The barriers between national science systems are gradually being dismantled. Common standards are coalescing and gaining importance. Scientists are becoming more and more mobile in their research and collaboration, and major corporations are growing more and more mobile in their investment decisions. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are playing a more and more prominent role in international competition.

Increasingly, value-creation chains are includ-ing contributions from multiple countries, thereby promoting new forms of cooperation and site policies. Foreign value creation now accounts for nearly 30 % of all value added in German exports.

A number of different studies have shown that Ger-many is among the world’s leading centres for inno-vation. At the same time, new competitors and players are constantly seeking to enter the existing markets. Around the world, economies often partner and com-pete with each simultaneously. Many economies offer skilled personnel and opportunities for cooperation. Global and regional centres for innovation are shifting toward Asia. Africa, central Asia and Latin America are all reaching for new opportunities to develop and evolve. Worldwide, internationally oriented, well-edu-cated urban middle classes are emerging.

International megatrends, such as the spread of digital technologies into all areas of life, and sustain-able business and industrial practices, are gathering momentum, and they will have a profound impact on the future agendas of all players in the areas of educa-

tion, research and innovation. The world’s countries continue to try to find reliable answers to the enor-mous global challenges that they know they are going to have to face together in the coming decades.

In light of such trends, how can Germany build its international competitiveness and, at the same time, join with other countries in meeting international responsibilities and addressing global challenges? How can Germany bring all available talent, irrespective of gender and background, into the innovation process?

As a result of globalisation and growing interna-tional interdependencies, education, research and innovation in Germany are under constant pressure to evolve and adapt.

The German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) has described this context as follows:

“As international interconnectedness grows, the world’s nations find themselves in a global competition in which they must seek to make their science systems as capable as possible, so that those systems can contribute significantly to their economic and political importance. The question of whether Germany, as a centre for science and research, can thrive in this context will depend cen-trally on the international visibility, attractiveness and compatibility of its federally constituted, national science system”.1

The complex systemic changes, and dynamic eco-nomic, ecological and social upheavals and challenges, which we are facing in the 21st century are altering our perspectives regarding the education, research and innovation policies that we need, at the national and international levels. These changes and challenges call for new answers. Answers that explain how Germany, in future, needs to organize itself, cooperate interna-tionally and – applying the concept of the duality of competition and cooperation (“coopetition”) – region-ally and globally structure its relations with the other countries with which it peacefully competes.

1 German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat), Perspektiven des deutschen Wissenschaftssystems

[Perspectives on the German science system], 2013, p. 19

8 INTRODUCTION

The key in this context will be to continue devel-oping the potential of successful initiatives such as the Federal Government’s High-Tech Strategy (HTS) and, via efforts such as intensifying internationalization, taking such initiatives to a new level of quality and effectiveness.

The HTS is Germany’s first-ever national over-all concept for innovation-based solutions to global challenges. It is being refined in the current legisla-tive period. While the first edition of the High-Tech Strategy (HTS I) focused primarily on the market potential inherent in specific technology areas, HTS II, in place as of the year 2010, has concentrated espe-cially on the society’s need to develop and implement forward-looking solutions. Now, these emphases need to be combined, with a focus on the potential available worldwide for value creation and job creation, and with openness and interest on the part of society.

The German education system plays a key role in this effort. It is now recognized that education quality is an important factor in any country’s international attractiveness as a centre for research and innovation. The requirements applying to the qualifications of the German workforce will continue to grow. Increasingly, German employees will have to be able to function in fast-moving international workplace environments. Lifelong learning, in keeping with internationally

compatible standards, is no longer just a “plus” – it is now a “must”, along with regular measurement of competencies via international comparisons, ensuring that German qualifications are recognized abroad and foreign qualifications are recognized in Germany.

The creation of the European Education and Research Area confirms Europe’s status as the central, direction-defining factor for German policy-making. Germany’s international activities in the areas of edu-cation, research and innovation will contribute to the shaping of the European Education and Research Area. For this reason, Germany’s commitment in this context is aimed at working in partnership to help structure this Area in the coming years and to make use of it, systematically, usefully and practically. The European Research Area, for its part, is becoming increasingly integrated within an international network of relation-ships to other countries, groupings of countries and or-ganizations. For this reason, via its external dimension, which is also oriented to third countries, it will bring a new level of quality to the EU’s activities in the area of research and innovation. That new level of quality will also influence Germany’s bilateral and multilateral relations with the third countries concerned.

9INTRODUCTION

Europe is changing, and the world is growing together. Germany has no choice but to face the challenges of this permanent change. It has to shape policy at the national and international levels, it must enhance and refine the tried and the true – and it must be willing to search for new answers to the questions of today and tomorrow.

In the process, Germany can rely on a dense inter-national network. Germany has over 200 agencies and missions abroad, including more than 150 embassies. It maintains close partnerships with (inter alia) 27 (at last count) other EU Member States, and it is an active member in all organizations of relevance for the areas of education, research and innovation, such as the OECD and UNESCO. Now it needs to use, strategically orient and develop these many-layered commitments in the interest of the areas of education, research and innovation.

This is the context in which the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is presenting this Action Plan.

The guiding principle of the Action Plan is to systematically orient the BMBF’s international coop-eration to Germany’s strategic interests in Europe and the world.

The Action Plan links up with the Federal Govern-ment’s BMBF-led Strategy for the Internationalization of Science and Research (“Strengthening Germany’s Role in the Global Knowledge Society”, 2008).

The Action Plan’s various chapters cover the follow-ing key areas:

• outlining the analytical principles needed to strategi-cally place the relevant international instruments and projects on a sound basis of evidence;

• pooling the BMBF’s various strategies and concepts, in order to establish a standard frame of reference;

• using the resulting new frame of reference for future specialized, regionally oriented and Länder-oriented strategies;

• increasing the impact of the various BMBF activi-ties by intensifying the focus on objectives and by enhancing coordination;

• establishing a basis for stronger networking activi-ties between stakeholders in the fields of research and education policy, with a view to ensuring a more coherent international presence;

• identifying and implementing projects which can serve as examples for further measures with regard to structural approach, networking and impact (so-called “beacons”) and

• increasing Germany’s visibility and the visibility of its excellent education, research and innovation sectors.

The following remarks highlight Germany’s current position in these regards, and they provide an outlook on the ways in which the BMBF is going to structure its international cooperation in the coming years.

10 DATA, FACTS AND ANALYSIS

2. Data, facts and analysis

Germany, compared internationally

The German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) has pointed out that national sci-ence systems “are going to have to orient themselves more closely to global parameters of performance and attrativeness, and less closely to national or federal parameters”.2

Consequently, the recent analyses of the European Commission and the OECD that have found that Ger-many has a strong, competitive and globally acclaimed

innovation system provide important, encouraging feedback regarding the successes of the initiatives and reforms Germany has carried out in recent years.

A European comparison shows that Germany has retained the strong position it has held for many years. Furthermore, according to the latest relevant EU figures, from the year 2014, Germany’s innovation per-formance ranks far above the EU average, behind only Sweden and Denmark, and ahead of Finland, and thus Ger-many remains a member of the EU’s “innovation leaders”3.

2 German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat),

Perspektiven des deutschen Wissenschaftssystems [Perspectives on the German science system], 2013, p. 18.3 EC (2014): Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014, pp. 5, 11.

11DATA, FACTS AND ANALYSIS

In 20 of 25 indicators, Germany scores higher – in some cases, considerably higher – than the EU average. The indicators involved include the categories international co-publications (217 % of the EU average), completed doctoral degrees (165 % of the EU average) and business enterprises’ expenditures on research and development (R&D) (156 % of the EU average).

The OECD has called attention especially to Ger-many’s strong foundations for science, including high levels of public spending on research, respected higher education institutions and good performance in the area of publishing of research. The OECD also gave positive marks to Germany’s growth in government intramural expenditure on R&D (GOVERD) – growth that was achieved in spite of budgetary consolidation between 2005 and 2010 – and it highlighted the Ger-man science system’s weight within the OECD context, where it accounts for 9 % of the OECD area’s gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) and 8 % of its scientific publications.4

The innovation system’s international dimension in education and research

Framework data on funding by the BMBF

Overall, in the time period 2009 to 2013, the BMBF provided over 3.4 billion euros for international coop-eration in research and development.5

Of that amount, over 1.3 billion euros flowed into the BMBF’s direct project funding. In the process, funding of projects with international participation increased considerably, from 194 million euros in 2009 to 344 million euros in 2013.6

In addition to increasing its direct project funding, the BMBF has kept its commitments to participation in international research programmes and R&D infra-structures at high levels. From 2009 to 2013, its annual contributions in this framework increased from 373 million euros to 402 million euros.

Overview of BMBF project funding for international projects, and BMBF contributions to international research programmes and R&D infrastructures (2009-2013; in millions of euros):7

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013Total

(2009-2013)

(Direct) project funding 194 222 253 303 344 1.316

- With EU partners 74 86 99 103 109 472

- With non-EU partners 120 136 154 200 235 844

Contributions to international research programmes and R&D infrastructures

373 473 432 419 402 2.099

Total 567 695 685 722 746 3.415

4 OECD (2012), STI Outlook 2012.5 Analysis of BMBF funding data; last revised as of February 2014. The figures are approximations subject to data maintenance for international activities.6 Analysis of BMBF funding data; last revised as of February 2014. The figures are approximations subject to data maintenance for international activities.7 The BMBF’s direct project funding includes all projects involving at least one international partner. The figures for international research programmes do not

include German contributions to the European Framework Programme for Research.


The BMBF’s largest investments, far and away, in the area of cooperation with BRICS countries are aimed at China (18.5 million euros per year, as of 2012). Russia, at a level of about 10.1 million euros, ranks next in this category. On the other hand, funding for India has registered the largest increases in this area over the past five years: investments in cooperation with India have grown more than sixfold since 2008 (from 1.4 to 8.7 million euros). The increases are due to the establish-ment of the Indo-German Science & Technology Cen-tre (IGSTC; in 2010), which has intensified the coopera-tion via the financing of major projects, as well as to the intensification of activities in thematic programmes. Over the same period, investments in cooperation with South Africa have nearly doubled (from 1.4 to 2.5 mil-lion euros), in keeping with the fact that the G8 summit in Heiligendamm intensified the global focus on Africa. With the German - South African Year of Science 2012/2013, the BMBF established a special focus on cooperation with that country. The funding provided for multilateral projects with BRICS countries is about as high as the total provided for bilateral projects, and it has nearly doubled over the past five years.8

The BMBF views this dynamic growth and these emphases as success resulting from the Federal Gov-ernment’s internationalization strategy of 2008.

Efforts in the European Research Area context complement the BMBF’s bilateral activities with a strong multilateral component. In ERA-NETs with German participation, for example, about 70 joint calls for proposals were carried out or planned from 2011 to 2014, with BMBF funding totalling approximately 115 million euros.

Within the framework of the Federal Government’s internationalization strategy, the BMBF established a basic goal of having foreign partners’ participation levels in BMBF-funded projects reach 20 %,9 and this goal has since been achieved.

Acquisition of EU funding for research and innovation

In its acquisitions of EU funding in the 7th Frame-work Programme for Research (FP7), Germany has confirmed its strong position within EU.10

Germany’s share of the EU’s competitively awarded funding allocations in the “Cooperation” programme amounts to 19.3 % (for comparison: United Kingdom: 14.1 %; Italy: 10.0 %; France: 12.7 %). With respect to all programme areas, Germany’s funding share is 16.1 %.

In the course of the FP7, German institutions received an annual average of about 865 million euros of European allocations, thereby underscoring their high performance and competitiveness standards at the European level. About one-third of the third-party funding acquired by German institutions now comes from the EU.

A total of over 3,600 German institutions – i.e. higher education institutions, universities, research institutions and business enterprises – participated in FP7. And those participating institutions in Germany took part in about 8,500 projects in the FP7 framework. Throughout the programme’s total term, German institutions account for approximately 39 % of all participants from EU Member States. Of the German institutions that participated in the Framework Pro-gramme, the top ten acquired some 2.4 billion euros from the FP7.

Among the Member States that acquired allocations from the programme, Germany maintained its leading position, at a level of about 6.93 billion euros, ahead of the UK (approximately 6.64 billion euros) and France (about 4.86 billion euros).

The success rate of German applications in the FP7 averaged 24.04 % (for comparison: France: 24.97 %; United Kingdom: 22.67 %; Italy: 18.25 %), which was a level similar to that achieved by German applications in many national funding programmes (such as those of the German Research Foundation (DFG)).

8 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFI) 2014, p. 410.9 Internationalization Strategy: “On average, taking account of programme-specific differences, a foreign-partner participation rate of 20 % should be aimed

for in BMBF-funded projects, where, for example, additional EU funding can be acquired as a result or national projects can be optimized, in keeping with

their objectives, via integration of know-how not available in Germany.” This does not refer to a financing level, since international partners normally have to

provide the financing shares required for their own research. 10 All of the data presented in this section were obtained from a special analysis carried out by the BMBF’s EU Bureau. Source: ECORDA contract database; last

revision: 21 Feb. 2014.


A comparison of the 28 EU countries shows that German institutions, with a share of 17.7 %, hold the leading position among coordinators of collaborative research projects funded within the “Cooperation” specific programme (for comparison: United Kingdom: 13.7 %; Italy: 11.9 %; France: 11.2 %). German institu-tions frequently assume the function of coordinator in

transnational projects. Not only does this considerably enhance German institutions’ competencies in man-agement of successful EU projects, it also ensures that German institutions are constantly networking with international partners, in links that often remain in place after the specific projects that created them have terminated.

Germany as part of the global economy

Nearly 35 % of all jobs in Germany now depend on foreign demand.11 From 1995 to 2008, such dependence thus nearly doubled, from 20 % to 35 %.

What is more, German companies are increasingly integrated in global value-creation chains. From 1995 to 2009, foreign partners’ share of value creation in German exports increased from 19 % to 27 %.12

As these figures indicate, Germany’s export strength is depending more and more on global suppliers’ abilities to achieve technical standards high enough to meet German industry’s quality standards and innova-tion-related requirements.

Conversely, German success now depends on inter-national cooperation. Such cooperation is an “enabler” for German industry, a factor that enables it to meet the stringent requirements imposed by world markets.

11 OECD (2014): OECD STI Scoreboard 2013, p. 254.12 OECD (2014): OECD STI Scoreboard 2013, p. 251.


Expenditures for Research and Innovation

Innovation expenditures by German industry amount-ed to a total of 137.4 billion euros in 2012. That figure is equivalent to an increase of 4.8 % in comparison to the previous year. Research-intensive industry sectors, which increased their expenditures by 7.4 %, contrib-uted most to the overall increase. With investments of 87.8 billion euros, or nearly 64 % of total industry expenditures in this area, those sectors also provided the largest individual contribution, in absolute terms, to Germany’s total innovation expenditures. In the area of knowledge-intensive services, which account-ed for about 15 % of total expenditures, expenditures increased by 0.7 %.13 In addition, Germany has regis-tered the following positive balance with regard to the R&D expenditures of business enterprises: In each year since 2007, foreign companies have spent considera-

bly more for research and development in Germany than German companies have spent for R&D abroad.14

Increasingly, the foreign investors involved come from newly industrialized countries. In 2011, the relevant surplus amounted to about 1.4 billion euros (with German companies’ expenditures abroad amounting to 14.8 billion euros, and foreign companies’ expenditures in Germany reaching 16.2 billion euros). In 2001, this balance figure was still negative.

On the other hand, German companies are increas-ingly shifting R&D expenditures abroad. For example, German companies’ expenditures abroad for R&D increased by about 15.3 % annually from 2009 to 2011, while German companies’ R&D expenditures within Germany grew by only about 5.7 % annually during that period.15 The most important target countries for R&D expenditures by German companies – in terms of volume of expenditures – are the U.S., Austria, Switzer-

13 Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Innovationsverhalten der deutschen Wirtschaft, January 2014, p. 5.14 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, pp. 41-43.15 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, p. 41.


land, Japan and France. The importance of China and India in this regard has also been growing, however.16

In spite of their growing R&D expenditures abroad, innovative German companies17 continue to show rel-atively low commitment to transnational cooperative innovation processes: nearly 40 % of all major German innovative companies, and significantly less than 10 % of innovative SMEs, are involved in such processes. These figures are lower then the comparable figures for France and the UK.18

Knowledge transfer

Technologically oriented knowledge transfer has grown in importance in relation to overall exchang-es of services. The relevant share – in terms of total revenue – increased from 6 % in 1990 to 7 % in 2009.19

Growth in patents per million inhabitants amounted to approximately 15 % from 2000 to 2011. Germany’s re-sults in this category greatly surpass the EU-27 average, amounting to 250 % of the relevant European values. In comparison to the U.S., Germany has registered about twice as many transnational patents per million inhab-itants.20 In terms of absolute figures, Germany ranks third, globally, in transnational patent applications, behind the United States and Japan (2011).21

Where patents, licenses and processes are traded on a transnational basis, the partners tend to be other highly industrialized countries. Partner countries in the EU play an important role in this regard, as do Swit-zerland and Japan. Income from business with China has also been growing. The highest total revenues, far and away, continue to be generated with the U.S.. In this area, the balance is “traditionally negative, i.e. the numbers of American patents, inventions and process-es used by German companies have long been higher than the comparable figure vice-versa”.22

In an OECD-wide context, revenue from transna-tional trade in patents and other forms of intellectual property (“technology flows”) grew disproportionately for Germany in the years 2000 through 2011. The rele-vant growth, at 11.9 %, was higher than that for the U.S. and Japan (8.4 % and 9.0 %), although it was considera-bly lower than the growth registered by the leaders in this category, Russia, China and Estonia (36.7 %, 28.2 % and 23.9 %).23

Germany’s balance of trade in patents, inventions and processes has normally been negative, while its trade balance in the area of research and development services has been positive since 2003. The revenue sur-plus for research and development services amounted to 1.8 billion euros in 2009.24 A consideration of both areas of knowledge exchange shows an overall trend of increasing revenue surpluses since 2003.25

16 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, p. 41.17 “Innovative” companies are considered to be all companies that have introduced innovations in the period under consideration. The “innovations” category

includes products, processes, organizational innovations and marketing innovations. Furthermore, the introduced innovations do not necessarily have to be

commercially successful (cf. OECD/Eurostat (2005): Oslo Manual – Guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data, p. 19). 18 18 OECD (2014): OECD STI Scoreboard 2013, p. 129. 19 Deutsche Bundesbank, Technologietransfer im Außenwirtschaftsverkehr Deutschlands, May 2011, p. 4.20 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, p. 455.21 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, p. 7.22 Deutsche Bundesbank, Technologietransfer im Außenwirtschaftsverkehr Deutschlands, May 2011, p. 7.23 OECD (2013): OECD STI Scoreboard 2013, p. 142.24 Deutsche Bundesbank, Technologietransfer im Außenwirtschaftsverkehr Deutschlands, May 2011, pp. 5, 9.25 Deutsche Bundesbank, Technologietransfer im Außenwirtschaftsverkehr Deutschlands, May 2011, p. 5.


Germany as part of the global economy

The “pacts” of the Federal Government and the Länder

The key to successful international science activities is to maintain and expand a strong national science sec-tor. Germany’s efforts in this regard include the three major “pacts” between the Federal Government and the Länder:

• The Pact for Research and Innovation, via which allocations to non-university research organizations (Helmholtz Association, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Leibniz Association, Max Planck Society and the German Research Foundation (DFG)) increase by 5 % annually in the period 2011-2015.

• The Excellence Initiative, which, via the three fund-ing lines “Graduate Schools”, “Clusters of Excellence” and “Institutional Strategies”, supports internation-ally visible cutting-edge research at higher education institutions, in combination with promotion of young scientists.

• The Higher Education Pact, which, via the three pillars “Programme for the Admission of Addition-al University Entrants”, “Programme Allowances for Projects Funded by the DFG” and “Quality Pact for Teaching”, is creating additional study places, strengthening research at universities and improving teaching quality and the conditions for studies.

The “pacts” currently underway already include international aspects, to greater or lesser degrees:

The Excellence Initiative, for example, provides for intensified international activities, such as the expansion of networks with international partners, intensified international marketing and the establish-ment of international offices. In addition, it provides for measures to internationalize universities and their stakeholders, such as intensified recruiting of foreign students and scientists, summer schools, mobility pro-grammes, special orientation and support programmes for foreigners, efforts aimed at guest scientists and ef-forts to ensure that advisory boards have international

The financial volumes of the individual Pacts

Pact for Research 4.9 billion euros and Innovation: (2011 to 2015)

Excellence Initiative: 2.7 billion euros (2011 to 2017)

Higher Education Pact I+II 7 billion euros - University entrants: (2011 to 2015)*

Higher Education Pact II 1.6 billion euros - Lump sum for programme: (2011 to 2015)*

3rd Pillar of the Higher 1.9 billion euros Education Pact (2011 to 2020)*- Quality in teaching:

* Only federal funds

memberships. In the OECD study “Promoting Research Excellence – New Approaches to Funding”, which was published in 2014, many interviewees reported that the German Excellence Initiative had helped them in recruiting international staff.26 The Excellence Initi-ative is to be evaluated, on the basis of a data-backed report, by the DFG and the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) (by summer 2015) and by a commission of international experts (by early 2016).

One of the five research policy objectives estab-lished by the Pact for Research and Innovation is to develop and implement new strategies for internation-al cooperation. Since the Pact’s introduction, the num-bers of foreign researchers in non-university research institutions have increased considerably. In 2012, for example, more than one-third of the MPG’s scientists came from abroad. A total of 31.5 % of the MPG’s insti-tute directors are foreign nationals. And a total of 86.4 % of all post-doc staff at the MPG are foreigners.27

Regarding the Helmholtz Association (HGF), in 2011 a total of 940 foreign post-docs carried out re-

26 OECD (2014): Promoting Research Excellence – New Approaches to Funding, p. 154.27 Joint Science Conference of the Federal Government and of the Länder (GWK) (2013): Pakt für Forschung und Innovation – Monitoring-Bericht 2013

(Pact for Research and Innovation – 2013 Monitoring report), Anhang (Annex): Bericht der MPG (Report of the MPG), p.36.


search stays at Helmholtz centres in the framework of research projects – and the comparable figure in 2008 was 623.28 As of December 2012, the Fraunhofer-Ge-sellschaft employed 1968 foreign employees, from a total of over 100 countries.29 The review and evalua-tion boards of science organizations also have highly international memberships: at the Leibniz Association, for example, 37 % of the reviewers involved in institute evaluations in 2012 were not German.

The Excellence Initiative also provides a good illus-tration of how the promotion of national excellence has helped make German institutions more interna-tionally competitive and compatible. Transnational cooperation has been promoted via strategic partner-ships, which, especially, have intensified internation-al-level research cooperation within the context of 45 funded graduate schools, 43 clusters of excellence and 11 institutional strategies. Over 85 % of all reviewers

for the relevant selection procedure, which is based solely on excellence criteria, were from other coun-tries. Thanks to the Excellence Initiative, about 30 % of all persons who received support and who were located abroad chose to (again) pursue their research in Germany on a long-term basis. All German universities that receive support via the Excellence Initiative are involved in disproportionately high numbers of EU projects – and thus are strongly integrated in European research networks.

Publications

A comparison of various countries’ shares of all inter-national publications show decreases for several of the leading industrialized countries, such as the U.S., Japan and the UK. A key reason for this is that publication ac-tivity by newly industrialized countries has intensified. This is especially the case for China, which increased its percentage share from 4.5 % to over 13 % within the space of a decade. Germany, on the other hand, has maintained a stable share over the past few years, and it now accounts for a total of 7.2 % of the world’s scientif-ic publications (2012). In this category, Germany ranks fourth, behind the United States, China and the UK.30

The numbers of scientific publications (per million inhabitants) in Germany have increased continually over the past few years. Between 2000 and 2012, the relevant increase amounted to about 41 %. With this result, Germany now ranks ahead of the U.S. for the first time.31

Nearly half of all scientific publications produced by German scientists are now produced via international cooperation.32

In the category of citation frequency, Germany ranks third worldwide, behind Canada and the UK.33

28 GWK (2013): Pakt für Forschung und Innovation – Monitoring-Bericht 2013 (Pact for Research and Innovation – 2013 Monitoring report), Anhang (Annex):

Bericht der HGF (Report of the HGF), p. 18.29 GWK (2013): Pakt für Forschung und Innovation – Monitoring-Bericht 2013 (Pact for Research and Innovation – 2013 Monitoring report), Anhang (Annex):

Bericht der FhG (Report of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft), p. 38.30 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, pp. 17, 454.31 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, p. 453.32 Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, p. 29.33 Elsevier (2013): International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base 2013, p. 41.


Mobility

Scientists are far and away the most mobile group of employed persons in Europe – and probably anywhere in the world.

While it is true that modern technologies have made transnational communication much easier than it used to be, scientific progress continues to depend centrally on scientists’ international mobility, and on the same-place cooperation such mobility allows between scientists from different countries and conti-nents.34

International mobility is also important for the reason that it relates directly to scientific productivity: all in all, internationally mobile scientists publish more in heavily cited publications than do scientists who are not internationally mobile.35

Since 2002, the numbers of foreign scientists who have received support for research stays in Germany has increased continually, reaching over 32,000 persons in 2011.36 In that same year, Germany provided funding for over 7,000 German scientists working abroad.37

In recent years, Germany has become an attrac-tive location for study and work for foreign scientists, as well as for Germans returning to Germany. In 2012, about 35,000 researchers of foreign origin were employed at German higher education institutions. That figure amounts to an increase of about 60 % with respect to 2006.38

The Academic Freedom Act, which entered into force at the end of 2012, has given non-university re-search institutions greater autonomy and responsibility in decisions on finances and human resources, as well as in the area of cooperation and construction proce-dures. The new options in the area of human resources are also designed to make it easier for institutions, as they face growing competition, to successfully recruit excellent scientists from throughout the world.

Germany is also becoming more and more at-tractive for foreign students. In the 2013/2014 winter semester, the number of foreigners studying at German universities totaled 300,909, which was 6.6 % higher than in the previous year. Germany ranks third in the list of the most popular host countries for foreign stu-dents, as the first non-English-speaking country after the U.S. and the UK.39

Foreign students have many different positive im-pacts on their host universities and countries, including economic impacts. For example, for the pertinent costs to the public sector to be amortized, it already suffices if only 30 % of the foreign students who graduate re-main for at least five years in Germany and are gainful-ly employed there.40

A study published in 2013 by the Cologne Institute forf Economic Research (IW) found that a total of 44 % of the foreign students who earned an educational qualification in Germany between 2001 and 2010 were still living in Germany in 2011. In addition, in a survey it carried out of 4,500 graduates of German universities who were natives of third countries, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) found that 43 % of the persons wanted to stay at least ten years in Ger-many, and an additional near third wanted to remain permanently in Germany.41

A study published in January 2014 by the BMBF and Deutsches Studentenwerk (DSW; umbrella organiza-tion of the Studentenwerke student services organi-zations), “Ausländische Studierende in Deutschland 2012” (“foreign students in Germany in 2012”), reported that 61 % of all foreign students indicated Germany had been their first choice. The corresponding figure in 2009 was 47 %.

Surveys of students and graduates have found that, currently, about one-third of all persons who graduate from universities in Germany spend part of their study

34 Science Council (2013): Stellungnahme zur Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (AvH), Bonn, und zur Förderung des internationalen wissenschaftlichen Per-

sonentransfers in Deutschland [position on the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and on promotion of international scientific mobility in Germany], p. 41.35 OECD STI Scoreboard 2013, p. 132 f.36 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)/Higher Education Information System (HIS), Wissenschaft weltoffen, 2013, 6.1.1.37 DAAD/HIS, Wissenschaft weltoffen, 2013, 6.5.1.38 Federal Statistical Office, Fachserie 11, Reihe 4.4, Bildung und Kultur. Personal an Hochschulen [personnel at universities], 2012 and 2008.39 OECD (2013): Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators, p. 378.40 Cf. the Prognos study “Studentische Mobilität und ihre finanziellen Effekte auf das Gastland”, 2013, www.bmbf.de/de/15945.php, www.bmbf.de/press/3562.php.41 Alichniewicz/Geis (2013): “Zuwanderung über die Hochschule”, IW-Trends – Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft; Hanganu/Heß (2014): Beschäftigung auslän-

discher Absolventen deutscher Hochschulen. Ergebnisse der BAMF-Absolventenstudie 2013. Forschungsbericht 23, Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge.

http://www.bmbf.de/press/3562.php

http://www.bmbf.de/press/3562.php


time abroad.42 The number of German students abroad has continued to grow, exceeding 130,000 in 2011.43

Conclusions

The analysis confirms that the German education, research and innovation system compares very well internationally.

Furthermore, Germany plays a powerful role inter-nationally, on the various relevant levels, as a driving force, initiator and innovator. It has a strong, well-de-veloped national basis for such action.

In its international cooperation, Germany will continue to emphasize excellence. This will call for high-quality commitments on the part of all stake-holders. Initiative also plays a vital role in the success of such efforts, along with coherent planning of national, international and European measures.

The relationships between such national efforts and success at the international level have been substanti-ated by analyses of European research and innovation funding.44 Countries that are strong at the national level in this regard enjoy greater success in interna-tional competition. Germany thus needs to build on its national strengths and make full use of the opportuni-ties a globalized science sector and the global economy provide. A good national system has well-developed

international connections at all levels. In this context, national activities should not be

considered in isolation. This is because, as a result of the growing specialized requirements that apply, national activities now increasingly lead to follow-on activities at the European and/or international levels. Conversely, international activities can provide new insights about the way a national system is designed and structured.

In light of the increasingly international connec-tions seen throughout relevant activities, the BMBF concludes that national activities should be so designed from the outset as to lend themselves to (later) inter-nationalization and even to promote (later) interna-tionalization. Or such measures should be developed directly via international cooperation. Ideally, national activities should build on and complement interna-tional activities and vice-versa. Simple, unbureaucratic procedures should be in place to facilitate and support internationalization.

As internationalization grows, the diversity of stakeholders it entails, along with the depth and breadth of measures and commitments it involves, increasingly presents challenges in the area of coordi-nation. In this area, the BMBF sees significant potential to enhance the impacts, including lasting impacts, of German stakeholders’ commitments abroad by inten-

42 DAAD/HIS, Wissenschaft weltoffen, 2013, p. 61, Wissenschaft weltoffen, 2014, p. 56f.43 Federal Statistical Office, Deutsche Studierende im Ausland [German students abroad], for the year 2011, published in 2013.44 The following are representative of such studies: ZEW, Studie zur deutschen Beteiligung am 6. Forschungsrahmenprogramm der Europäischen Union (2002-

2006), 2009 [Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), study of German participation in the EU’s FP6]; Institut für Sozialforschung und Gesellschaft-

spolitik (ISG), Europäische Forschungsrahmenprogramme in Deutschland-Studie zur deutschen Beteiligung und deren Effekte im 4. Rahmenprogramm

(1994-1998), 2001 [ISG study of German participation in FP4].


sifying networking, on all relevant levels, and through-out all relevant activities.

Significantly, the success of such commitments does not depend solely on transnational networking. National networking can contribute just as importantly to the internationalization of Germany’s education, research and innovation sectors. Intensified coopera-tion between universities and non-university research institutions within Germany will continue to play an important role in the development of an international perspective. Such cooperation brings competencies and resources together at locations that are highly attrac-tive at the international level.

The employment opportunities offered by the German science sector are in demand among leading internationally mobile scientists. Germany benefits from the foreign scientists who work in Germany. In addition, many German scientists who work abroad cooperate actively with scientists in Germany, thereby contributing to a regular exchange of knowledge. Inter-nationally mobile scientists normally produce high-er-quality output, as measured in terms of publications, than do non-mobile scientists.

In light of demographically related shortages of skilled personnel, the mobility of skilled specialists must also be seen in terms of benefits for vocational training, and not only in terms of benefits for the sci-ence sector. And the need for internationally compe-tent people continues to grow in our internationally networked world. Similarly, Germany needs skilled personnel from abroad and needs to be open to such personnel.

Improving mobility is an important component of efforts to enhance the ways in which Germany benefits directly from global “brain circulation”.45

For the BMBF, this means that the German system has to be made as open and permeable as possible, to ensure that various national, European and interna-tional mobility programmes in place can achieve their full potential.

Furthermore, in the view of the BMBF, German institutions’ successful participation in current and

future European initiatives and funding programmes is an important indication of the German system’s per-formance and excellence, and all stakeholders have the vital and permanent task of ensuring such successful participation. This is true especially for the reason that the leverage effects resulting from such participation greatly exceed the benefits of the pertinent funding itself (return flows of funding from the EU).

The analysis has drawn five central conclusions, and these are the keys to Germany’s future success, in international competition, as a centre for education, research and innovation:

1. More mobile: Germany needs to continue increasing the mobility of trainees, students and scientists – both to and from Germany – in order, among other things, to meet future requirements for skilled employees.

2. More effective: Germany needs to make its cooper-ation and funding procedures as simple as possible, and it needs to reduce and eliminate obstacles to bilateral and multilateral cooperation.

3. More efficient: At both the national and international levels, Germany needs to improve its networking, and it needs to promote networking at all levels and between all stakeholders.

4. More focused: Germany needs to intensify its empha-sis on quality and excellence in its international coop-eration – and to do so on a “win-win” basis.

5. More attentive to its own competitiveness: Germany needs to define and highlight its own interests more clearly, and it needs to also see international cooper-ation as an opportunity to strengthen the competi-tiveness of German industry (by opening up markets) and science.

The coalition agreement has translated this basic understanding into the following overarching – and, in part, complementary – objectives and emphases for this legislative period:

45 Cf. Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, p. 101ff.


“We are facing new challenges as a result of increas-ing international competition, including competition from rapidly growing emerging countries; of rapid scien-tific and technological progress – especially the spread of digital technologies; of demographic change, especially in combination with shortages of skilled workers; and of looming scarcities of natural resources. We will therefore focus our strategy in the years to come on innovation, on investments, on full employment in good and productive jobs and on internationalization.”

“We want to achieve a new quality in international scientific cooperation and take the Internationalization Strategy a step further. We will seek agreement with the German science and research organizations on the stronger networking of their activities in the field of inter-nationalization and support them in this area.”

“Moreover, we will strategically develop research cooperation with the emerging, developing and transfor-mation countries.”

“We want to ensure that the number of foreign students rises by approximately one third, to around 350,000, by the end of the decade. We want to achieve an increase in the mobility of German students. We want one out of every two graduates to have gained study experi-ence abroad.”

“The German Academic Exchange Service and the Al-exander von Humboldt Foundation are the key drivers of mobility in higher education and research. Their numer-ous branch offices and international university market-ing activities promote Germany as a place for education

and science. We want to enhance their effectiveness and make use of synergies in this area.”

“We will continue to expand European and interna-tional research collaborations.”

“We will act on our responsibility for completing the European Research Area (ERA) and steadfastly imple-ment our ERA strategy at the national and European levels. To this end, we want to improve the conditions for the mobility of researchers, enhance joint program-ming, establish joint research infrastructures, facilitate the transfer of knowledge, support gender equality in the European science system and expand cooperation with third countries outside of Europe.”

“We want to support and expand the participation of German science and industry in the new Research Framework Programme ‘Horizon 2020’.”

“German science should take an active role in strengthening the European science and innovation sys-tem as a whole. To that end, we will emphasize bilateral innovation consulting and joint research and develop-ment projects with the new Member States in Eastern and South Eastern Europe and with those EU Member States particularly affected by the economic crisis.”

“We are making every effort to ensure that a com-mon European training and labour market significantly enhances mobility and transfer opportunities.”

“We are cooperating worldwide with partner coun-tries that are interested in dual vocational training, by helping them to set up successful vocational training systems and/or to modernize existing systems.”

The following chapters are oriented to these ob-jectives and the need for action they describe. These objectives and requirements serve as guidelines, as the basis for describing and defining new lines of action. They also serve as the standard for “beacons”, which are particularly effective measures that can function as models for other measures, with regard to structural approaches, networking and impacts.

22 GERMANY, EUROPE AND THE WORLD

3. Germany, Europe and the world

Germany is a globally connected and globally acting country.

Education, research and innovation are three of the strong and reliable pillars on which Germany’s inter-national actions are based. In the BMBF’s perspective, all German stakeholders are charged with helping a) to assure the long-term success of Germany’s science and industry sectors and b) to fulfill Germany’s interna-tional responsibility to address global challenges. In addition, the BMBF sees these tasks as complementary reference points to which all activities in these pillar areas must be oriented.

The BMBF addresses its two core tasks (shaping the framework for modern national and international cooperation, and carrying out funding measures that will effectively and efficiently achieve relevant special-

ized and science-policy objectives) via a diverse range of instruments applied on a diverse range of levels. The specialized and science-policy objectives take account of the special, specific conditions prevailing in partner countries. Regional and national strategies provide the necessary framework for the diverse range of activities involved.

And just as the world of education, research and innovation is constantly changing, so must Germany’s objectives and interests regularly be adapted to trends and developments. The concepts and instruments used have to be reviewed and improved as necessary.

The following chapter provides an overview of the BMBF’s current strategic orientation and of the various instruments and levels for action that are involved.

23GERMANY, EUROPE AND THE WORLD

The Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy

The BMBF’s activities and initiatives are based on the “Federal Government’s Strategy for the Internation-alization of Science and Research” (referred to in the following as the “Internationalization Strategy”). That strategy was developed under the guidance of the BMBF and adopted in 2008.

With this strategy, the Federal Government has made a paradigm change in the international dimen-sion of education, research and innovation policy. For the first time, international cooperation has been defined as a key characteristic of modern policy in these areas. With this move, the Federal Government has laid the foundation for departmentally driven, yet interdepartmental, international education, research and innovation policy.

The current Internationalization Strategy defines four target areas, and the Action Plan focuses on these areas:

1. Reinforcing research co-operation with the world’s best;

2. Developing innovation potential internationally;

3. Strengthening education and R&D cooperation with developing countries, in lasting ways;

4. Taking on international responsibility, and tackling global challenges.

In recent years, all major science and research or-ganizations have presented their own internationaliza-tion strategies, along with pertinent measures for their implementation. These strategies are oriented to the objectives and priorities of the Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy.46

In this context, in 2013 the Federal Government and the Länder adopted a joint “Strategy of the Federal and Länder Ministers of Science for the Internation-alization of the Higher Education Institutions in Germany”.47 This strategy defines nine areas of action, including such areas as strategic internationalization of the individual higher education institutions, national mobility objectives, the establishment of a “culture of welcome” and an international campus and the expan-sion of international research cooperation and transna-tional education programmes.

Germany’s education, research and innovation sector will continue to need a reliable, expertly defined political framework for the further development of its worldwide cooperation. Efforts in this regard will in-clude developing suitable, new cooperation formats via which specialized priorities can be effectively achieved at the international level.

Since 2008, the Federal Government’s Internation-alization Strategy has been fulfilling the expectations placed in it. It has built structures, served as a driving force and provided orientation. Now, it needs to be updated and refined.

For this reason, in 2015 the Federal Government, in keeping with its coalition agreement, and working via the direction of the BMBF, will present an enhanced Internationalization Strategy.

46 The German Research Foundation (DFG) (2012), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (2013), the Helmholtz Association (2010 und 2012), the Max Planck Society

(2012) and the Leibniz Association (2013).47 Cf. www.bmbf.de/pubRD/Internationalisierungsstrategie_GWK-Beschluss_12_04_13.pdf.

http://www.bmbf.de/pubRD/Internationalisierungsstrategie_GWK-Beschluss_12_04_13.pdf


The bases for action

The BMBF’s role

The BMBF’s work at the international level is oriented to the “knowledge triangle” consisting of education, research and innovation. the BMBF activates, promotes, supports and networks – at the points of transition between the core areas of education, research and innovation and the international sphere, and at the international interfaces between these three elements.

Whether in funding individual projects or in building capacities, “promoting excellence” is its main guiding principle.

This is why, in its cooperation with industrialized countries, it works to promote cooperation among the best on all sides.

And in its cooperation with newly industrialized countries, it seeks to concentrate on excellence and to develop it, to mutual benefit. Its efforts include work-ing to develop markets, and to attract highly qualified skilled personnel. Over the past 15 years, the number of very poor countries, i.e. of “developing countries” in the traditional sense, has been cut in half, to about 35. Only about one-third of the very poorest people now live in “developing countries”; two-thirds live in newly industrialized countries. Cooperation with newly industrialized, and economically emerging, countries

is becoming increasingly important, and such coop-eration thus often simultaneously involves practical efforts to combat poverty and its consequences.

Efforts in this context in developing countries have to do primarily with building capacities for tertiary education, research and science, however. And in its cooperation with such countries, the BMBF does not provide development aid, and it expects its partners to assume responsibility in the form of “ownership”. The BMBF emphasizes partnerships in which both sides are on equal terms. The BMBF’s activities abroad are thus always cooperation efforts “with a country” and not ef-forts “in a country”. This also applies to its cooperation with developing countries.

In its cooperation with the special group of partner countries in the North African and Arabian regions, the so-called “transition countries” in which system change is now underway, the BMBF emphasizes coop-eration in the areas of education and research, with a view to fostering societal and political stability.

In all of its cooperation efforts, the BMBF expects its partners to provide matching (wherever possible) levels of personnel, material resources and funding. Furthermore, in all funding efforts, regardless of the type of partner country they involve, “sustainability” is a key criterion for measures. The science sector’s accepted rules provide the standard for determining success in this regard. Sustainable, reliable structures are the goal; excellence-oriented efforts are the frame-work.

Action: levels and instruments

The BMBF has a broad range of instruments with which it can define and shape the necessary framework for internationalization and provide a structural basis for it.

The following section provides an overview of the various levels and instruments involved.

Stages of cooperation

The manner in which international cooperation in education and research policy is developed and deep-ened can be illustrated in terms of the following stages:48

48 Cf. also the Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFi) 2014, p. 377.


1. Observation

2. Exploration

3. Mobility

4. Networking

5. Institutional partnerships

6. Strategic partnerships

In practice, the various stages in which cooperation with a partner country takes place cannot be exactly separated from each other. They often complement each other. The various cooperation programmes with a given partner country can vary in terms of develop-ment and intensity stages, depending on the topic areas involved.

Shaping the framework

International cooperation always requires a reliable framework. In each case, the framework chosen will depend on the applicable political and legal conditions that Germany, working through the BMBF, develops and defines.

The European framework has special importance, as a result of Germany’s profound integration within the EU and with regard to the completion of the Euro-pean Research Area and to the international dimension of that Area. Efforts to shape consultation processes with European partners and institutions thus play a special role in this context.

The BMBF works on the following levels:

1. Analyses and reports International monitoring, indicators, trend analyses, bibliometric analyses and patent analyes, evalua-tions. The aim in this area is to create a solid basis for knowledge-based political decisions.

2. Bilateral and multilateral bodies and dialogue Meetings of the commissions for science and technology cooperation (STC), education-policy dialogue, specialized working groups and platforms, workshops, etc.. The aim in this area is to provide frameworks for cooperation, and to involve experts on the areas of education, research and innovation, via regular specialized dialogue.

3. International bilateral agreements Agreements on STC, agreements on cooperation in education and agreements on specific subject areas and individual issues, etcs. The aim in this area is to reach agreements, with government agencies in important partner countries, that are conducive to cooperation and commercialization.

4. Active in the shaping and implementation of EU programmes The aim in this area is to ensure that German inter-ests are taken into account in the shaping and imple-mentation of European funding programmes such as “Horizon 2020” and “Erasmus+”. This also applies to decision-making processes of bodies such as the “Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation” (SFIC) and the European Innovation Partnerships (EIP).

5. Active membership in international organizations Important examples of such organizations include the OECD and UNESCO. The aim in this area is to en-shrine German positions in the relevant governance processes.

6. Active membership in high-level forums such as the G8/G7/G20 and the Carnegie Forum The aim in this area is to ensure that German inter-ests are taken into account in forums that carry out important advance work, that move international discussion forward and that, in part, prepare the way for formal decisions.

Instruments and measures

The measures applied can be of many different forms. They can be oriented to the execution of concrete ed-ucation, research and innovation projects, for example. They can also be focused on study and development of future cooperation, or they may be designed to support specific analysis and development of oppor-tunities for international networking with important partner countries and regions. They may apply broad, thematically unspecified approaches, in early stages of the development of international cooperation (“seed-bed” stages), or they may employ targeted measures in keeping with the BMBF’s education and research policy strategies and programmes. Complex transnational


collaborative research projects, including even the de-velopment of joint funding programmes with other EU countries, have been growing in importance. Parallel calls for proposals, carried out via agreements with se-lected partner countries (currently, India, Egypt, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and Tunesia) are of special relevance in cooperation with third countries.

The following list provides an overview of com-monly used instruments and measures:

1. Promotion of the preparation of internationally structured research projects Efforts in this area are aimed at preparing major specif-ic measures. This preliminary work can also consist of pre-projects, of considerable duration, for major projects.

2. Project-related mobility promotion of the BMBF that is not limited to individual specialized programmes Efforts in this area are aimed at linking research pro-jects with other efforts, as is appropriate, and at de-veloping joint funding structures. Mobility promotion is carried out to support implementation of bilateral transnational agreements.

3. Funding of training measures abroad Efforts in this area are aimed at providing training to scientists abroad, to enable them to build local innovation systems and to serve as contact persons for future R&D cooperation. This instrument is used especially with developing countries, although in some cases it is also used with newly industrialized countries. Examples of efforts for which funding is provided include summer schools, graduate pro-grammes and academic chairs abroad (technology transfer, science management, knowledge sourcing, etc.)

4. Support for international specialized workshops / conferences Efforts in this area are aimed at developing a solid basis for knowledge-based decisions, relative to po-tential areas for future cooperation, as well as at de-veloping suitable contacts for cooperation projects.

5. The BMBF’s project funding Efforts in this area are aimed at supporting research for the further enhancement of the German inno-vation system. Project funding, with non-repaya-ble grants, is the instrument typically used for the BMBF’s theme-oriented education, research and innovation funding for German universities, non-uni-

versity organizations and private industry. As a rule, project funding is available for international coopera-tion or even will depend on such cooperation. Project funding may be provided on a unilaterial, bilaterial or – especially in the framework of European measures – multilateral basis.

6. Bilateral funding announcements not tied to specific thematic areas Efforts in this area are aimed at providing lasting, systematic support for bilateral research projects carried out in cooperation with one partner country. The funding announcements involved are regular, coordinated and joint funding announcements in-volving joint selection processes and joint structures (secretariat / coordination office).

7. Multilateral coordinated project funding Efforts in this area are aimed at developing lasting funding procedures relative to thematically orient-ed, multilateral networking with multiple European partner countries and third countries. Examples of in-struments used in this area include joint programme planning, ERA-NETs and INCO-NETs – instruments for advancing the European Research Area and/or for establishing joint funding instruments worldwide.

8. Establishment and support of secretariats and insti-tutes for international tasks Efforts in this area are aimed at helping to shape implementation of international or multilateral co-operation processes. Relevant funding can be applied to such tasks as the expansion of the UN presence in Bonn or the management of transnational funding measures.

9. Promotion of institutional networking by German institutions Efforts in this area are aimed at reviewing the feasi-bility, relevance and sustainability of new structures. Relevant funding can be provided to partnerships of institutes, cluster partnerships and bilateral higher education institutions or study programmes.

10. System consultation Efforts in this area are aimed at supporting partner countries’ reform efforts in development of their systems and structures in the framework of learning exchanges and exchanges of experience, as well as at supporting joint testing of relevant innovations.


Research and intermediary organizations

The BMBF cooperates closely with the German re-search and intermediary organizations (Max Planck So-ciety, Helmholtz Association, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Leibniz Association, German Research Foundation (DFG), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Alexander von Humboldt Foundation).

The BMBF supports the work of the research organ-izations and of the DFG via strong institutional support

and complementary project funding. The DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation receive sig-nificant allocations from the BMBF’s project funding.

The following section describes the strategic orien-tations of the organizations working at the internation-al level. In addition, in Chapter 4 it presents selected examples that highlight their international work. The relevant, especially visible projects have been sup-ported, or are being supported, in part via the BMBF’s project funding.

The Max Planck Society’s internationalization strategy

Internationality is a general characteristic of research, and in many cases is a key factor for its success. On the other hand, it is not an end in itself. The MPG works

to promote it specifically in those areas in which it generates added value for research. The top priority is to provide access to the best minds and coop-eration partners. The MPG’s internationalization strategy dovetails with the Federal Government’s Strategy for the Internationalization of Science and Research.

The MPG supports the aim pursued by the Fed-eral Government and the Länder, via the Pact for Research and Innovation, of enhancing the com-petitiveness of German research by making better use of available resources. The focus in such efforts is on assuring scientific excellence, strengthening cooperation and networking across organizational boundaries, promoting young scientists and provid-ing opportunities to apply new and unconventional research approaches. The MPG, as a leading German research organization, has been a part of the global science community for decades, and the interna-tional attractiveness of the Max Planck institutes has been confirmed again and again. No other Euro-pean research organization has a comparable range of international connections.In the MPG’s own view, one of the MPG’s key tasks

is to promote the internationalization of the science sector, both in its own interest and in the interest of Germany’s science and research sector. It does this via efforts such as strengthening science presences in important target countries.

For the MPG, international presences have the primary purposes of conducting excellent science, building international networks, tapping into dynamic growth abroad, optimizing recruiting opportunities and expanding the MPG’s research portfolio.

The MPG has a differentiated range of instruments for strengthening its international presence, which is spearheaded by the Max Planck institutes abroad. With its partner groups, Max Planck Centers and international institutes, the MPG has created out-standing opportunities to intensify its international cooperation. It also participates in a great many bilateral and multilateral cooperative efforts, and major international projects, and it conducts inten-sive exchanges of scientists between Max Planck institutes and foreign research institutions.

One of the MPG’s special focuses is on the strength-ening of the European Research Area and its international scientific competitiveness. This also includes the establishment of excellent research ca-pacities in European regions that are less strong in research. This orientation is needed, if the European Research Area – and, thus, Germany – are to keep


becoming more and more attractive for the world’s best scientists. All German science organizations share the common challenge of calling attention to German research and its excellence. The organ-izations must work toward this aim if the German science and research sector’s renown and visibility are to grow, and its attractiveness for excellent

foreign scientists is to be enhanced. This is why the MPG has been taking an active role in developing the German Houses of Research and Innovation (DWIH). One way in which the MPG has been help-ing to internationally highlight the German science and research sector’s excellence has been to present its “Science Tunnel” exhibition.


The Helmholtz Association’s internationalization strategy

As a national organization that conducts research, on behalf of the poli-

cy-making sector, into pressing questions for science, industry and society, the Helmholtz Association de-pends strongly on international cooperation. In the framework of its internationalization strategy, the Helmholtz Association has defined three overarching goals, and it is pursuing these goals via instruments tailored to the Association’s mission and activities.

Goal 1: Strengthening the German research community by safeguarding its international competitiveness and architectural role in ad-dressing major societal challenges Excellent research, carried out in combination with the construction, operation and provision of major infrastructures (that, in some cases are unique worldwide) for the international research communi-ty, sets the Helmholtz Association apart from other organizations. With this focus, Helmholtz is able to play a special role in international research and to have a hand in key research projects. Its participation in international scientific developments strengthens the German research community’s competitiveness and relevance. At the same time, the unique research infrastructures available within the Helmholtz Association help attract the world’s best scientists, for training in using equipment and – of course – for research use of equipment and the research progress it can provide.

Goal 2: Cooperation with leading researchers, and recruitment of top researchers for the Helmholtz Association and the German science system International talent management plays an especially important role at the Helmholtz Association. The organization’s aim in this connection is to succeed in the competition for the best minds and to attract and retain excellent researchers – either young or well-es-tablished – for the Helmholtz research centres and thus for Germany’s national research community. At the same time, it works to promote cooperation with leading foreign scientists, via targeted programmes and instruments, and thus to establish a network of reliable cooperation partners at foreign research institutions and in key countries.

Goal 3: Strengthening the visibility and pres-ence of German research abroad, and fulfilling the Helmholtz Association’s research policy mission also in newly industrialized countries and developing countries The Helmholtz Association also has strong commit-ments abroad, via its participation in international research platforms and networks (such as CERN, IPCC), and in research policy organizations (such as ScienceEurope), and via its own presence at its loca-tions in Beijing, Moscow and Brussels. Its scientific work in local and regional clusters has been playing an increasingly important role in this connection. In addition, the building of suitable frameworks, such as umbrella structures, that are conducive to lasting co-operation is also growing more and more important. In keeping with this trend, in 2013 the Association established its first Helmholtz International Research Networks in China and Israel, two new instruments in the context of its internationalization strategy.


Basic aspects of the internationalization strategy of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft: Research in the context of international competition

Added value via cooperation The internation-alization strategy

of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is oriented to clear principles: scientific value creation for Fraunhofer, along with positive effects for Germany and for the relevant partner country in each case, are necessary objectives of strategic international cooperation.

Focus on excellence and on global commit-ments of German industry Fraunhofer’s strategic guidelines for the scientific and industrial focus of its commitments abroad

include the scientific excellence of its partners and the intensity with which German companies are involved.

Lasting success via “global governance” and ongoing monitoring The operational challenges encountered in foreign commitments are more complex, in many ways, than those found in domestic efforts. Fraunhofer has developed a range of differentiated instruments and internal guidelines that are designed to ensure that international efforts have lasting success, and it carefully monitors relevance conformance.

The Leibniz Association’s internationalization strategy

The Leibniz Associa-tion’s 89 institutions are firmly established within the international community of leading researchers. Leibniz scientists cooperate

with institutions worldwide and are constantly expanding such cooperation. The Leibniz Associ-ation operates in keeping with the international nature and significance of science, and it supports its institutions in working toward a total of four Association-established goals.

Goal 1: Attracting the best minds One of the keys to the Leibniz institutes’ excellence is the institutes’ ability to attract leading (young) foreign researchers. In the context of the global

competition for the best minds, the Leibniz Associ-ation works to recruit top-quality researchers from throughout the world. The Leibniz Association’s primary instruments for achieving this goal include its international promotion of young scientists and researchers, via the Leibniz International Graduate Schools and Leibniz-DAAD Research Fellowships.

Goal 2: Developing international contacts Scientific mobility supports efforts to acquire new methods and knowledge, to understand other sci-ence-sector cultures, to build networks and to look ahead to new thematic developments. The Leibniz Association works to enhance the international mobility of its scientists. In so doing, it provides the best possible working conditions at its institutes in Germany. To be able to engage in cutting-edge re-search, one must have access to a broad range of re-


sources – in areas such as personnel, infrastructures and finances. Often, one requires access to various natural, social and cultural resources and research objects abroad. The Leibniz institutions are valuable cooperation partners in the competition for the new “science markets” that are emerging. The Lei-bniz Association’s institutions already profit from a wide and numerous array of cooperation pro-grammes, partner locations and Association-owned research stations abroad.

Numerous Leibniz institutions collaborate with researchers from newly industrialized countries and developing countries – in areas such as biodiversity research, infection research and agricultural re-search, and in connection with historical institutes and research museums. Via their cooperation with organizations involved in German development co-operation, the Leibniz institutes carry out capacity building and “science diplomacy”. In so doing, they help to promote democracy, political liberalization and societal awareness, and help to improve work-ing conditions, in the countries involved.

At the European level, the Leibniz Association ad-dresses a changed funding environment by helping to shape the European Research Area, in light of its own thematic diversity. Leibniz research topics play an important role, for example, in the EU research emphases “Societal Challenges” and “Excellent Science”.

Goal 3: Strengthening the “Leibniz” brand abroad Measures to enhance the visibility of “Leibniz”, as a young brand standing for cutting-edge research,

are being carried out abroad. The organization’s President and Vice Presidents represent the Leibniz Association, with one voice, in dealings with Ger-many’s and foreign countries’ ministries, research and intermediary organizations, foreign research institutions and embassies and at events that pres-ent the Leibniz Association to the public. Leibniz Headquarters supports the Association’s institutes by providing information about international calls for proposals and financing opportunities, thematic focus programmes, research marketing activities, networking and alumni activities.

Goal 4: Intensifying the Association’s institu-tional internationalization Outstanding research takes place in the context of international scientific communities. As a result, Leibniz institutes’ evaluation and assessment procedures must be oriented to the international stage; Leibniz institutions profit from the opin-ions of foreign scientists and of German scientists working abroad. In cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, Leibniz Headquarters has developed the “Leibniz-AA” programme, which enables Leibniz Association staff to visit German embassies and consulates throughout the world for residencies of up to six months.

As the four aforementioned goals indicate, the Leib-niz Association’s active internationalization process is not an end in itself, but rather one element of an overall quality strategy. With it, the Leibniz insti-tutes position themselves in international compe-tition, fulfill the aims of the Pact for Research and Innovation and support the Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy.


The international activities of the German Research Foundation (DFG)

The DFG funds research – largely at German universities – via a “responsive mode” approach. This involves a) listening carefully to what German science says regarding its needs and b) then attempting to meet those needs via researchers chosen via highly com-petitive peer review of the best researchers in the relevant research fields. By and large, funding appli-cations may be submitted at any time; they do not have to be oriented to specific calls for proposals or to thematic and/or research policy specifications. Via this process, the DFG learns much about the science sector’s basic needs, and it translates these findings – where they relate directly to its scope of responsibility – into specific initiatives. Needless to say, this orientation means, with regard to the DFG’s international actions, that the DFG of course sup-ports international cooperation via all of its funding instruments. As a rule, however, in cases involving international cooperation it only supports those parts of the research that are carried out in Germa-ny. And it goes without saying that funding is also available for foreign researchers who conduct their research in Germany. The DFG also provides fund-ing for lengthy research stays abroad of post-docs. Its “International Research Training Groups” (Gra-duiertenkollegs) are an instrument for internation-alization of doctoral studies in the framework of major binational research projects. Via its “initiation funding” (“Anbahnungsförderung”), it is able to help develop new projects. In addition, the DFG oper-ates internationally, in keeping with the relevant research areas’ levels of integration and depending on the specific interest of the German science sec-tor, in order to provide or improve frameworks for international research cooperation.

Worldwise, in countries of interest for the German science sector, the DFG maintains intensive work-ing contacts with important partner organizations. Such contacts focus especially on procedures and instruments for joint research funding (key aspects in this regard include synchronizing processing of applications and funding decisions, joint calls for proposals, joint reviews and assessments).In EU Europe, the DFG participates actively in the building of the European Research Area, both directly and in collaboration with its Europe-wide partner organizations within Science Europe, an association in whose founding the DFG played a key role (www.scienceeurope.org).

In non-EU countries with which Germany coop-erates especially intensively, and in which the DFG finances the European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (KoWi) (www.kowi.de) on behalf of the German science sector, it operates international offices (Brazil, India, Japan, Russia, the U.S.). In China, working in cooperation with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), it operates the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (www.sinogermanscience.org.cn). In addition, in Brazil, Chile and Mexico, the DFG is supported on location by (a total of) three liaison scientists.

The DFG is able, in exceptional cases, to grant Ger-man project partners funding for their cooperation partners abroad. This enables the DFG to promote research cooperation with partners in developing and newly industrialized countries.

The DFG provides support for the participation of scientific and research associations, or of individual officials, in international organizations and associa-

www.scienceeurope.org

http://www.kowi.de

http://www.sinogermanscience.org.cn


tions, and in many cases it is itself an active mem-ber of such organizations and associations. Such support and such memberships help ensure that the German science sector is able to help develop and shape international frameworks and set key agendas.

As a founding member of the Global Research Council (www.globalresearchcouncil.org), the DFG participates in the formulation of worldwide stand-ards for science funding. Such standards facilitate cooperation between funding organizations, and they provide important orientation for newly devel-oping systems.

The internationalization strategy of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

On behalf of German higher education insti-tutions and their student bodies, the DAAD works to

internationalize the German science and innova-tion system. By awarding grants and scholarships, it provides access to the best study and research op-portunities – for students, researchers and instruc-tors. With carefully tailored programmes, it also promotes transnational cooperation and partner-ships between higher education institutions. In the process, it pursues aims in the areas of internation-ally oriented cultural affairs and education policy, science policy and development policy.

In the next few years, in response to the new challenges arising as a result of the science sector’s dynamic development worldwide, the DAAD plans to further optimize its procedures and more inten-sively orient its actions to strategic criteria. To these ends, in 2013 the DAAD defined its “DAAD Strategy 2020”, which includes three core goals:

Goal 1: Grants for the best The DAAD plans to build on its successes in pro-moting outstanding students and scientists by also providing programmes to prepare future specialists and managerial staff for positions of responsibility and, thereby, creating lasting connections world-wide. It plans to intensify its support for culturally oriented, and subject-area-oriented, networks of its scholarship recipients and alumni.

Goal 2: Open structures The DAAD plans to structure its programmes in ways that will enable higher education institutions to use them in implementing their own interna-tionalization strategies. If Germany is to retain its standing as a leading host country for internation-ally mobile students, it will need to attract at least 350,000 foreign students by 2020. And the academic success of those students will need to reach the levels seen among native German students. By the end of the decade, one out of every two German students should be gaining substantial academic experience abroad by the time they graduate. The DAAD is working to ensure that German retains its status as a language for science, and it strongly supports multilingualism. In addition, it is partici-pating in the development of the European Higher Education and Research Area.

Goal 3: Knowledge for science cooperation The DAAD bases its work on a comprehensive, diverse body of knowledge about the structures for cooperation in higher education, and about science systems, in place around the world. In the process, the DAAD relies on the professional experience of its staff and on a worldwide network of branch offices, information centres and editorial offices. The DAAD continually updates its knowledge and mades it available to support strategic decisions of stakeholders. Working on the basis of such knowl-edge, the DAAD plans to be able to function even more effectively as a provider of impetus for the internationalization of the science system.

http://www.globalresearchcouncil.org


The international activities of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH)

The AvH does not have a dedicated internation-alization strategy per se. Instead,

it functions in its entirety as an instrument for the internationalization of the German research and science sector – for the benefit of universities and research institutions. In December 2013, the AvH’s Board of Trustees approved a “Strategic Focus” that is now available for review on the Foundation’s website. The AvH’s person-oriented funding connects with the internationalization strategies of higher edu-cation institutions and research institutions on a number of different levels.

Grants and prizes are instruments that can be used to finance parts of a successful internationalization strategy. And persons who receive such funding “internationalize” their host higher education insti-tutions and research institutions.

Alexander von Humboldt professorships, for which only higher education administrators are eligible for nomination, provide palpable incentives, and lasting structural support, for setting of priorities and for internationalization.

Via competitions (“Welcome Centers”, “Researcher Alumni”), higher education institutions receive incentives to develop additional components of internationalization strategies. Many of the insti-tutions that participate in such competitions – and not only winners – implement the relevant con-cepts. The winners do so with the financial support of the AvH and its partners.

The AvH brings together expertise on internation-alization and mobility issues and offers relevant advising. Such services are provided on an “institu-tionalized” basis – as in the EURAXESS coordina-tion office for “mobility advisors” at higher educa-tion institutions – or individually, via memberships in university committees, or upon individual request.

Furthermore, the AvH offers higher education institutions orientation for internationalization efforts, in the form of experience-based infor-mation and data that it has gathered and suitably processed. “Humboldt Rankings” assist higher edu-cation institutions in assessing their focus on, and attractiveness for, leading foreign researchers, and in comparing themselves to competing institutions. In the collaborative research project “Profile data on the internationality of German higher education institutions”, which is coordinated by the DAAD, the AvH is collaborating with the DAAD and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) to provide universities with a user-friendly set of benchmarks that reflects various dimensions of international-ization. The effort is providing universities with an extensive database via which they can compare themselves with the overall “field”, i.e. with which they can determine their own relative positions.

The AvH is also contributing to lasting internation-alization of professorships by awarding research grants to young foreign scientists: according to recent AvH surveys, 548 alumni of foreign origin are now working in Germany as professors (at the W1-W3 levels). Of these, 392 are employed at scien-tifically oriented universities. The Federal Statistical Office found that 1,675 foreign professors (W1-W3) were employed at scientifically oriented universi-ties in the year 2010. AvH alumni thus account for 23.4 % of that group.


Europe

The European Research Area (ERA)

Since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, in December 2009, the goal of making the ERA a reality has been enshrined in the EU’s primary laws.

The ERA is to be an area in which “researchers, sci-entific knowledge and technology cirulate freely” (Art. 179 TFEU). These goals are binding for all participants – and especially for the Member States, which have the central responsibility for the further development of the ERA. These goals have been upheld by the Europe-an Council – along with the requirement to complete the ERA by 2014.49

The ERA has matured into a many-layered, interna-tionally oriented and visible area for cooperation and networking, an area in which the research policies of the Member States and the EU, and the various national, bilateral and multilateral research and innovation activi-

ties taking place on various levels, are closely intercon-nected. The ERA has thus been placed on a solid founda-tion, and it has been completed, in principle. It needs to be continually developed further, however. In this sense, the year 2014 must be seen as a milestone in the process of completing the ERA – a process that is evolutionary overall and that now must be intensively continued.

The BMBF fully accepts its role in the further development of the ERA. Europe needs a research area that is open and highly interconnected, and that is attractive for the best talents worldwide. The success of the ERA is the best-possible protection for Europe’s innovativeness and for the global competitiveness that it gains via innovation. Germany’s science sector cooperates predominantly with European partners. As the largest research nation in Europe, Germany has a special role to play in the further development of the ERA. The BMBF is making use of this opportunity to help shape the ERA – inter alia, by implementing the Federal Government’s strategy for the ERA.

49 Conclusions of the European Council of 03./04 Feb. 2011, last confirmed on 24./25. Oct. 2013


The Federal Government’s ERA strategy

The Federal Government plans to implement the national ERA strategy that has been developed under the leadership of the BMBF. This will address the ERA’s dynamic development, and it will fulfill the relevant commission set forth in the coalition agreement, a commission that emphasizes Germa-ny’s responsibility for the ERA and for the strength-ening of the European science and innovation system overall. The development of the ERA is to be actively moved forward on the basis of this strate-gy, and via collaboration with the various relevant stakeholders and partners in the German science system.

Along with political guidelines, the ERA strategy in-cludes a national roadmap with concrete measures for implementation.

These measures are oriented to the following thematic priorities that policy-makers have agreed at the European level: “more effective national

research systems”, “optimal international coop-eration and related competition”, “open employ-ment market for researchers”, “gender equality and application of equal opportunity criteria in research”, “optimal exchange of, access to, and transfer of scientific findings” and the “international dimension of the ERA”. The BMBF plans to partic-ipate actively in the implementation of these six priorities. The BMBF maintains that the ERA builds on the diversity and the various strengths of the Member States’ national research and innovation systems, and that the Member States thus have the primary responsibility of achieving – on the basis of voluntary commitments – substantial progress in the further realization of the ERA. Such responsibil-ity allows for the option of implementing concrete measures and cooperation in accordance with the variable geometry principle – i.e. on a voluntary basis, in flexibly structured groups and/or formats for intensified cooperation.

In the framework of the “European Research Area and Innovation Committee” (ERAC), the BMBF is also taking an active role in the development of a Europe-an roadmap for the ERA. The roadmap, which is to be completed by mid-2015, will support, and help intensi-fy, the Member States’ efforts in this area.50

For the BMBF, the Member States’ marked commit-ment shows that harmonization-oriented EU legis-lative initiatives are not needed for the ERA. What is more, such initiatives would be detrimental to Europe’s diversity of research systems and cultures, a diversity which promotes the competition needed in order to achieve superb scientific performance and scientific excellence. Strong national voluntary commitments are what is needed for further implementation of the joint research area.

“Horizon 2020”

“Horizon 2020”, the new framework programme for research and innovation, is the primary instrument for supporting the ERA at the EU level. In this prog-amme, the EU has drawn extensive inspiration from the Federal Government’s High-Tech Strategy (HTS), with its comprehensive, excellence-driven research and innovation strategy oriented to lead markets and global challenges.

The new Framework Programme for Research will contribute significantly to the achievement of sustainable growth and jobs in Europe, and thus will help strengthen Europe’s competitiveness. Research, technology and innovation are the keys to achieving these aims. They provide new ideas for the solution of the major challenges facing Europe, and they provide the basis for new products and services that enter mar-kets. The new funding programme can be expected to

50 Conclusions of the Competitiveness Council of 21 Feb. 2014


develop a great range of synergies that will benefit the German research and science sector. A total of about 77 billion euros will be available for this effort in the next seven years (2014-2020).

“Horizon 2020” provides a broad portfolio of funding instruments that can be used to interconnect excellent services and performance, across European boundaries, in keeping with the needs of the rele-vant stakeholders. The range of instruments includes transnational collaborative research; industry-driven funding initiatives with their own legal personality pursuant to Art. 187 TFEU, in the form of Joint Tech-nology Initiatives (JTIs); funding measures for excellent researchers, via the European Research Council (ERC); and funding of new collaborative structures set up as Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), with-in the framework of the European Institute of Innova-tion and Technology (EIT).

The Member States have been intensifying their own national commitments and involvement – for ex-ample, via the proven programmes pursuant to Art. 185 TFEU, in which Member States combine their national funding programmes with EU participation (“top-up”) (for example, in the “Eurostars” effort, for the pro-motion of research-driven SMEs, or in the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), which carries out research into neglected, poverty-related diseases, in cooperation with African partner countries). Similarly, Member States have been addressing international challenges via Joint Program-ming Initiatives (JPIs) aimed at concentrating resources in the ERA.

The transnational research initiatives EUREKA and COST, which apply a “bottom-up” approach, are highly flexible and use lean administrative structures, are important ERA instruments that usefully complement the EU’s “Horizon 2020” activities.

The ERA’s external and international dimensions

Over the past few years, the ERA’s external and inter-national dimensions have become more and more sig-nificant. Those dimensions are subject to the influences of developments that lie outside the realm of research policy pure and simple. This is seen, for example, in connection with the establishment of the EU’s Euro-pean External Action Service (EEAS), which already maintains EU delegations in numerous third countries. It is not yet clear what specific impacts this move will have – for example, on “governance” in cooperation in education, research and innovation in Europe, or on Member States’ cooperation with the third countries involved. It is clear, however, that the ERA’s coopera-tion is acquiring a “foreign policy” component that is going to be increasingly important as time goes by. The BMBF plans to participate proactively in this process, with the aims of assuring the necessary transparency and of helping to develop and promote the input of the national and European levels in the best possible ways.

The BMBF is currently involved in about 30 projects within the INCO programme – i.e. in EU measures aimed at supporting efforts of EU Member States and of the European Commission to work jointly in developing cooperation with third countries. In the process, the BMBF has created a broad basis for Eu-rope-wide coordination of cooperation strategies that take account of German interests and thereby usefully complement its own bilateral activities.

Apart from instruments typically used in the INCO framework, the EU is developing a new, thematical-ly oriented area for transnational cooperation, with macro-regional strategies, supported by Germany, for the Baltic and Danube regions. The strategies involved focus on economic areas geographically, and they are not politically tied to the EU’s territory. They are thus explicitly oriented to the strengthening of cooperation with third countries, and they will contribute signifi-cantly to the development of ERA-relevant structures in areas directly bordering the ERA.


Cooperation in the framework of EU macro-region-al strategies is aimed at developing the research and innovation resources of different regions at different levels of development, and at developing these science and economic regions as whole entities.

The highly diverse Baltic Sea region is one of the world’s most innovative regions. It has an outstanding scientific basis for addressing major societal challenges and for focusing on the emphases of “Horizon 2020”. It is a model region for transnational multilateral cooperation. Since 2010, the BMBF has been promoting the establishment and growth of innovative research and development networks in that region, with a view to fostering lasting connections with partners in it. The effort is also advancing the internationalization of existing national networks.

More than 100 million people – or more than one-fifth of the EU’s population – live in the Danube region, which has great long-term regional potential in the areas of education, research and innovation. Differences and similarities between the countries of the Upper Danube and those of the Lower Danube – between West and East – become apparent in the “knowledge triangle” consisting of innovation, research and education. In its cooperation with the Danube region, the BMBF is working to a) make the region’s

innovation potential available for German institutions and b) to close the gaps between the region’s countries in the area of innovation. The BMBF-supported science cooperation in the Danube region is thus designed to promote networking with, and by, excellent institu-tions in the region and to promote the establishment of competitive research infrastructures.

The EU is reviewing the possibility of applying an additional macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian region.

The ERA’s external dimension is also apparent in the area of agreements on scientific and technical co-operation (STC). Over the past few years, the European Commission has considerably expanded its research policy activities in the framework of cooperation with third countries. Separate STC agreements have been concluded with some 20 countries, and the numbers of international partners within the EU’s Framework Programme for Research have grown considerably in recent years.

The European Commission has proposed that national agreements on STC with other countries also receive a European focus. This would be achieved via the conclusion of “umbrella agreements” with third countries that would reflect the interests of both the participating Member States and the EU. Initial steps in


this direction have already been taken in a pilot initia-tive with India in the Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation (SFIC) framework.

In the view of the BMBF, as the EU takes a strong-er role in “foreign policy”, the Member States need to take an active role in relevant governance, since such a stronger EU role will also have impacts on the Member States’ bilateral and multilateral activities. Further-more, the BMBF sees a Member States’ prerogative in the external dimension. Reliable coordination between the European Commission and the Member States has to take place. The relevant bilateral activities have to be assigned a value in keeping with their special importance. European and multilateral activities can build on such activities. Competitive situations need to be avoided; complementarities need to be sought; and adequate coordination needs to be assured. In individ-ual cases, therefore, the BMBF will thus always review the potential advantages of a “European” commitment in light of Germany’s strategic priorities in the relevant third countries.

The BMBF’s bilateral STC with countries outside the EU will continue to become more and more “Euro-peanized”. This means that German interests, in certain thematic areas, will increasingly be introduced into Eu-

ropean initiatives for cooperation with third countries, with to a view to forming “critical masses”, in cooper-ation with other Member States – and thereby being better able to apply joint interests, especially in relation to the other global economic areas. The BMBF’s aim in this regard is to structure STC in future so as to ensure that, in suitable thematic areas, procedures are initiat-ed jointly with European partner countries (so-called “variable-geometry STC”).

In light of this overall trend, which will shape discussion between the European Commission and the Member States regarding the design of the ERA’s external dimension in the coming years, it will be necessary to determine what role the “Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation” (SFIC) can play in this context in future. That forum was established in 2008, primarily at the urging of the BMBF, in order to improve information sharing between the Member States and the Commission and to develop cooperation structures with third countries that would be coordi-nated Europe-wide. In the BMBF’s view, the SFIC needs to bring the area of “cooperation with third countries” together with the other ERA initiatives more effective-ly – for example, by monitoring and supporting Joint Programming Initiatives in the area of cooperation with third countries. In addition, so the BMBF, the SFIC


needs to give greater attention to the issue of how EU activities in the external dimension and Member States’ bilateral activities can usefully complement each other. At the same time, it must be ensured that the Member States’ aim of driving the development of activities in the external dimension is not undermined. This is be-cause bilateral cooperation with third countries, in sci-ence and research, remains centrally important. Direct cooperation makes it possible to carry out projects that are tailoured specifically to individual countries’ special circumstances and relations. From such cooperation, new networks and thematic areas emerge that, in turn, prepare the way for multilateral cooperation.

European cooperation in education and training

In the EU context, shaping and structuring European cooperation in education and training is a task of the Member States. Their responsibility for general and vocational education/training is set forth in Art. 165 ff. of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The EU is charged with promoting cooperation between the Member States, and with supporting and complementing their activities – but without harmo-nizing their education systems. The facts that coopera-tion at the EU level is voluntary in this area, and that the Member States have a relatively strong position, does not mean that cooperation at the EU level is of little importance, however. On the contrary – it has grown in importance in recent years. This is because there are many challenges in which the Member States can profit from exchanges of experience and proven practices.

In the education sector, the Member States have a special responsibility to ensure that Europe can function as an attractive, globally competitive area for education and training. The BMBF is well aware of this responsibility, and it works to help shape and structure European cooperation in education and training. The relevant activities at the EU level extend to all areas of education, from early childhood education to adult education, and lifelong learning plays an especially important, overarching role.

The central areas of action include promotion of mobility, improvement of the quality and efficiency of

general and vocational education and training, devel-opment of the European dimension of the education sector and intensification of sharing and exchange of information and experience. The BMBF continues to view the “Open Method of Coordination” (OMC) as a proven instrument, and as the central instrument, for European cooperation in education and training. The standard for such activities is the “strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training” (ET 2020), which dates from 2009 and in which the Member States’ ministers of education defined the applicable strategic objectives through 2020 and the instruments to be used for relevant cooperation. A number of benchmarks and indicators were defined for the purpose of monitoring pertinent progress.

European cooperation in education and training is oriented to more and better transparency, and to the recognition and comparability of qualifications and learning achievements. Furthermore, it aims to build bridges between the Member States’ education systems. Germany supports the implementation and optimiza-tion of instruments for recognition and transparency such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the Europass and the European Credit System for Edu-cation and Training (ECVET).

High-quality, efficient systems for education and vocational training lay the foundation for prosperity and competitiveness in Europe. They assure employ-ability, and they promote social cohesion and active participation in society. As a result of this strategic importance, education also plays a prominent role in the European Union’s growth strategy, the Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Education is one of the five headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The strategy’s focus in this regard is on encouraging learning and earning of additional qualifications. Two pertinent targets have been defined. In Germany, initiatives of the Federal Government and the Länder have been providing relevant success: In 2013, Germany reached the target “reducing the rates of early school leaving below 10 %” by achieving a relevant level of 9.9 %. With regard to the target “at least 40% of 30-34-year-olds completing third level ed-ucation”, it reached a relevant level of 44.5 % (including


post-secondary, non-tertiary education (Isced 4)) and thus considerably surpassed the target.

In the current, economically difficult times, with problems such as extremely high rates of youth unem-ployment in some Member States, the importance of education is more widely recognized than ever before. At the Ministerial Conference in Berlin in December 2012, the BMBF, in cooperation with six EU Member States, adopted a Memorandum on Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training in Europe, thereby providing impetus for the European Alliance for Ap-prenticeships (EAfA) that was then launched in 2013.51 Via the bilateral cooperation with the six EU Member States involved, the BMBF supports the EAfA by pro-viding good examples relative to testing the integration of dual-system elements in vocational training sys-tems. In addition, the National agency on education for

Europe (Nationale Agentur Bildung für Europa) within the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) is directing a European network of 29 agencies for the Erasmus+ programme, relative to the focus “work-based learning”. The network is charged with supporting the effectiveness of the programme’s funding opportunities relative to strengthening du-al-system and comparable forms of training.

European cooperation in education and training promotes mobility. And the BMBF views mobility promotion as a particularly important part of such cooperation. In this context, Germany especially profits from the Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci programmes.

In addition to being the world’s best known mobility programme, Erasmus provides an important internationalization option for over 300 higher educa-tion institutions in Germany. In 2013, Erasmus enabled over 30,000 persons from foreign partner institutions to travel to German higher education institutions for studies, teaching or continuing education. Students who themselves do not travel abroad and gain interna-tional experience profit from this “internationalization at home”.

German students also make extensive use of Eras-mus, however. For the 2012/2013 academic year, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) registered a new record: via Erasmus, some 35,000 students from Germany carried out internships or part of their studies in a total of 33 other European countries. That figure is about 2,000 higher than the corresponding figure for the previous year. In addition, more than 4,000 German higher education personnel used an Erasmus option last year in order to teach at a foreign higher educa-tion institution or take part in a continuing education programme abroad.

The Leonardo da Vinci programme provides sup-port especially for internationalization in vocational training. In 2013, the National agency on education for Europe (Nationale Agentur Bildung für Europa) within the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) awarded nearly 16,000 scholar-ships for trainees and over 2,000 grants for trainers and vocational school teachers. The Grundtvig programme promotes the internationalization of adult-education

51 The European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) was established in July 2013 in Leipzig, in connection with “WorldSkills 2013”, an international vocational

training competition. Its aim is to improve the quality, availability and attractiveness of apprenticeships throughout Europe.

Cf. ec.europa.eu/education/policy/vocational-policy/alliance_en.htm.


institutions and qualification programmes for teachers and instructors.

The BMBF wishes to build on these successes, and thus it has supported the development of the new “Erasmus+” education programme. Erasmus+, a new EU programme for education and vocational training, youth and sports, has supplanted a previous programme generation. It supplants the previous EU lifelong learning programme (LLP, 2007-2013), and it integrates the existing EU education programmes, in-cluding all international higher education programmes (Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Alfa and Edulink), under one umbrella.

In the framework of strategic partnerships, the pro-gramme promotes exchanges of experience, transfer of innovative practices and development of innova-tions. The programme’s special aspects include the possibility to structure projects so that they cut across different educational areas. Projects in the framework are expected to focus on central challenges formulated in the Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) strategic framework. Relevant central topic areas include early school leaving, cooperation between the education and business enterprise sectors, use of information and communications technologies and provision of basic qualifications.

In the higher education sector, partnerships for capacity-building in neighbourhood and developing countries may continue to be funded, as well as joint master’s degree programmes designed to improve the excellence and attractiveness of European education, such as a programme launched in 2011 that is the first African-European master’s degree programme in migration studies: “European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations (EMMIR)”.52

For the years 2014 through 2020, Erasmus+ has a total budget of about 15 billion euros. That budget is about 40 % larger than the previous budget. Through 2020, the programme is expected to provide more than four million people in Europe – including especially school pupils, students, trainees, teachers and young volunteers – with grants and subsidies for learning-ori-ented stays abroad.

In 2014 alone, an estimated 35,000 students, 17,000 trainees and 35,000 young people at youth encounters

and volunteer programmes are expected to profit from Erasmus+ in Germany, which will have a programme budget of approximately 160 million euros. Through-out the programme’s entire course, through 2020, it will provide support for an estimated up to 275,000 students, 150,000 trainees and 130,000 young people in encounter programmes. In addition, the programme will promote innovative projects, such as cooperative efforts involving vocational schools and companies, or programmes involving higher education institutions and industry.

The BMBF also contributes to European coopera-tion in education and training via efforts to interna-tionalize vocational training. The BMBF is well aware of the great value placed on vocational training interna-tionally, and it is devoting a separate target area to this aspect of internationalization. Cf. Chapter 4, target area 5, for details.

Another educational-sector framework, in addi-tion to the EU’s activities in the area of education and vocational training, is the European Higher Education Area, which was established in 1999, in connection with the Bologna Process, by a total of 30 European countries. It now comprises 47 member countries – from Iceland to Kazakhstan – and it has brought about considerable reform in the European higher education systems. Via exchanges of students and higher edu-cation personnel, it contributes to efforts to provide market-oriented skills and to train young scientists. It uses a range of different instruments and measures for such activities, including providing for comparable study-programme structures (bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes); quality assurance on the basis of common standards and guidelines; and transparency instruments such as qualifications frameworks, the Diploma Supplement and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). In 2009, the Ministerial Conference approved a joint mobility goal: By the year 2020, one out of every five university graduates in the European Higher Education Area should have studies-related international experience amounting to at least three months or 15 ECTS. Germany has already reached this goal, since about one-third of all graduates in Germany now have international experience (see above).

52 In this master’s degree programme, the University of Oldenburg, and other European higher education institutions, are cooperating with higher education

institutions in Sudan and Uganda; www.emmir.org.

http://www.emmir.org


Regional and country strategies

Apart from cooperation with EU countries, bilateral cooperation with non-EU countries has been growing in importance. Various regional and country strategies provide a basis for such cooperation.

The Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy of 2008 continues to the basis for the BMBF’s regional and country strategies. In 2015, when an updated version of the Internationalization Strategy becomes available, the existing regional and Länder strategies will be analysed, and also updated if neces-sary. If necessary, new strategies, for selected regions and countries, can be developed on the basis of the Internationalization Strategy.

Cooperation with industrialized countries

Cooperation with industrialized countries throughout the world will remain a central pillar of the BMBF’s international commitments. The German stakeholders in the areas of education, science and innovation are especially well-networked with their partners in such countries. The attractive frameworks and conditions for cooperation with such countries include resources; similar, and familiar, cultures of mobility and open-ness; excellent scientific bases on both sides; and access to strong markets.

Germany maintains intensive relations especially with Western European industrialized countries – such as France, the UK and Italy – and with the U.S. and Canada. In light of the quality and breadth of the edu-cation and research sectors involved in each case, such relationships are extremely multi-faceted, and they are supported by broad-based commitments on the part of universities, research and intermediary organizations and researching companies.

The U.S. is the most important non-European part-ner country for Germany and, in terms of the relevant level of expenditures, the most important target coun-try for German R&D.53

Canada is one of the worldwide science sector’s ten most important countries. German initiatives have cooperated intensively with cutting-edge research in-stitutions in Canada for years, especially in the area of university medicine. Such activities have included co-operation in the framework of transnational initiatives such as the ERA-Net NEURON, the European-Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence in Neurodegenera-tion (COEN) and the EU Joint Programme – Neurode-generative Disease Research (JPND).

In addition to cooperation with Japan, a long-time partner country in Asia, cooperation with other indus-trialized countries in the Asia-Pacific region, especially Australia, South Korea and Singapore, has been grow-ing in importance.

In some cases, such as in the area of high technol-ogies, cooperation among the best in the field always also entails competition. In such areas, the principle of “coopetition”, referring to a duality of competition and cooperation, plays an especially important role. While this interplay has presented challenges in the

53 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, p. 41.


development of the necessary trust for reliable partner-ships, it also has had the effect of promoting excellence. Experience gained in recent years has shown that globalization, along with the resulting competition pressures from newly industrialized countries, has sharpened industrialized countries’ perceptions of their common interests and thus brought a new quality to their cooperation.

In cooperation with partner countries among the group of industrialized countries, the BMBF plans to do the following in the coming years:

1. Shape and expand processes for political dialogue;

2. Develop an understanding of the basic issues in-volved in organizing a global knowledge and science system, including “open access”, “big data”, mobility of researchers, issues of research ethics, knowledge transfer, intellectual property and recognition of qualifications;

3. Reach agreement on bilateral and multilateral frame-works for work on major societal challenges, includ-ing framework aspects such as joint programmes and initiatives on topics of special importance and urgency – such as pandemics;

4. Advance the establishment and development of strategic research infrastructures and major scientific devices, such as CERN and ITER.

In addition to bilateral consultations, transnational and international organizations such as the EU, OECD and UNESCO, and forums such as G7 and “Carnegie”, provide an important basis for such efforts.

The world’s scientific excellence and economic resources and capabilities are distributed more broadly around the world than they were ten or fifteen years ago. The BMBF’s traditionally strong, well-established relationships with industrialized countries, such as the U.S. and Canada, are increasingly being complemented by cooperation with other regions, especially regions that include nations that have emerging science sectors – and, thus, special potential for cooperation with Germany.

The following section looks at regions with espe-cially strong future potential for such cooperation.

Asia-Pacific

The Asia-Pacific region, in which about half of the world’s population lives, is currently the world’s most economically and scientifically dynamic region. In many cases, Germany is the most important European partner for countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The BMBF follows the research and innovation pol-icy developments in the region very closely, also in the framework of its scientific and technical cooperation. The Asia-Pacific region is one of the important regional focuses for BMBF’s commitments.

Key issues that will become more and more impor-tant, such as economic sustainability, the increasing pervasiveness of digital technologies in everyday life, the growth of “megacities”, the threats and benefits of migration, etc., are already particularly apparent in Asia. In Asia, new markets are emerging that offer enor-mous possibilities for German products and services. In addition, the Asian region is becoming more and more interconnected on a scientific level. Asia, along with North America and the EU, is now the third key pillar of worldwide knowledge production and innovation.

Asia’s industrialized countries (especially Japan,


South Korea and Singapore) are among the world’s most competitive countries. They have high per-capita income levels and well-established education, research and innovation systems. They have great potential for beneficial cooperation, especially in the areas of global challenges and multilateral major research projects.

Asia’s newly industrialized countries (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia) are among the world’s 50 most

competitive countries. In those countries, highly diverse, well-established research systems, with centres of excellence, can go hand-in-hand with relatively weakly established innovation systems and poorly developed systems for exchange between industry and science. Nonetheless, those countries are already con-tributing significantly to global knowledge production.

India

Germany can look back on 60 years of science and research cooperation with India. Education and research issues regularly play a major role in the intergovernmental consultations that take place with India every two years. Such meetings are complemented by negotiations on scientific and technical cooperation (STC) that also take place every two years. India was the focus country for a recent research marketing campaign. In 2012/2013, a “German-Indian” year was held in both Germany and India. In addition, two bilateral working groups, sited within the responsible ministries, have been established for the topic areas “higher education sector” and “vocational training”. Demand for German language instruction has grown to unprec-edented levels in India, and numerous new German language programmes have been established as a result.

Its many excellent education and science institu-tions notwithstanding, India still has much to do in the way of the quality of its tertiary education and vocational training. Its fast economic development has produced strong demand for highly qualified workers. Only some of that demand is being met, due to poor standards and lacking capacities in the country’s higher education and vocational train-ing sectors. Cooperation in these areas is thus an important focus of the BMBF’s efforts relative to India. The numbers of Indian students in Germany increased sharply from 1999 (622) to 2011 (5,745), and the pertinent rate of increase is one of the highest seen among all groups of foreign students in Germany. In absolute figures, the Indian student population in Germany is the 8th largest foreign

student population. Many Indian doctoral can-didates are now being employed and trained at German graduate schools and in German clusters of excellence.

The BMBF is working intensively to enhance struc-tural networking between the institutions involved. Currently, three bilateral centers are receiving BMBF funding:

The “Indo-German Science and Technology Centre” (IGSTC), which was founded in 2010, has proven to be an excellent format for promoting cooperation, in keeping with the “2+2” model, between science institutions and the business enterprise sector on both sides. Its focus is on application-orient-ed research, especially in the engineering and life sciences. In addition, the establishment of a modern project management agency is being supported in this format.

The “Indo-German Centre for Sustainability” (IGCS), sited at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras in Chennai, has been another milestone in the cooperation between the two countries. At the IGCS, German and Indian scientists collaborate on research in the focus areas energy, land use and waste and wastewater management. In addition, the BMBF, in cooperation with the De-partment of Science and Technology and the Max Planck Society, has been funding the “Indo-German Max Planck Center for Computer Sciences” in Delhi since 2010.


Thanks to its long experience in cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the BMBF has an excellent basis on which to structure the cooperation with these countries more strategically.

The BMBF plans to broaden and intensify German research cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries, and to similarly build the German research presence in the Asia-Pacific region. This focus applies to the centres of excellence and strong innovation systems that are being established there. The cooperation is to be intensified in connection with the establishment of education and research structures. Plans call for “2+2 programmes” (involving cooperation by science and industry partners in both relevant countries) to become part of the standard range of instruments for coopera-tion. Cooperation between German networks of excel-lence and partner networks, serving as a “door-opener” for technology-oriented SMEs in both directions, is to

be moved forward systematically. Mobility is to be en-hanced, especially with regard to the return of German scientists from Asia and to training of Asian students at German higher education institutions.

In all cooperation, it must be ensured that acceler-ated knowledge and technology transfer – which newly industrialized countries often call for – must be carried out in a controlled manner that is in harmony with German interests.

One component of the BMBF’s commitment to this region calls for the development of separate strate-gies for individual countries in the region. For its first such strategy, the BMBF has selected China, the most important partner country in the region. The resulting strategy is to serve as a model and as orientation for ad-ditional country strategies that will also be developed in future for the region.

China strategy

China is the world’s newly industrialized country par excellence. Its enormous economic and techno-logical boom is already having a marked effect on developments in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world.

China is one of the most important markets for German industry. In addition, in many areas it is a rapidly up-and-coming competitor and cooperat-ing partner. Via “innovation initiatives” of its own, China is seeking to establish itself as a centre for high-technology products. It wishes to discard its image as simply the “workbench of the world” and, by 2020, it plans to become an innovation-oriented economy that exports cutting-edge technology and that combines a services sector with a state-of-the-art manufacturing sector. China’s plans call for industries for renewable energies, materials, environmental protection, bio-pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and Internet applications to take on strategic importance.

At the same time, the Chinese government has rec-ognized that China needs to adjust, and correct, its

economic and ecological models in order to assure its continuing economic growth, as well as address its growing social challenges and its environmental and energy problems.

Germany’s and China’s close cooperation and strategic partnership are reflected in the annual intergovernmental consultations that have taken place since 2011. The BMBF’s largest investments, far and away, in the area of cooperation with BRICS countries are aimed at China (18.5 million euros per year, as of 2012).

In March 2014, Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, made a state visit to Germany and met with German Chancellor Merkel in Berlin. During that visit, both sides called for the partnership between China and Germany to be deepened. At the same time, it was announced that 2015 would be made a year of innovation coopera-tion between Germany and China.

The process of intensifying the cooperation has to be structured in a planned way, and the cooperation


needs to shaped so that it is targeted and efficient, strategic and sustainable. The BMBF is taking advantage of this opportunity, and it is assuming its full responsibility in this area, always taking account of German interests. With this approach, Germany is ensuring that it participates in China’s techno-logical boom. In addition, as one of China’s most important partners, it is supporting China’s difficult development into a sustainable economy.

The BMBF is thus currently preparing a China strategy, for the coming years, that will address the aforementioned issues and provide a framework for discussion of the relevant challenges.

The strategy will outline various options for the areas of policy-making, research, science and edu-cation.

In addition, the BMBF plans to review the poten-tial for cooperation with those countries in the region with which no cooperation is yet underway, such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Africa

The first foundations for the BMBF’s cooperation with African partners were laid more than three decades ago. Intergovernmental agreements on bilateral coop-eration in science and technology have long been in place with the priority countries Egypt (since 1979) and South Africa (since 1994). Since 2000, cooperation has been developing with more and more African coun-tries, spurred by positive political developments, and by growing interest on the part of African partners in the area of science and research.

The Federal Government’s Strategy for the Inter-nationalization of Science and Research, dating from 2008, places priority on strengthening cooperation with developing countries. This has provided added impetus for cooperation with Africa.

The diversity of the developments taking place in

the countries of the African continent is as great as that of the countries themselves. Over the past dec-ade, many African countries have undergone dynamic societal and economic development. Such countries have been offering better and better foundations for successful, “win-win” cooperation. China, and a num-ber of other European countries, have been systemat-ically expanding their commitments in Africa. African scientists have been experiencing growing success, in specialized areas, in global comparisons of excellence in research and science.

At the same time, many African countries are still just beginning to develop their research sectors. The African Union’s goal of having research and develop-ment expenditures reach an average of 1 % of GDP thus remains highly ambitious.

Education and research play a major role in pro-cesses of societal transformation such as those taking place in North Africa. Efforts to promote scientific sup-port for transformation processes, and for the building of capacities in research and technology, support soci-etal change toward democracy and knowledge-based development. The Federal Government’s “transfor-mation partnership” initiative calls for measures to promote education, vocational training and research.

In the relevant joint efforts, the BMBF and the German intermediary organizations German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Alexander von Hum-boldt Foundation (AvH), in cooperation with African partners, are working to counter any “brain drain” from Africa and to promote a “brain circulation” instead.

Overall, the BMBF has achieved positive results in its cooperation with African countries for implementa-tion of the Internationalization Strategy. For example, the BMBF has been able to expand its commitments to 39 of the 54 African countries. A total of 62 % of the


cooperation programmes have been launched in the past seven years.

The following two key pillars of the cooperation have emerged:

1. Research: With priorities on the environment, bioec-onomics, health, social development, management of resources / raw materials, transformation and innovation, a cross-cutting task.

2. Education: The emphases and targeted individual initiatives to date have focused especially on the postgraduate, tertiary sector, and on vocational train-ing and education.

The BMBF, and German education, research and intermediary organizations, have long engaged in trusting cooperation with African partners, and this experience is now generating many and diverse oppor-tunities to develop education and research capacities further, to the benefit of both sides.

In May 2014, the Federal Cabinet approved the Federal Government’s policy guidelines for Africa. The BMBF played a central role in their development. The guidelines, in conjunction with the Federal Govern-ment’s Internationalization Strategy relative to educa-tion and research, and the Federal Government’s Africa strategy of 2011, provide the German framework for the BMBF’s cooperation with African partners.

In 2014, the BMBF used this framework as a basis for developing an Africa strategy (2014-2018), in coop-eration with German and African partners. The BMBF approved the strategy on 20 June 2014.

With this strategy54, the BMBF has provided a reliable orientational and reference framework for the many German research and intermediary organizations involved, for the many other German organizations involved, for relevant European and multilateral initia-tives and for the African partners involved.

The measures plan integrated within the Africa Strategy provides for the expansion of programmes and projects within the framework of bilateral, multi-lateral and regional initiatives.

Thematically, the plan focuses on the aforemen-tioned priorities in education and research.

In cooperation with partner countries, the BMBF is seeking to:

• contribute to the solution of global challenges;

• create high-quality, lasting structures for scientific cooperation;

• strengthen regional and continental cooperation;

• strengthen innovation capacities and resources and develop markets, and

• make Germany visible in Africa as a key partner in education and research.

A number of research and intermediary organ-izations have followed up on the Africa strategy by beginning to develop their own Africa strategies. The BMBF considers these activities an encouraging sign, and a confirmation of the quality of the work carried out to date.

Central Asia

The importance for Germany of the Central Asian region, including the countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, has increased considerably in recent years. The importance involved includes political importance (the need to achieve peace and security in the region), economic importance (the region is rich in resources) and scientific impor-tance.

The countries of Central Asia have, to varying degrees and in varying forms, education and research systems that, in keeping with the priorities of the for-mer Soviet Union, are established and respected. They are somewhat underfinanced, however. For example, in 2011 expenditures on research and development (R&D), as a percentage of GDP, were 0.06 % in Tajikistan, 0.16 % in Kazakhstan, 0.20 % in Uzbekistan and 0.21 % in Kyrgyzstan.

At the same time, the region’s strengths include dynamic development in education and research – especially in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, development which has driven growth in cooperation with Germany. Germany’s activities in Central Asia can usefully com-plement the region’s close cooperation with Russia.

54 www.bmbf.de/de/23940.php

http://www.bmbf.de/de/23940.php


(The BMBF’s expenditures on Russia, at about 10.1 million euros per year (as of 2012), are the second-high-est, after the BMBF’s expenditures on China, among the BMBF’s expenditures on BRICS countries.)

Germany’s aims in its cooperation with the coun-tries of Central Asia are closely linked with relevant European aims. In 2007, under the German EU Council Presidency, the EU adopted the strategy “EU and Cen-tral Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership”, a first-ever set of political guidelines for intensified European com-mitments in Central Asian countries.

The central basis for cooperation, in education and research, between Germany and the CIS countries (including Georgia) is an intergovernmental agreement on science and technology cooperation (STC) with the former Soviet Union. The countries of the former So-viet Union have continued to uphold that agreement, which entered into force in 1987.

The countries have shown a great willingness to carry out reforms for the purpose of suitably adapting their relevant frameworks. Countries such as Kazakh-stan and Uzbekistan, for example, have begun to mod-ernize their education systems and to establish new priorities in research and innovation areas.

Global problems such as climate change, water shortages, desertification and infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis) are creating major chal-lenges in all five countries. The key issues for coopera-tion at present include environmental and agricultural research (for example, relative to land and water-re-sources management, the Aral Sea, climate impacts and energy efficiency, food security) and health research (for example, on tuberculosis, addictions, diabetes). The Central Asian countries have had only limited success in reaching their development goals relative to market

economies, food security and energy security. All of the countries struggle with resource limitations and widespread rural poverty. For all of them, therefore, the future of agriculture is a critically important issue with regard to public food security.

In the education sector, Germany already cooper-ates – closely, in some cases – with Central Asian coun-tries in the area of vocational training. Such coopera-tion dates from the countries’ system transformations in the 1990s. A number of higher-education-sector co-operation programmes are also in place. As a result, for example, demand for accreditation of Kazakhian study programmes, pursuant to the criteria established by the Bologna Process, is currently growing considerably.

The challenges for Central Asian countries in these areas include a) orienting their science and innovation systems in ways that will build on, and make better use of, their existing strengths, and b) establishing reliable evaluation and monitoring systems. The countries are increasingly overcoming their strong – and one-sided, to some extent – orientation to agricultural sciences. In this current development phase, Kazakhstan and Uz-bekistan, in particular, have been showing high levels of commitment and investing considerable resources.

In keeping with relevant aims set forth in the coalition agreement (cf. Chapter 2), the BMBF is aiming to establish itself in the region as a permanent politi-cal partner for education, research and innovation, to define common aims in cooperation with partners and to expand its existing initiatives.

In agreement with the partner countries, the BMBF is also working to diversify its cooperation. Similarly, it is seeking to make use of the region’s great scientific potential for transregional studies.


The guiding aims for the BMBF in this regard include:

• Making use of new potential for innovation (meet the need for sustainable technologies and related services, strengthen application-oriented research; and serve as a partner for joint commercialization initiatives);

• Developing scientific “beacons” in the regions, and expanding existing ones;

• In keeping with (post-) “Millenium Development Goals”, jointly moving regional political, economic and social developments forward, and addressing global challenges.

The BMBF plans to present a Central Asian cooper-ation strategy oriented to these aims. The strategy will then be discussed with all relevant German stakehold-ers (funding, intermediary and science organizations; associations) in the framework of a Länder discussion forum.

The strategy will take account of the growing differences seen throughout the Central Asian region, including the differences in the countries’ potential and rates of development. In addition, it will identify promising research and technology areas for scientific cooperation, and enable intensified development of such potential, also with regard to later development of local and regional markets.

The strategy will provide the basis for a coordi-nated, joint approach by German stakeholders, in the cooperation, and it will facilitate use of synergies.

Latin America

The current basis for cooperation with Latin Amer-ica is the Federal Government’s Latin America strategy of August 2010. That strategy defines science, research and innovation and important fields for cooperation with the region.

The current coalition agreement sets forth the aims and the intention “to achieve progress on urgent global challenges, in cooperation with all Latin American countries” and “to strengthen the strategic partnership with – inter alia – Brazil”.

The focuses of the BMBF’s current commitment in the region are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Mexico and Peru.

The BMBF plans to continue use of its proven pro-grammes and instruments in cooperation with priority countries in Latin America. For example, project-sup-porting mobility promotion has brought practical gains for both sides. Such promotion has proven useful in strengthening existing cooperation relationships and in initiating new partnerships. The BMBF thus plans to continue such promotion in its work with the region’s priority countries.

The BMBF also plans to link such mobility promo-tion with new, strategic and efficient instruments for cooperation, to expand its cooperation in strategically relevant thematic areas and to reinforce measures with a regional call for proposals in an EU context.

Cooperation with Brazil and Chile is to be expanded in the area of “raw materials”, for example.

In priority countries, institutional presences are playing a more and more important role as bases for lasting, successful joint research. In strategic thematic areas, therefore, the BMBF will seek to establish joint research structures that link German universities and non-university research institutions with leading re-search institutions in the focus countries. Such efforts are expected to help strengthen Germany’s research cooperation with Latin America in the long term. For example, the BMBF plans to promote cooperation with centres of excellence, especially in Peru, and to support regional innovation networks, especially in Colombia.


Brazil

Brazil is the largest business location for Germa-ny companies abroad. In recent years, Brazil has successfully expanded its scientific production, and in less than a decade it has doubled the size of its scientific training sector. Brazil has large quantities of natural resources, of many different types, and it has a great diversity of ecosystems.

The country has years of experience in the produc-tion and use of bio-based fuels. In the 1980s, it was a pioneer in energy production with such fuels. Via EMBRAPA, its internationally operating Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Brazil is a part-ner of the first rank in the internationalization of German bioeconomic research and in the study of plant-environment interactions.

Germany is an important model for Brazil, and a key partner in the establishment of innovation infrastructures and innovation-relevant research. Technology development and innovation are important priority topics for intergovernmental discussions on STC. The main activities in this area include a joint programme for research in produc-

tion technologies, and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft’s work in the establishment of innovation centres, in Brazil, for technology transfer. Another pillar of the cooperation consists of joint contributions to work on issues of global responsibility. The thematic areas concerned include water supply and wastewater management, climate-relevant gases in the atmos-phere, climate change and environmental technol-ogies. The cooperation in the study of terrestrial ecosystem functions is complemented by activities in the area of oceanographic research.

The areas of bioeconomics and plant research, along with the area of raw materials, are continual-ly being developed into a new focus of Germany’s bilateral cooperation with Brazil. In addition, joint funding structures with Brazilian partners are being prepared.

In addition, ongoing specialized funding will be provided to stabilize, and expand, the areas of sustainability research, global change and environ-mental research and technology in the cooperation with Brazil.

The bilateral cooperation is complemented by Ger-many’s participation in EU – Latin America – Caribbean cooperation. At the EU – Latin America – Caribbean summit in Madrid in May 2010, the heads of state and government of the EU and of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) adopted a “Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation (JIRI)”.

The BMBF is involved, at various levels, in the pro-cess for establishment of JIRI. In particular, it partici-pates in the annual meetings of the EU-CELAC SOM (Senior Officials Meeting), whose work is supported by five thematic working groups (ICT for addressing soci-etal challenges, bioeconomics, biodiversity and climate change, renewable energies, health).

The aim for the future will be to systematically expand this involvement into the realm of implemen-tation of JIRI and of other EU measures. In the context of strengthening cooperation between the EU and the Latin American and Caribbean states, in the JIRI framework, the BMBF plans to place a special focus on the areas of bioeconomics, health research and the environment.


OECD, United Nations and G8/G7

Germany takes an active role in all supranational and international organizations of importance for edu-cation, research and innovation. The BMBF works to harmonize the orientation and implementation of such organizations’ individual activities with the BMBF’s aims and international priorities.

Via Germany’s role in the OECD and the United Na-tions, the BMBF is able to reach all important countries of the world, and it is able to build long-term-orient-ed structures and programmes via which worldwide research on global challenges can be interconnected in Germany’s interests.

Forums are not international organizations in a legal sense. While they act in “organization-like” ways or are perceived to so act, they lack organizations’ underlying administrative structures. Examples include the “Group of 8” (G8), the “Group of 7” (G7), the “Group of 20” (G20) and the meetings in the “Carnegie” frame-work. For Germany, forums provide important oppor-tunities to confer and consult with other countries at the international level.

In 2015, Germany will host the next meeting of the G7 Heads of State and Government. At the BMBF’s initiative, current issues relating to research and innovation will also be discussed at that meeting. In ad-dition, the BMBF plans to work to ensure that regular meetings of ministers of science are also held in the G8 and G7 frameworks, with a view to enhancing the sustainability and effectiveness of decisions taken at the ministerial level.

In the coming years, it will be important to link the activities of the various relevant bodies more effectively. Significantly, in some areas, the OECD has established itself as a de facto “substructure” of the G8/G7. In individual cases, the G8 and G7 can also be useful platforms for discussion of issues in the run-up to processes at the EU level, and they can contribute constructively, in advance, to decision-making within the EU, the OECD and the United Nations.

a) Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

The OECD offers its 34 member states a framework in which representatives of individual, and often enor-mously different, economies can conduct discussion, bridging large economic areas, about the efficiency and effectiveness of relevant concepts. The OECD has expanded its activities and grown into a platform for exchanges of information and experience, for com-parative analyses and for international statistics of relevance for policy advising. It compiles national data on education, research and innovation and aggregates them in suitable ways (for example, in the publications “OECD STI Outlook” and “OECD STI Scoreboard” and in other, project-related publications). The OECD members use the OECD’s cumulative and comparative data for the purpose of supporting their own national reform processes; the data are an internationally sub-stantiated, solid body of scientific evidence that can be applied to national issues.

In its development, the OECD has been acquiring a growing “global orientation”, while still upholding its high quality standards (“OECD acquis”; “like-minded-ness”). For the BMBF, with regard to national process-es, the OECD is a “think tank”, a “peer-learning plat-form”, a catalyst and a “sounding board”. For example, in cooperation with the OECD, the BMBF initiated an analysis of major international research programmes on global challenges.55 The analysis focused on the management structures and frameworks for multi-lateral and international research programmes, and it was set up to prepare proposals for effective devel-opment and implementation of worldwide research programmes. The BMBF plans to use the pertinent findings, which are now available, as a basis for future enhancements of the efficiency of international research cooperation.

The following section presents two examples illus-trating the impetus that the OECD’s work provides for national education and research sectors.

55 OECD (2012): “Meeting Global Challenges through Better Governance”.


PISA/PIAAC

The manner in which the findings of the “PISA 2001” assessment of student/pupil performance were received and used shows that the impetus from an assessment that compares pupils with “the best” can be highly effective and lasting, if the rele-vant studies conform to the highest quality stand-ards in terms of both methods and content. After its “PISA shock”, Germany initiated reforms on all levels of education policy. As a result, three PISA tests later, the OECD singled out Germany for praise as a “successful reformer”.

To be able to also achieve such success outside of the realm of schools for children and young people, the BMBF has worked to advance study of compe-tencies throughout the entire working population – for example, via the “Programme for the Interna-tional Assessment of Adult Competencies” (PIAAC), also known as “the PISA for adults”.56 In addition to findings on the competency differences among adults with formally the same educational levels, PIAAC (like PISA) produces an enormous wealth of data for empirical education research. The value of such data will be apparent in the detailed analyses to be carried out in the coming years.

Science Advice

The project “Scientific Advice for Policymaking and Consequences for the Role and Responsibilities of Scientists”, which has been organized by the Global Science Forum, is studying mechanisms, processes and legal issues (including liability issues) of rele-vance to the area of science policy advising.

The BMBF is actively supporting this project, and it organized a pertinent workshop in March 2014. The project has met with an excellent response through-out the science sector, since it focuses on the basic

relationship between the political-decision-making level and the science sector. Concrete liability cases in Italy have underscored the immediate relevance of this issue.

In light of its importance, this project will be discussed by the OECD members’ ministers at the OECD’s 2015 Ministerial Meeting of the Commit-tee for Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) in Korea. That meeting is also expected to adopt recommendations for policy-makers.

In light of the dynamic development of the OECD’s activities, and of the OECD’s growing international visibility in many areas, the BMBF plans to intensify its cooperation with two relevant OECD departments, “Education (EDU)” and “Science, Technology and Inno-vation (STI)”, to take greater account of their activities

in its medium-term strategic planning and to empha-size the results of the OECD’s work more strongly in national debates on reforms.

The BMBF plans to present a concept for coopera-tion with the OECD to these ends.

56 Regarding the first findings, cf. OECD Skills Outlook 2013, “First results from the survey of adult skills”.


b) United Nations

The Federal Republic of Germany has been a member of the United Nations (UN) since 1973, and it has been a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 1951.

The BMBF attaches special importance to Germa-ny’s UNESCO commitment, as well as to the mainte-nance and development of the city of Bonn as a center for science and as the location of a range of UN institu-tions, especially the UN University (UNU).

The United Nations focuses on global challenges and, in that context, especially on activities with a clear orientation to developing countries and their interests. This focus is being highlighted in the current “post-2015” debate, especially with regard to the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDG) that are currently being developed as the process to succeed the “Millennium Development Goals” and with regard to the “Intergov-ernmental Panel on Climate Change” (IPCC).

The area of sustainability is a strong thematic em-phasis for the BMBF.

The BMBF’s ongoing commitments in this area are apparent in the UN Decade of Education for Sustaina-ble Development (ESD)”, which will terminate in 2014 with a final conference to be held in Japan. In rapidly growing newly industrialized countries, successful education for sustainable development is expected to help prevent the rapid adoption of emissions-intensive, resources-intensive production methods and lifestyles. The current discussion regarding the inclusion of the ESD results – as a new, and the only, qualitative educa-tional goal – within the list of the future “Sustainable Development Goals” underscores the great importance that is being attached to this sustainability-oriented process around the world. For this reason, the BMBF plans to take an active role in the pertinent future global programme.

In addition, the BMBF plans to help advance the discussion on sustainability by working via the new Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which was established in 2013 by the United Nations Secretary-General. Sig-nificantly, the SAB will comment on the “Sustainable Development Goals” from a scientific perspective.

The BMBF is supporting the involvement of the German expert in the SAB, Professor Jörg Hacker (Pres-ident of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina – National Academy of Sciences), by financing a perti-

nent office sited within the Leopoldina Academy. The aims of such participation are to process the relevant findings of national research on sustainability in useful ways, and to make the SAB’s findings and recommen-dations available to the science sector.

The BMBF’s criteria for selecting UN / UNESCO projects in which to participate include an orientation to global challenges and the topic of sustainability, as well as the following basic criteria:

• Thematic: Does the topic being addressed by the United Nations, in the areas of “global challenges” and “cooperation with developing countries”, fit with the BMBF’s portfolio?

• Global perspective: Does Germany have special per-tinent competencies and strengths to offer? Will the BMBF be able, via its commitment, to help move the relevant activity forward, in a noticeable way? Does


the BMBF have an interest in discussing this topic in the context of a global body?

• Orientation to specific countries: Could the topic have interesting and special implications for the BMBF’s cooperation with developing countries in the areas of education, research and innovation?

• National benefits: Is the area in question an area in which Germany is itself seeking to develop new approaches for the national level, meaning that Ger-many could profit directly from the United Nations function as a “driver”?

• Management: Are the process foundations in place that are necessary to ensure that the relevant activity will achieve the desired goals and effects? Is the level of quality that is being aimed for in keeping with the minimum standards for German activities, and will the structure for the effort fit with the relevant German system?

Bonn as a UN City

One of the BMBF’s priorities is to expand the UN sector in Bonn. What is more, this focus has been enshrined in the coalition agreement:

“We plan to strengthen Bonn as a UN agency location.”

The BMBF takes part in the regular meetings (every two to three months) that bring an interdepartmental working group (Federal Foreign Office, Federal Minis-try for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)) to-gether with the City of Bonn, the North Rhine – West-phalian State Chancellery and a UN representative to discuss the further growth of Bonn as an international centre. This working group’s tasks include discussing status reports, coordinating dates and joint events and supporting the establishment of locations of suitable international institutions in Bonn.

Bonn is also home to the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Ed-ucation and Training, and – as a result of a joint effort by the BMBF and the BMUB – it is also the location of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which was founded in April 2012. IPBES is an intergovernmental UN body for science policy advising relative to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The BMBF’s efforts on behalf of Bonn as a UN City are complemented by a range of initiatives of the City of Bonn and of the University of Bonn that are aimed at developing Bonn into an international centre for science. In May 2014, for example, the city and the uni-versity concluded a cooperation agreement designed to productively interconnect scientific and international institutions in Bonn.

The UNU is a separate institution of the United Nations. It is headquartered in Tokyo. Bonn is home to the only Vice Rectorate located outside of Japan.

In addition to its academic tasks of offering post-graduate and master’s degree programmes, the UNU is a think tank that concentrates on the global challenges on which the United Nations focuses (disas-ter prevention, climate change, sustainability).


In 2003, UNU established its first centre in Ger-many, with political and financial support from the Federal Government: the “United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security” (UNU-EHS), locat-ed in Bonn. The BMBF and North Rhine – Westfalia’s Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research current-ly each provide 0.5 million euros of funding annually for UNU-EHS. The institute is being evaluated in 2014.

In 2007, the United Nations University Vice Rector-ate in Europe (UNU-ViE) was established in Bonn. Until 2014, UNU was home to the secretariat for the Inter-national Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP).

In April 2014, the BMBF and UNI-ViE celebrated the signing of a partnership agreement. The BMBF plans to provide annual funding of 1 million euros to the UNU Vice Rectorate through 2015. The Vice Rectorate plans to focus strongly on its coordination functions within Europe and Africa. Its Africa focus facilitates implementation-oriented, interdisciplinary research in Africa, and it makes the Vice Rectorate a valuable partner for the BMBF with regard to implemention of the BMBF’s planned Africa strategy.

In August 2007, the international secretariat of the UN-Water Decade Programme on Capacity Develop-ment (UNW-DPC) was founded in Bonn, by the UNU,

the BMBF and the BMZ, under the umbrella of UNU-ViE. In the last four years, UNW-DPC has received an average of about 400,000 euros annually from the BMBF.

In addition, since 2010 the BMBF, in coopera-tion with Saxony’s state ministry for science and the arts (Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst Sachsen), has funded the UNU-FLORES Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Re-sources) in Dresden. The BMBF and the state ministry have each provided about 1 million euros annually. A FLORES partner institute established in Maputo, Mosambique, also with BMBF support, has recently acquired substantial support from local authorities that will assure its continued operation. FLORES and the institute in Maputo focus on issues at the interfaces between water resources management, sustainable resources use and biotechnology (the “watersoil-waste nexus”).

With regard to its continued support for the on-going establishment of the UNU institutes, the BMBF considers a) project-oriented, term-limited funding to be preferable over b) possible greater levels of insti-tutional support, since such project-oriented funding allows for clearer and more flexible setting of thematic priorities.


Perspectives for the “new quality” of international cooperation

Stages of cooperation with partner countries

The BMBF aims to move quickly and efficient-ly from the initial stages of cooperation, including observation, exploration and mobility promotion, to the more intensive later stages, i.e. to systematic net-working and to the establishment of institutional and strategic partnerships.

Depending on the topic, country, region and de-fined aims, it thus can be necessary to develop and test innovative funding instruments. Such instruments can include start-up financing for study programmes, for example.

Networking

The BMBF considers networking, and intensified coordination of the various relevant levels of action, to be key aspects of a “new quality” in future international cooperation in education and research.

This applies to the BMBF’s own measures and ac-tivities, and to measures of other German stakeholders, including other departments, and it extends to Europe-an research and innovation funding and to cooperation with third countries.

In this area, the BMBF plans to work on all levels to enhance and intensify conceptual and operational synergies and coordination.

Activities that are carried out in the framework of various organizations, such as the OECD, UNESCO and EU, are thus, in terms of their structures and imple-mentation, to be designed more strongly as parts of overall concepts for regions and issues.

Further development of STC agreements

A more-holistic approach is also to be taken in estab-lishing frameworks. In individual cases, for example, the BMBF will review whether the existing, traditional topic framework for STC agreements can be enlarged to include new elements in cooperation with partner countries. Such elements could include agreements on improvement of the comparability of educational qualifications and on complementary measures in the area of vocational training.

The BMBF also plans, in STC agreements, to make the “IP Charter” the standard for treatment of intellec-tual property.

In some cases, it is necessary to negotiate on a bilateral level. In others, a multilateral approach, with various European partners, proves to be more useful. In still other cases, a coordinated approach by several countries, in cooperation with the European Commis-sion, is suitable.

In light of the EU’s growing commitments with regard to third countries, the BMBF will also review the extent to which its own third-country policies need to be updated in relation to the EU’s relevant foreign policy. On the one hand, a sufficient degree of national autonomy needs to be maintained in bilateral foreign relations, with respect to the EU’s own “foreign policy” initiatives. On the other, EU initiatives can be furthered via complementary and supporting bilateral initiatives. In this connection, the BMBF will also review the possi-bility, in suitable cases, of working not through bilateral agreements but through multilateral agreements con-cluded, in each case, between a group of EU Member States and a third country. This option would make it possible to for EU policies to be shaped and guided by coordinated initiatives on the part of Member States.

58 MEASURES AND BEACONS

4. Measures and beacons

Chapter 2 describes the current situation, with the help of facts and figures, and outlines the relevant aims and required actions. Chapter 3 explains the BMBF’s cur-rent and future strategic orientation. On this basis, the following chapter describes individual areas of action and places them in the overall context of the BMBF’s activity at the international level.

It should be noted that a number of proven meas-ures that are not explicitly mentioned here are being continued. Selected examples highlight the general aims and nature of future commitments, as well as the context for the relevant overarching strategic objec-tives. A number of examples are especially highlighted, as “beacons” – as exemplary efforts, on the strength of their structural approaches, their aims and their effects.57

57 The individual measures and initiatives involved cannot always be precisely assigned to a particular target area. For example, a bilateral project in the health

sector, involving an African partner country, might be assigned to target area 3, i.e. cooperation with developing and newly industrialized countries, or to

target area 4, i.e. efforts to address global challenges. The present classifications of the individual measures thus are intended as orientation regarding the

basic field in which individual projects are taking place. The classification chosen for any given measure does not rule out the possibility that the measure

contributes to efforts in other target areas.

59MEASURES AND BEACONS

Target area 1: Scientific excellence via international cooperation

Promotion and development of excellence is, and will continue to be, a central pillar of the BMBF’s interna-tional cooperation.

On the one hand, the BMBF will seek to intensify its cooperation – including efforts that have long been in place – with excellence-oriented industrialized coun-tries, such as the U.S. and France. On the other, it will seek to build quality-oriented and excellence-oriented cooperation with countries with emerging science sec-tors – and to develop such cooperation further where it already exists.

Germany as a site for science and research

The world’s best researchers go to the places they think will offer them the best scientific and personal framework for their further professional development. Efforts to strengthen Germany as a centre for science and research continue to be a priority for the BMBF.

To its current portfolio of measures and activities, the BMBF plans to add new initiatives that will help publicize Germany in this regard and that will support German organizations in making working environ-ments and conditions in Germany more attractive for scientists who are working abroad.

Research marketing

Germany’s strengths, and the advantages of partner-ing with German institutions, need to be continually publicised internationally, in ways that speak directly to relevant target groups.

This is a joint task of the policy-making, science and industry sectors. In carrying it out, the partic-ipating organizations can, for example, draw on the experience gained by the “Research Marketing” (“Forschungsmarketing”) network (DAAD, DFG, AvH, FhG), which the BMBF has supported since 2010.58

“Research Marketing Alliance”

The BMBF plans to initiate a dialogue with stakeholders in science, indus-try and the political sector. An anal-

ysis of relevant activities to date will serve as the basis for it. Important areas of action will then be agreed, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness and lasting impacts of the individ-ual activities involved.

All the parties involved in this dialogue will cooperate on drafting a framework strategy for a “Research Marketing Alliance”.

The strategy will be presented at a conference of representatives of the policy-making, science and industry sectors in spring 2015.

Culture of welcome

Many higher education institutions and municipali-ties have responded to the support needs of scientists interesting in migrating to Germany, along with their families, and have established multi-lingual informa-tion portals and “Welcome Centers” – initial points of contact that offer information and support “from one source”. Such points of contact provide information and concrete assistance on issues such as entering the country (visas, instructions, residence regulations and contact person), opportunities for studies and careers, housing, kindergartens and schools – and on issues such as quality of life and opportunities for recreation. The numbers of “Dual Career” service offices at higher education institutions have also been increasing. The BMBF welcomes this development. For this reason, it will provide funding, for an additional three years, for the successful audits of the German Rectors’ Confer-ence (HRK) regarding internationalization of higher education institutions. Furthermore, the BMBF is financing Germany’s participation in “EURAXESS – Re-searchers in Motion”, the central European information

58 Further details on research marketing are presented in Chapter 5.2.


portal for internationally mobile scientists. At www.euraxess.de, emigrating, immigrating and returning researchers, and the international offices of higher education institutions and relevant non-university organizations, find a wealth of general and specific information about funding options, available positions for researchers in Europe and other relevant topics. The EURAXESS service centres, and the German EURAXESS coordination office, advise individual researchers and institutions regarding their specific concerns in the area of international mobility.

The actions of the AvH in connection with the “culture of welcome”

For over ten years, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) has been developing ideas for strength-

ening the “culture of welcome” in Germany. It has set examples and standards with its competitions for the friendliest Foreigners’ Registration Office (Ausländerbehörde), the best Welcome Center and the most innovative researcher-alumni concepts at universities and research institutions. A 2013 conference that the AvH’s International Advisory Board organized on the topic of post-doc careers called attention to the facts that nearly all countries, and Germa-ny in particular, lack a “post-doc culture”, and that such lacks affect foreign and non-foreign post-docs alike, equally.

European Research Council (ERC)

Since the ERC’s promotion efforts are oriented not to locations but to persons, they facilitate mobility on the part of scientific personnel.

In recent years, the success of the ERC, and the high levels of mobility seen among leading researchers who have received ERC support, have again highlighted how important it is to ensure that a centre for science and research offers attractive working and living condi-tions.

The first results of ERC funding have not reflected Germany’s capacities and resources to a satisfactory degree. Germany has learned from this experience, and it has carried out numerous supporting measures, such as interview training, that have significantly increased its success rate.

Since 2007, leading German researchers have gar-nered more than 560 of the prestigious ERC Starting Grants and Advanced Grants. With these results, Ger-many now ranks first in country assessments based on the nationality of ERC grantees.59

At the same time, the example of the ERC also illustrates the future challenges that Germany’s science and research sector faces: about 40 % of all successful German scientists do not work in Germany. All in all, the number of German ERC grantees working abroad is higher than the number of foreign grantees working in Germany.60

In light of the strong competitive pressures it faces, Germany cannot afford to relax its efforts. The BMBF plans to help ensure that Deutschland contin-ues to achieve excellent success rates in future – and that more and more “winners” choose to locate their research in Germany.

With these aims, it is supporting German higher education institutions and non-university research institutions, via an “ERC ideas competition” in their efforts to attract and retain excellent personnel.

59 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014,

p. 101, Fig. 27.60 EC (2011): Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011, pp. 196-197; the data are also available in ERC:

The European Research Council. ERC Calls 2007–2012: An overview with focus on Germany.

http://www.euraxess.de



Ideas Competition on the European Research Council (ERC)

In 2015, the BMBF will issue a call for an ideas competition in the context of the ERC in which prizes will be

awarded for concepts to enhance the attractiveness of German institutions and to thus strengthen Germany’s international com-petitiveness.

Submitted concepts should be aimed at attract-ing to German institutions excellent research-ers, especially foreign researchers, who are candidates for projects in the framework of the European Research Council (ERC), or at retaining researchers within Germany who are already receiving ERC funding.

Science management

The BMBF also plans to use cooperation with other countries as a vehicle for strengthening the Ger-man science and research sector. The area of science management provides opportunities in this regard. An effective, excellent science system requires competent, professional science managers. The EU Member States differ widely in terms of how well their science man-agement systems perform. The BMBF sees opportuni-ties, in this area, to intensify cooperation with the “EU 13” group, and it plans to launch an “ERA Fellowships” funding programme.

ERA Fellowships for “EU 13”

The BMBF plans to support the new EU Member States – the so-called “EU 13” (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania,

Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta) – in building professional science management systems.

To that end, the BMBF plans to launch a special grant programme for science managers from the “EU 13” Member States.

With this effort, Germany, working in cooper-ation with the “EU 13”, will make a concrete, excellence-oriented contribution to efforts to re-duce the disparities between the Member States and to increase the ERA’s overall excellence and performance. At the same time, the programme will also strengthen the German research com-munity by helping to form closer networks with important partner countries.

Mobility and exchange

Mobility and exchange promote excellence. This ap-plies in all areas of education, research and innovation. In any given case, the earlier international contacts are made, the more fruitful the relevant scientific activity will be. Modern IT systems can facilitate – but not take the place of – personal contacts and work in interna-tional networks and teams.

Modern mobility policies are vitally important for Germany’s industry and science sectors, since more than 90 % of all knowledge worldwide is generated outside of Germany. German scientists need to be mobile, and Germany needs to be open for foreign scientists.

The applicable legal framework has already been amended with a view to enhancing mobility:

on 12 December 2012, the Academic Freedom Act (Wissenschaftsfreiheitsgesetz) entered into force; on 1 August 2012, the Act to implement the EU Directive on Entry and Residence of Highly Qualified Workers


(Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Hochqualifizierten-Richt-linie der Europäischen Union), and the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Feststellung und Anerk-ennung im Ausland erworbener Berufsqualifikationen) entered into force.

At the Bologna Ministerial Conference that was held on 26/27 April 2012 in Bucharest, Germany, along with the 46 other member states of the European Higher Education Area, approved a mobility strategy entitled “Mobility for Better Learning”. This strategy is a Europe-wide commitment to achieving further increases in the mobility of students, young scientists, teaching staff and other higher education personnel. Inter alia, the strategy calls on the states and the higher education institutions in European Higher Education Area to develop internationalization strategies and to continue efforts to eliminate hindrances to mobility.

“Strategic partnerships and thematic networks” of the DAAD

Around the world, excellent higher education institutions use their international cooperation and

networks as means of increasing their visibility in the global competition. Activities such as exchanges of students and professors, joint study programmes and the establishment of collaborative research alliances with excellent partner universities are seen as strategic instru-ments for internationalization.

With its programme “Strategic Partnerships and Thematic Networks”, for which proposals were first invited in March 2012, the German Aca-demic Exchange Service (DAAD) offers German higher education institutions the opportunity, and incentives, to participate actively in this process and to reposition themselves. The innovative, modularly structured programme supports German higher education institutions, efficiently and effectively, in implementing their own internationalization strategies. Via the programme, higher education institutions can

strategically use partnerships with other institu-tions worldwide as a way of enhancing their own international competitiveness and sharpening their own profiles.

Partner universities from a total of 29 countries are participating in the 21 projects of German higher education institutions that have been selected. China and the U.S. are most strongly represented – with numerous elite universities. A second call for proposals is being prepared.

Germany plans to further increase the already high level of international mobility seen in Germany. The ministers of science of the Federal Government and the Länder have agreed joint mobility objectives in this regard: one out of every two graduates of higher education institutions should have studies-related international experience, and one out of every three should have at least three months, or 15 ECTS, of such experience. By 2020, the number of foreign students at German higher education institutions is to increase to 350,000.

Similarly, mobility of excellent German scientists is to be promoted, on all career levels. Mobility in this regard is to be promoted especially between Germany and the BRICS countries and between Germany and other countries in Asia and Latin America with growing and developing science and research sectors.

The BMBF has followed the OECD’s feasibility study “Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO)” with great interest. The study is aimed at de-veloping and testing a procedure that can assess com-petence levels of bachelor’s degree students in their last year of studies and that is valid across linguistic and cultural boundaries. In the BMBF’s view, this area needs to be further expanded and developed.

The ways in which competencies are imparted and acquired at higher education institutions are often completely unclear. Empirically substantiated, trans-national data on this area can provide new impetus for discussion about teaching quality and possibly identify undesirable developments.

Suitable, precisely tailored programmes need to be offered to the target groups involved.


a) Students

Along with its traditionally strong emphasis on indi-vidual grants and fellowships, the BMBF continues to focus on improving the structural framework for mobility.

The BMBF’s Bologna mobility package, for example, which has funding of about 17.5 million euros – and especially the action line “Bologna is making mobile” (“Bologna macht mobil”) – supports structured stays abroad, also during bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes.

In the same context, the DAAD offers programmes with a regional focus, such as “A New Passage to India” and “Welcome to Africa”. The programmes are designed to promote mobility in, and cooperation with, target regions that tend to be ignored by current trends in international mobility and yet that are sure to grow in importance for the German science and research sector in the medium term.

b) Doctoral students

In the 2010/2011 winter semester, a total of 8 % of all doctoral candidates were pursuing their doctoral degrees in the framework of a doctoral programme (“structured doctoral programme”).61

In the BMBF’s view, such structured doctoral pro-

grammes, along with suitable support measures such as university-level umbrella structures for doctoral students, can significantly increase the attractiveness of studies in Germany for foreign students.

The 45 graduate schools within the Excellence Initiative, and the 42 International Research Training Groups of the German Research Foundation (DFG), will continue to play an important role in the establishment and expansion of internationally oriented, structured doctoral programmes.

Graduate schools sited within non-university research institutions, such as the “International Max Planck Research Schools (IMPRS)”, and programmes such as the Helmholtz Association’s “International PhD Programmes”, also enhance the visibility of the German science and research sector.

c) Young scientists

To attract and retain excellent young scientists and researchers, after they have completed their doctoral degrees, Germany needs to make the career structures in its science system attractive for the best young scientists in Germany and abroad. In recent years, the BMBF, working in cooperation with the research and intermediary organizations, has developed a diverse portfolio of programmes for the further development of scientific careers. This portfolio is to serve as the key element in promotion of young scientists and research-ers at the national-international interface.

The efforts and prizes, etc. that assist young scien-tists and researchers in quickly becoming scientifically independent include junior research group pro-grammes such as the “Emmy Noether Programme” and the Graduate Schools of the German Research Foun-dation (DFG); Max Planck research groups; the “Sofia Kovalevskaya Award”; the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Humboldt and research fellowships; the Fraunhofer “Attract” programme; and the “Leib-niz-DAAD Research Fellowship programme”.

International thematically oriented BMBF compe-titions for young scientists, such as the BMBF compe-tition “Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development”, also help in identifying talents around the world and bringing them to Germany.

61 Extrapolation of the Federal Statistical Office, May 2012, Promovierende in Deutschland 2010, p. 23.


With its “Fellowships for Awardees” programme, the BMBF offers winners of national or multinational science prizes who hail from other regions of the world the opportunity for a six-to-twelve-month research stay at a German university or research institution.

The “Leibniz-DAAD Research Fellowship Pro-gramme” provides support to enable excellent foreign post-docs to research at a Leibniz institution.

At the EU level, the “Marie-Skłodowska-Curie Actions” complement national efforts to promote mo-bility – inter alia, via “Individual Fellowships (IF)” and the “Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE)” programme.

Platforms such as “GAIN” in North America, and “EURAXESS” in Europe, offer young scientists easy ac-

cess to a comprehensive, diverse range of information about international mobility.

The “Centre Marc Bloch (CMB)” in Berlin, the Franco-German Research Centre for the Social Sciences, was established in 1992. It is an institution where French and German researchers, post-docs and doctoral candidates, can be integrated within the relevant partner country’s research institutions, and it is also open to researchers from central and eastern Europe.

The “Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Hu-manities and Social Sciences” supports interdiscipli-nary, intercultural dialogue by promoting outstanding young scientists and researchers from Germany and Israel, in all areas of the humanities and social sciences.

“Young scientists” at the Leibniz Association

a) The SUTAS international Leibniz Graduate School

SUTAS (Sustainable Use of Tropical Aquat-ic Systems) is an international Leibniz Graduate School that is coordinated by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (ZMT) in Bremen and op-erated in cooperation with partners in the Bremen region and in the tropics. SUTAS offers structured, sophisticated interdisciplinary graduate training in the area of tropical coastal system research. Tropical coastal systems are undergoing rapid ecological change, driven by rapid societal change. Such change threatens their ecosystem functions and can have both local and global impacts. The SUTAS programme, which has an interdisciplinary orienta-tion, focuses on urgent issues in the areas of coastal zone ecology, coastal zone management and health / health care in the tropics.

SUTAS supports young scientists via networking with national and international researchers and institutions. The spectrum of fields covered by SUTAS includes marine biology, fisheries science, sedimentology, microbiology, sociology, economics, modelling and epidemiology. Its research focuses especially on the ZMT’s geographical emphases. As

a result, the school’s first cohort of PhD students is based on Zanzibar.

www.zmt-bremen.de/en/SUTAS.html

b) Leibniz-DAAD Research Fellowship

In 2011, the Leibniz Association, acting in cooperation with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), established the Leibniz-DAAD Re-search Fellowship programme. The purpose of the programme is to promote excellent foreign young scientists. It is open to outstanding postdoctoral scientists from throughout the world who have completed their doctoral dissertations not more than two years ago.

As a result of the programme’s success over the past three years, the programme has now been made a permanent institution. Beginning in September 2014, 15 new programme fellows will spend a year conducting research at a Leibniz institute of their choice, thereby helping to strengthen the Leibniz institutions’ international orientation.

http://www.zmt-bremen.de/en/SUTAS.html


d) Cutting-edge research

With its broad portfolio of programmes, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes the internation-al mobility of excellent scientists at various stages of their careers, from young scientists to well-established, senior scientists. It should be added that promoting the careers especially of highly qualified female scientists also continues to be an important issue for national research institutions. 62

The Humboldt and Anneliese Maier research awards of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and the Max Planck Research Awards, also promote international scientific cooperation at the very highest levels of excellence.

The DAAD’s Visiting Professorship programme enables experienced foreign scientists to teach, as vis-iting professors, at German universities, and thereby to help internationalize universities’ teaching pro-grammes.

The AvH’s efforts to promote cutting-edge research

a) Alexander von Humboldt Professorships

The Alexander von Humboldt Professor-ships contribute, in significant, internationally visi-ble ways, to the internationalization of the German research and science sector. With such awarded professorships, universities can recruit excellent sci-entists and researchers from abroad who then bring outstanding colleagues with them. The pertinent prizes, which total 5 million euros for academics in experimental disciplines and 3.5 million euros for researchers in theoretical disciplines, facilitate ground-breaking research at German universities and research institutions. To date, a total of 40 leading international researchers have been gained for the German science system via this programme. The AvH plans to continue consolidating the Alex-ander von Humboldt Professorships as a long-term programme.

b) Sofia Kovalevskaya Awards for young scientists from abroad

With a view to attracting greater numbers of outstanding young researchers to Germany, as of 2015 the AvH plans to award its Sofia Kovalevskaya Awards for especially outstanding young research-ers from abroad on an annual basis. This move is also a result of the continuing strong international response to the programme. The awards, which go to up to eight persons per year, are worth up to 1.65 million euros over a five-year period and enable winners to build their own junior research groups at research institutions in Germany.

62 Regarding the measures carried out by the research institutions, cf. Monitoring-Bericht 2013 zum Pakt für Forschung und Innovation, Materialien der GWK Heft 33.


e) Alumni

In the career stage referred to as the “mobility phase”, scientists and students gain opportunities to make important contacts. In the BMBF’s view, ongoing alumni-relations management can play a valuable role in ensuring that such benefits do not disappear after international stays have concluded.

With regard to Germany’s international visibility, and the desirability of networking worldwide, foreign alumni, who later, after returning to their countries from Germany, often assume key positions in their countries, are extremely important “ambassadors” for Germany’s science and research sector.

Consequently, German higher education institu-tions, and research and intermediary organizations, have an important role to play in attending to their alumni networks. With a view to generating inter-or-ganizational synergies between the alumni activities of the various research institutions and higher education institutions, the BMBF already supports exchanges of alumni-relations officers, as well as joint activities of such staff.

The BMBF plans to bring together the various approaches being pursued, in German alumni-rela-tions management, in an alumni concept that is to be presented in 2016.

Cutting-edge research via international cooperation

Cooperation projects, collaborations and alliances, of varying intensities, forms and structures, are highly prominent features of the modern research sector, which is becoming more and more internationalized. The complexity of many research topics, such as those in the area of major societal challenges, calls for coor-dination of programmes at the bilateral or multilateral levels, along with implementation of projects in which multiple stakeholders, with different individual core competencies, are involved – for example, projects re-lating to research infrastructures or involving interna-tional consortia.

International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC)

In the area of biomedical research, recent years have seen the emer-gence of the internationally highly

acclaimed new field of medical epig-enomics. The “International Human Epigenome Consortium” (IHEC), a worldwide association of research funders and research groups, was founded in 2012. The current members of IHEC include the U.S., Canada, Italy, Germany, the European Commission, Japan, South Korea and a number of observers.

Using a comprehensive, standardized and coor-dinated approach, IHEC is working to prepare epigenome reference maps of disease-relevant human cell types (1,000 epigenomes). IHEC’s cooperation-oriented organizational structure, providing for clear distributions of tasks, enables the programme participants to collaborate in-teractively and efficiently. The structures of the organization, which is still growing, are designed to allow the direct integration of additional partners in future.

Germany’s participation in this international consortium is contributing significantly to the visibility of German scientific excellence, in a globally ground-breaking area of biomedicine. IHEC’s joint public presentation, and its globally public portal for access to the reference maps it prepares, are enhancing awareness, at the global level, of German efforts in the IHEC framework.

Germany is playing a leading role in this process, in keeping with its scientific competence and strategic commitment. In doing so, it is putting itself in a strong position for future medical use of the resulting findings.


Max Planck institutes abroad

Max Planck institutes abroad figure at the top of the Max Planck Society’s cat-alogue of measures for sharpening its

international profile. Such institutes, like those in Germany, support the development of new research areas, and operate in keeping with the Max Planck Society’s proven science-driven principles. And like the Max Planck institutes in Germany, the Society’s international institutes operate in research areas that are not strongly represented in Germany, and for which the working environments needed for their large-scale establishment are not yet present in Germany. International Max Planck

institutes are sited in locations at which new knowl-edge is emerging in the institutes’ specific fields, and thus they can take a role, to Germany’s benefit, in structuring emerging research centres. The result-ing reputational benefits accrue to the German research community as a whole.

The two most recently founded new Max Planck institutes abroad are the Max Planck Florida Insti-tute for Neuroscience and das Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European and Regu-latory Procedural Law.

Max Planck Centers

The Max Planck Society uses its Interna-tional Max Planck Centers as vehicles for developing its institutional coop-

eration with strategically important coun-tries and for creating new dimensions in scientific cooperation.

In keeping with what is desired for strategic partnerships, such efforts generate extensive scientific added value. Max Planck Centers en-hance the visibility of international cooperation in ground-breaking research areas. They open up new research topics and generate new knowledge.

They stimulate scientific exchange, they create new opportunities for young scientists and they enhance access to research institutions abroad. The Max Planck Center programme is one of the Max Planck Society’s key internationalization measures, and it is to be continued in the coming years.

Currently, the Max Planck Society maintains 14 Max Planck Centers, in cooperation with leading institutions, at a total of ten locations worldwide: in the U.S., Switzerland, France, the UK, Canada, Japan, Israel, Denmark, India and South Korea.

Bilateral cooperation

The BMBF’s bilateral cooperation will continue, in future, to be the core of the BMBF’s cooperative efforts. The BMBF sees major benefits in the broad-based impacts that bilateral funding of cutting-edge research often triggers. In general, large and small projects play equally important roles. The diversity of the small projects involved provides special benefits, both within

and outside of research areas, and regardless of wheth-er the partners involved are long-term partners or new partners. This is illustrated by the following examples.

The U.S. is the Germany’s most important non-Eu-ropean partner in terms of cooperation with the very best scientists and researchers. The spectrum of topics involved is extremely broad and comprises all impor-tant ground-breaking and growing fields, including medical fields.


Cooperation with the U.S. in regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine develops innovative strategies for healing dis-eased and injured tissues, for restor-

ing tissue and organ function and for supporting the natural regeneration of organs. This research area thus has enormous potential. As the same time, in many sub-areas the task of assuring the effectiveness, safety and economic feasibility of therapeutic strategies presents ma-jor scientific and technical challenges.

For some time now, the BMBF has maintained a range of funding measures in the area of regenerative medicine. Needless to say, intensive consultations between experts, and networking with researchers around the world, are vitally important in a research area that is developing so dynamically. The BMBF supports internation-al cooperation between leading experts, with a view to advancing translation of promising, application-oriented research and development projects into clinical applications. A bilateral agreement with the “Californian Institute for Re-generative Medicine” (CIRM) is enabling German researchers to participate in the CIRM’s calls for proposals, in the framework of American-Ger-man cooperation. A current focus is being placed on translating stem-cell procedures, and other regenerative-medicine procedures, into medical applications.

To date, eight projects involving German par-ticipation, with total funding of over 7 million euros, have been approved, and further projects are being prepared. This shows that German expertise in regenerative medicine has an out-standing international reputation.

France is Germany’s most important cooperation partner in Europe. Since 2012, the two countries have been consulting with each other, in the framework of a joint measures plan, regarding ways of further intensifying their strategic cooperation. The intensive and successful research cooperation they have main-tained for decades is now to be increasingly applied to innovation. In future cooperation, they will also seek to intensify their cooperative efforts especially in energy research and in the humanities and social sciences.

The explicit goals mentioned in the Federal Gov-ernment’s coalition agreement include joint research and development projects with EU Member States af-fected especially strongly by the economic crisis. Such activities will include bilateral innovation consulting. The BMBF is already providing for such consulting in its cooperation with Greece, for example. The relevant topic spectrum includes health and energy research, bioeconomics, key technologies, information and com-munications technologies, nanotechnologies, photon-ics and the humanities and social sciences.

Germany’s bilateral cooperation with Israel is particularly intensive. Israel is one of the world’s most innovative countries, and it is closely linked with the European Research Area (ERA), as a net recipient. The BMBF’s goals in this regard include intensifying the existing cooperation, which goes back many years, in the area of health research – such as the countries’ joint cancer research programme – in the context of personalized medicine. In addition, cooperation in civil security research, and general cooperation in academic and industrially oriented research and development, are to be further expanded and intensified.

Joint funding structures, and networking

Individual projects are the instrument typically used in international cooperation. Such projects are selected solely on the basis of scientific excellence. To be able to have lasting effects, they need to be integrated within strategies (cf. Chapter 3).

In its work with developing, emerging and trans-formation countries, therefore, the BMBF plans to expand use of joint funding and programme structures,


a further useful instrument alongside the conventional strategy of funding individual projects. The future-ori-ented topics in the Federal Government’s High-Tech Strategy will provide orientation for selection of rele-vant programmes.

Establishment of International Centres for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences

The BMBF is supporting the estab-lishment of international centres, outside of Europe, for advanced

studies in the humanities and so-cial sciences. These are to be visible centres of cooperation between Germany and the partner countries involved.

At such centres, German researchers collaborate with researchers of the partner country in study-ing overarching topics, of their own choosing, in the humanities or social sciences.

The chosen regions and countries for such centres include Southern Asia (especially India), Southeast Asia, China, Central and South Amer-ica, Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Currently, the selection process is underway for the first centre in South Asia and Southeast Asia. This process is to be completed by the end of 2014.

Such joint funding and programme structures are already in place with India, Turkey and Russia. The relevant structures are to be made available to other German (and European) funding providers and to German research and intermediary organizations. This will enable such providers and organizations to more easily implement their own cooperation programmes with the pertinent partner countries, for the purpose of building scientific excellence.

The BMBF is supporting the establishment and ex-pansion of innovative R&D networks with research and industry partners in the Danube and Baltic regions, on the basis of EU macro-regional strategies (cf. Chapter 3).

The DFG’s “Open Research Area in Europe for the Social Sciences” (ORA)

This programme’s name highlights its activities: In ORA, the German Re-search Foundation (DFG), the Agence

Nationale de la Recherche (ANR, France), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK) and the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Weten-schappelijk Onderzoek (NWO, Netherlands) have created a joint area for competition and deci-sion-making relative to project funding in the social sciences. ORA works as follows:

One deadline per year is offered for applica-tions from throughout the entire field of social, economic and behavioural sciences. No thematic restrictions are imposed.

In keeping with the ideal of a flexible geometry, projects can be supported by (at least) two, three or four of the participating countries.

For each project, all project participants must jointly submit an integrated application, to the funding organization that is administrating the programme. The administration responsibility rotates among the programme participants.

For each application, the administrating organi-zation obtains written peer reviews from various countries. A joint selection committee then makes the final assessments and formulates funding rec-ommendations. The recommendations are made solely on the basis of scientific-quality criteria.

The national organizations then fund the projects sections assigned to their countries, via the rec-ommendations.

ORA thus may truly be termed a “one-stop” sys-tem for science, with its joint assessment of, and funding decisions on, integrated applications. The actual financing is then broken down, in keeping with the location principle, into separate portions.


The involved funding organizations are operating this joint research area under their own responsi-bility.

ORA is attractive, both for transnational science cooperation and for the funding organizations: In the previous round, the U.S.’s National Science Foundation decided to open up the area to the U.S.. Japan’s Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) plans to take an associated role in the next round, i.e. it will provide a budget of its own to enable cooperation between Japanese teams and ORA applications / projects.

In future, a separate programme is to be imple-mented for the purpose of building lasting joint research structures with, and in, the “EU 13” states and EU accession candidates.

Establishment and Expansion of Joint Research Structures in Europe

The “EU 13”, and the official ac-cession candidate states Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,

Montenegro and Serbia, are gradually establishing and expanding research capacities and centres of excellence. With the support of the BMBF, German stakeholders in science and industry will profit as strategic partners from access to these institutions and contribute to establishing joint structures. In the medium and long terms, the resulting knowledge and technology transfer is expected to intensify the economic cooperation between the pertinent innovation players and to open up new market opportunities for Germany.

The programme is scheduled to begin in 2015.

With a similar orientation, the BMBF added the programme “Strategic Partnerships and Thematic Net-works” to the DAAD’s portfolio in 2013. The aims of the

programme are to intensify, both structurally and sub-stantially, the proven cooperation among the numer-ous university partnerships in place, and to strengthen cooperation with the universities’ strategically impor-tant partners. This programme is also helping German higher education institutions to sharpen their profiles in the context of global competition.

The BMBF also supports intensified networking among German institutions. It considers such intensifi-cation a necessary and key step in German institutions’ process of becoming more attractive potential partners for other countries and their consortia (cf. Chapter 2). For this reason, more extensive, structurally aimed emphases are to be established in future that will apply to the entire German higher education and research sector. Such actions are also in keeping with resolutions in the coalition agreement.

The BMBF “Networking” initiative

The BMBF will use this initiative to support the interconnection of various organizations’ specialized

international activities. It calls for groups of German institutions to form consortia of sufficient “critical mass”. The consortia are to carry out coordinated, complementary activities in their relevant focus regions. In the interest of achieving holistic approaches, such efforts will also take account of the BMBF’s activities.

The initiative is scheduled to begin in 2015.


“Horizon 2020”

In the coming years, the BMBF plans to initiate a range of activities for supporting implementation of the Horizon 2020 programme.

For example, in the interest of “Europeanizing” the relevant national programmes, the connections between national programmes and Horizon 2020 will be expanded, and the system of incentive mechanisms for stakeholders will be enlarged (specialized strategies and the Europeanization budget); in the process, the German position is to be coordinated intensively with the various EU stakeholders.

In addition, the strategies applying to Germany’s research and innovation sector are to be adjusted with regard to “Horizon 2020”, in order to assure successful German participation in the programme.

Furthermore, it will be important to enhance Ger-many’s national advising system with a view to optimal preparation and participation of stakeholders from Germany (with efforts to include developing new target groups).63 This will include further optimization of the interfaces between national and European advising about funding opportunities.

In the BMBF’s view, it is also necessary to efficiently coordinate “European” measures and bilateral activi-ties. For the BMBF, bilateral cooperation remains one of the central pillars of the ERA. Such cooperation complements cooperation at the European level, both structurally and substantially. In order to intensify integration of the different levels involved, the BMBF plans to work to intensify inclusion, in EU programmes and activities, of the networks and thematic areas aris-ing via bilateral activities.

The “Human Brain Project” of the Helmholtz Association (HGF)

The Helmholtz Association is taking a key role in the “Human Brain Project”, an FET Flagship Initiative promoted by

the European Commission. The project’s vision is to simulate the entire human brain, in de-tail, on a supercomputer, within the next ten years. To this end, researchers from 23 different countries are building a unique infrastructure that will link brain research with information technology and thereby advance both areas. The Forschungsze-ntrum Jülich (FZJ; Jülich research centre) and its institutes are participating in various research emphases within the Human Brain Project. For example, scientists of the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM) are contributing findings from

basic research in neurobiology – such as findings about the structure and function of individual nerve cells, entire nerve-cell groups and large nerve-cell networks. Forschungszentrum Jülich owns JUQUEEN, now one of the world’s ten fastest computers. However, the supercomputers currently available do not offer the performance needed to synthesize the enormous quantity of human-brain data available globally and to process it for comput-er simulation. Experts at the Jülich Supercomput-ing Centre (JSC), in cooperation with partners, are developing new computers, with suitable software, that they plan to integrate within the international work platform for the project.

63 For example, Germany has already taken the innovative move of establishing a national contact point on “women entering EU research programmes”

(“Frauen in die EU-Forschung”). The contact point advises female scientists in Germany regarding EU framework programmes.


Joint Programming Initiatives

The Member-State-driven Joint Programming Initi-atives (JPIs) play a special role within the BMBF’s “Euro-pean” portfolio.64

The topics of the ten JPIs currently in progress are: Alzheimer and other neurodegenerative diseases; demographic change; agriculture/food security/cli-mate change; healthy diets / lifestyles; urbanization; water; cultural heritage; seas/oceans; climate research / connecting climate knowledge; and antimicrobial resistance.

Over the past few years, the BMBF has worked to “Europeanize” national research programmes – i.e. to open them to participants from other Member States, in order to, inter alia, enhance the competitive posi-tions of stakeholders from Germany. Examples of such actions include promotion of European networking of food-research and oceanographic-research insti-tutions, and bilateral cooperation with France in the area of raw-materials research. The Joint Programming Initiatives move far beyond the realm of such efforts of Member States, however. In the Joint Programming Initiatives, the EU Member States, working in different configurations (“variable geometry”), coordinate their relevant research programmes. As a result, they are now orienting – for the first time on such a large scale – their national efforts to joint European and global goals and coordinating them accordingly.

Via such networking, therefore, the Member States are providing another important contribution to the development of the ERA. At the same time, they are demonstrating the degree to which the ERA depends on the voluntary commitment and creativity of the Member States. The BMBF plans to take an active role in guiding the development of JPIs. In this light, it wel-comes the fact the EU is acting on the basis of “Horizon 2020” to support the Member States’ Joint Program-ming Initiatives.

Joint Programming at the European level

Member-State-driven Joint Program-ming Initiatives exert substantial leverage for the strengthening of

Europe’s research sector and for efforts to address major societal challenges. The BMBF is actively participating in eight of the current ten Initiatives, in which the Member States, acting in “variable geometry” configurations, are strategically coordinating their various research programmes. This is making it possible to exploit synergies, and it is creating the necessary “critical mass” for successful research on complex ques-tions.

The BMBF is working to further strengthen the structure-forming effects of the JPIs, effects which result from the JPIs’ central role in setting of research policy agendas. The BMBF will provide targeted support to help the German research community actively participate in Joint Program-ming Initiatives.

Furthermore, the BMBF will coordinate the JPI activities with relevant bilateral measures and make use of synergies to ensure a high level of sustainability.

The JPIs are calling worldwide attention to Euro-pean competence in system solutions. The BMBF’s participation, in the process, is making important contributions to the strengthening of German research and innovation.

The topics and activities involved offer great potential for intensified cooperation with third countries, especially countries with emerging science sectors. For this reason, the international orientation of the JPIs plays an important role in maintaining, and building on, the current dynam-ic development.

64 For further information, cf. www.eubuero.de/era-programmplanung_initiativen.htm

http://www.eubuero.de/era-programmplanung_initiativen.htm


Research infrastructures

The BMBF is seeking to strengthen Germany’s partici-pation in major international projects and in establish-ing and using research infrastructures.

Currently, two ground-breaking research infra-structures of international importance are taking shape in Germany in the area of basic science re-search: In Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein, the European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL), and, in Darmstadt, the new Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR, an accelerator). European and inter-national partners are participating centrally in both research infrastructure projects.

The BMBF also participates in the construction of research infrastructures abroad. The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will enable scientists in the fields of astronomy, astroparticle and particle physics and cosmology, from Germany, Europe and the world, to make new discoveries about the universe. The Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) system will improve con-trast in imaging methods, as well as providing better chronological resolution. This will enhance studies of fundamental dynamic processes in biological cells, for

example, thereby opening the way to development of more-effective medications.

The BMBF is strongly supporting the process of Eu-rope-wide planning and consultation relative to major research infrastructure projects. Cooperation cuts costs and makes large numbers of projects possible. Germa-ny is participating financially in 18 of the 48 projects in the ESFRI Roadmap (European Strategy Forum on Research and Infrastructures). It is the host country for the European XFEL, FAIR, SHARE (The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe; Munich) and for INFRAFRONTIER (Munich). In 2011, the number of foreign scientists who used infrastructures in Germany was greater than the number of German scientists who used infrastructures abroad.65

In many research fields, Germany ranks among the international leaders. Germany needs to build on these strengths. They are the framework for the future de-velopment of Germany’s research sector, as well as the driving force for new applications. In addition, access to extensive research infrastructures provides a basis for the ongoing training of scientists and for technolo-gy and knowledge transfer.

Large-scale scientific equipment in the Helmholtz Association (HGF)

One of the Helmholtz Association’s core competencies is the development, construction and oper-ation of large-scale scientific equipment – including a number of devices that are unique world-wide – and complex research infrastructures that are available for users throughout the entire

science community. The Helmholtz Association plans, builds and operates internationally impor-tant large-scale devices in Germany – such as the European X-Ray Free Electron Laser (European XFEL) and the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (the FAIR accelerator) – and offers the German and international science community access to such national infrastructures. The Helmholtz research infrastructures thus serve as points of crystallization for major international cooperation projects and networks, and they attract foreign scientists from around the world. The Helmholtz centres also participate in the establishment and operation of large-scale international equipment located abroad, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the ITER fusion reactor, and thereby ensure that German scientists have access to such equipment.

65 ESFRI (2012): Increasing regional competitiveness in Europe – Strategy for development of regional RI capacity (2012 Progress Report of the ESFRI

Regional Issues Working Group), p. 7-8.


By linking the EU ESFRI process with the nation-al roadmap process for research infrastructures, the BMBF ensures that Germany participates only in those research infrastructures that have also been given high priority at the national level.

Additional financing options at the EU level need to be considered when they can assure the independ-ence of ESFRI projects – supported by Member States and Associated Countries – in the areas of planning, construction and operation.

The BMBF also supports Germany’s participation in European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) in other Member States, as well as establishment of such consortia within Germany. Future support for research infrastructures in the “Horizon 2020” framework must not remain confined to ERIC, however. The choice of what legal form is to be applied must remain subject to the decision-making authority of the Member States and Associated Countries; it must not be made via funding policies.

By promoting collaborative research, the BMBF en-sures that research at universities is closely linked with that carried out at research infrastructures.

Informational exchanges with non-European

countries, at the political level, regarding the strategic orientations of research will become more and more important. Various structures for such consultation processes, such as the OECD’s Global Science Forum (GSF) and Astroparticle Physics International Forum (APIF), are already in place and will play an even more important role in the future.

In addition, the Group of Senior Officials (GSO) in the G8-countries format explores the potential for international cooperation in connection with global research infrastructures. In this framework, the BMBF is currently preparing recommendations for a coher-ent, coordinated approach to the development and operation of global research infrastructures. At their meeting in London in 2013, the G8 ministers of science agreed to have the GSO report on progress with global research infrastructures at the next G8 summit, which is to take place in 2015 and will be hosted by Germany.

In light of the diverse, and growing, range of organ-izational initiatives being put forward in the area of research infrastructures, the BMBF plans to work to en-sure that the various relevant processes (G8, OECD, EU) are interconnected more intensively and that relevant activities are suitable coordinated.

Leibniz Association: ACTRIS, a European research infrastructure project

The Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) is playing a key role in ACTRIS, a European research

infrastructure project. The purpose of the ACTRIS project is to integrate sophisticated, ground-based networks for in-situ and remote measurement of aerosols, clouds and reactive gases. ACTRIS is to be used to build a permanent European research infrastructure that can collect high-quality long-term data on climate changes, air quality and pollutant transport on regional and continental scales. To this end, the ACTRIS pro-

ject will develop standards for quality assurance, promote the development and use of new meth-ods, provide open access to the data collected and support international cooperation by providing transnational access to state-of-the-art observation stations.

www.tropos.de/forschung/grossprojekte-infra-struktur-technologie/koordinierte-beobachtun-genund-netzwerke/actris/

www.actris.net/language/en-GB/Home.aspx

http://www.tropos.de/forschung/grossprojekte-infrastruktur-technologie/koordinierte-beobachtungenund-netzwerke/actris/



http://www.actris.net/language/en-GB/Home.aspx


Target area 2: Developing innovation potential internationally

Increasingly, any advantages gained in the competition to acquire market-relevant knowledge, and to produce innovative products and services, depend on extensive, high-quality international networking.

Along with the aim of developing markets, the aims of developing relevant specific knowledge and attract-ing highly qualified skilled personnel are among the strongest factors driving internationalization of R&D activities.66 Efforts to develop international innova-tion resources, to build new high-tech locations and to establish partnerships with the world’s strongest, most-creative R&D centres, are now shaped especially by tensions between international competition and international cooperation. Often, competitors are now potential partners, and partners are potential compet-itors.

International networking is now also being driven by a trend toward the formation of global value chains.67 Increasingly, the various players in such chains are interconnected via varying roles and functions that depend, in each case, on the markets and products involved.

The BMBF’s measures in this regard are aimed supporting such trends with positive emphases, and at assisting German players, both directly and indirectly, in succeeding in global markets.

Use of global knowledge

In a globalized economy, knowledge is a key competi-tive factor. A great many technologies and services are now knowledge-based. In today’s global competition, Germany will be able to acquire and maintain compet-itive positions only if the German innovation system continually produces relevant new knowledge and can optimally use existing knowledge.

In this context, the task of research and innovation policy is to create frameworks that promote knowl-edge production, knowledge exchange and knowledge circulation. In all types of research activity, researchers vitally depend on having access to scientific findings.

In addition, they need for knowledge to be able to flow unhindered, so that it can provide impetus for new ideas and a framework for implementation of research findings in innovations.

At the same time, it must be remembered that the success of strategies for worldwide knowledge develop-

66 Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation (EFI) (2014): Research, Innovation and Technological Performance in Germany – EFI Report 2014, p. 42.67 OECD (2013): Interconnected Economies – Benefitting from Global Value Chains, p. 215.


ment depends on whether people can make use of the knowledge; whether they can apply their competencies and qualifications to science and research, regardless of their gender, age and background; and whether they can find proper orientation in their globalized working environment. “Global sourcing” must thus be backed by “global learning”.

In other words, efforts to promote innovation must also focus centrally on human beings and on their key role in innovation as learners and users in a globalized economy. Such efforts must promote such factors as excellent language skills, the willingness to engage in intercultural learning and lifelong learning, the ability to use a range of different systems and international recognition of qualifications.

“Centres for Innovation Competence” (ZIK); “Creating excellence – keeping talent”

The Eastern German regions need top research on their doorsteps in order to develop clusters that are

economically successful and inter-nationally competitive in the long term.

They need internationally competitive research centres that orient even their basic research to future high-technology markets and that create a basis for successful innovations in processes and technology.

This is where the measure “Centres for Innova-tion Competence: Creating excellence – pro-tecting talent” comes in. A total of 14 centres are receiving funding of over 240 million euros, in two rounds of funding. The second funding phase for the most recently established centres (ZIK II) will end in 2019/2020.

The programme emphases include attracting internationally mobile young scientists who

can carry out independent research projects at the ZIKs. Funding is provided for research stays of collaborators. In addition, the centres receive direct and indirect support in the tasks of positioning their research fields among the relevant international research leaders (financing of international workshops, funding for collabo-ration in international science organizations and support for international research cooperation). As a result of the positive effects of this funding instrument on the internationalization of the centres concerned, a new funding measure for the ZIKs is being considered with a view to sys-tematically expanding the individual approaches currently taken by the centres.

Development of global knowledge

To use global knowledge effectively, one must monitor the knowledge emerging around the world. Enhanced bibliometric methods and analyses are facilitating the tasks of identifying scientific progress and cooperation patterns and of pinpointing important new technology centres promptly.

In this area, the BMBF is funding a “centre of excellence for bibliometry”.68 Other instruments for observation and evaluation of innovation include the “foresight” and “scouting” processes. Innovations depend on interactions between a) societal demand and b) technological possibilities, and thus the BMBF considers both aspects in its strategic foresight. Since 2012, BMBF-Foresight69 has been analyzing technolog-ical change and – especially – societal requirements, demand and challenges. In 2014, with a view to being able to promptly assess responsible use of research and research findings, the BMBF issued a new call for pro-posals in innovation and technology analysis (ITA),70 with emphases, inter alia, on participation in research and innovation, digital technologies and new global innovation drivers.

68 www.bibliometrie.info.69 www.bmbf.de/de/12673.php?hilite=foresight.70 www.innovationsundtechnikanalysen.de.

www.bibliometrie.info

http://www.bmbf.de/de/12673.php?hilite=foresight

http://www.innovationsundtechnikanalysen.de


The trend toward “open innovation”, in which suppliers, customers and other external parties are integrated in innovation processes, is also of great importance with regard to access to, and use of, knowl-edge sources.

National platform on “Global Knowledge Sourcing”

In the area of Global Knowledge Sourcing, the BMBF intends to provide targeted support to Ger-

man companies and applied research, particularly with a view to funding cutting-edge German technology. To this end, the BMBF plans to launch a dialogue process, in a first step. This process will take account of the important sec-tors and technology areas, and of all measures, that support knowledge acquisition aimed at innovation.

A dialogue process is expected to lead to the establishment of a national platform that will contribute towards improving the general conditions for innovation-oriented companies and facilitate the exploitation of sources of knowledge. The relevant activities are expected to complement those of the Industry-Science Research Alliance, and thus they will be coordi-nated with the Alliance.

Open-access strategy

The Internet and digital technologies have opened up completely new possibilities for exchange of informa-tion and access to information. To facilitate use of such possibilities, the Federal Government plans to present a comprehensive open-access strategy, working via the BMBF’s leadership.

This effort is expected to improve the framework for effective, lasting access to publicly financed publi-cations, and to call attention to research-data (“open data”) issues.

Knowledge transfer and intellectual property

In recent years, the importance of intelligent knowledge transfer, and of professional handling of intellectual property, has grown considerably, especial-ly in the international context.

The BMBF is thus planning, in the course of the current legislative period, to introduce specific meas-ures to strengthen knowledge transfer, and man-agement of intellectual property, at universities and non-university research institutions, and with regard to participation in European and international projects. This effort will be oriented especially to the European IP-charter initiative for management of intellectual property in connection with knowledge-transfer activ-ities (including a code of practice for universities and other public research institutions).

It is designed to help good and proper practices in management of intellectual property be widely adopted, with a view – inter alia – to preventing uncon-trolled outward flows of know-how in connection with participation in European and international projects. At the same time, it will help strengthen awareness of the importance of knowledge transfer, and of the need for effective strategies for management of intellectual property.

This effort will thus make an important contribu-tion to the further implementation of ERA priority 5, “Optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge”.

Establishment of strategic innovation partnerships Strategic innovation partnerships are useful in the

task of developing innovation resources and markets for German companies, higher education institutions and research institutions.

At the same time, the special characteristics of the various technology levels involved need to be taken into account in such cooperation. This applies especial-ly in the area of application-oriented research.


FhG (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft): “Mathematics as technology – with Sweden’s MIT for industry”

For over ten years, the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics (ITWM) has maintained a cooperation

programme with Chalmers University, the “MIT of Sweden”. In 2001, the Swedish founda-tion “Stiftelsen Fraunhofer-Chalmers Centrum för Industrimatematik” was established as a platform for the cooperation. For the ITWM, Sweden’s inno-vation-oriented market is a highly attractive one for the purpose of offering competency in “mathe-matics as technology”, which is in high demand in many sectors, in cooperation with another leading institution. Since 2002, Fraunhofer-Chalmers has brought its competencies to bear on a range of mul-ti-year projects that have involved industrial groups and that have benefited companies in the European

truck industry, including Daimler, DAF, MAN and Scania. The European industrial cooperation that has been stimulated as a result is also reflected in the participation of Swedish and German compa-nies (including Volvo and Daimler) in the Fraun-hofer “innovation cluster” “Digital Engineering for Commercial Vehicles”. Germany and Sweden have each seen the emergence of a spin-off from the cooperation.

In future, the cooperation is to be expanded to include additional excellent research partners, such as the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, and complementary topic areas such as “powertrain technologies for heavy vehicles”.

Scientific value creation for Fraunhofer: “The Boston Life Science Cluster – Inspiration in a Network of the Best”

The Boston greater metropolitan area is one of the world’s most important centres for “life sciences”. Over 600

companies in the sectors of biotechnol-ogy, medical technology and pharmaceuticals are located there, along with a large number of univer-sities and university hospitals, including Harvard University, MIT, Boston University and Massachu-setts General Hospital.

In Boston, the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT), working under the Fraunhofer USA umbrella, and in close cooperation with Bos-ton University’s College of Engineering, operates a satellite location, the “Center for Manufacturing Innovations” (CMI). Over the past few years, the CMI has strategically built a profile in the area of “production technologies for the life sciences”, with a view to exploring new competency and business areas for the IPT. In this effort, it has been supported especially by the joint research pro-gramme “Boston University – Fraunhofer Medical Alliance”. Currently, the CMI is receiving millions

in funding, for this new competency area, from the National Institute of Health (NIH). In Aachen, the IPT has established a separate “Life Sciences Engineering” business area. This new area, which is being operated in cooperation with the CMI, is now generating significant revenue for the IPT, and it has made it possible to transatlantically link the Fraunhofer project “Automated Tissue Engineering on Demand” with efforts at the Fraunhofer Insti-tute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology (IGB), the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA). The transatlantic research cooperation is to be fur-ther expanded in future.


Instruments of the High-Tech Strategy (HTS)

The instruments used in the HTS are being made internationally compatible. This process entails a) the development of international components within the instruments themselves, and b) the linking of the instruments with existing European initiatives, such as the Joint Programming Initiatives and the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).

While this effort will emphasize leading-edge clus-ters and core projects, it will also include comparable networks.

The relevant leading-edge clusters are already active internationally, via strategic partnerships, participation in transnational sectoral alliances and marketing measures. The BMBF plans to focus on such activities and to strengthen existing competencies in cooperation management and to support concrete international projects.

Internationalization of leading-edge clus-ters, core projects and comparable networks

The BMBF is preparing a measure to support the further internationali-zation of clusters, especially lead-

ing-edge clusters, and of networks.

Following a conceptual and preparatory phase, this measure will fund bilateral or multilateral projects involving top international centres. Each such project will bring public-sector re-search on a selected topic together with inno-vative companies’ research on the topic, in an organizationally balanced way.

The spectrum of potential focuses includes strategies for solving global challenges; strategies for overcoming barriers for the development of future markets; efforts to close relevant gaps in research; and development of standards.

The HTS core projects pursue concrete scientific and technological goals over periods of ten to fifteen years, with an orientation to societal challenges. In light of the global nature of the challenges involved, and of the initiatives’ long-term perspective, the core projects’ European and international dimensions play important roles.

In the following, the internationalization of the core projects is illustrated with the example of the “City of the Future”.

Internationalization of core projects: The example of the “City of the Future”

Worldwide, consumption of energy and resources is concentrated in cities, which have a key function

to play in efforts to address the major challenges of the 21st century. The Federal Government has made the “CO2-neutral, ener-gy-efficient, climate-adapted city”, or the “City of the Future”, a central focus of the High-Tech Strategy.

In a first step, a strategic research agenda on the content design for this core project will be drafted. This will be based on the “National Platform for the City of the Future (NPZ)”. A re-search marketing campaign will present German expertise in system solutions worldwide. The current nucleus of the core project is the “Zuku-nftsWerkStadt” (“workshop for the city of the future”), in which 15 municipalities are partici-pating. In 2014, as a result of its great success to date, it entered a second funding phase.

Demonstration projects will show how innova-tive concepts for mitigation of climate change, and adaptation to it, can function in cities all over the world. This will open up enormous-ly important markets in which Germany can become an internationally leading provider of system solutions for sustainable urban develop-ment.


A call for proposals in the area of sustainable urbanization in rapidly growing urban regions in developing and newly industrialized countries is planned for the end of 2014. Working in coop-eration with selected cities, and selected foreign scientists, the project is expected to find new, regionally adapted solutions for managing cities’ rapid growth sustainably, in terms of – inter alia – supply structures, mobility, energy efficiency and quality of life.

Bilateral partnerships

With its specialized programmes, the BMBF efficiently supports bilateral innovation partnerships.

Such support is provided for a numerous range of different bilateral research projects, covering a broad range of topics and partner countries. Examples of topics/countries include: sustainable climate protec-tion and environmental technologies and services, including sustainable water-resources management, in cooperation with BRICS countries, and with devel-oping countries; and biotechnology and civil security research, in cooperation with Israel.

A good example in this area is provided by the German-Indian cooperation project “Indo-German Sci-ence and Technology Centre” (IGSTC; cf. also Chapter 3).

Cooperation with France focuses especially on con-tinually expanding existing cooperation in the area of energy research. The cooperation especially emphasizes the areas of “nuclear security and waste-management research” and “smart grids”. The start of a first Fran-co-German project in the framework of the initiative “Materials research for a new energy policy” (“Material-forschung für die Energiewende”) is planned for 2014. This cooperation is being supported by, inter alia, the 5th Forum on Franco-German Research Cooperation.

Many different R&D measures have been carried out via German-Russian cooperation. Examples of such measures include the annual, thematically open

funding competitions held since 2008, in cooperation with the Russian Fund for Assistance to Small Inno-vative Enterprises (FASIE). Such funding competitions (for which the most recent call for proposals was issued in 2014) are aimed at developing cooperation between research institutions and business enterprises (espe-cially SMEs) in keeping with the so-called “2+2 model” (in each case, involving one SME and one research institution on the German side and one SME and one research institution on the Russian side). The relevant funding opportunities have met with strong demand on both sides. (A total of 73 German-Russian innova-tion projects have been supported to date; the relevant funding provided, including equity capital provided by the funded institutions, has totaled nearly 6 million on the German side and about 5.5 million euros on the Russian side.)

Currently, the possibility of forming German-Rus-sian cluster partnerships is being reviewed. The joint aim of such partnerships would be to develop Russian regions’ innovation resources, to the benefit of both sides. The partners in this effort include the BMBF, the (Russian) Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR) and the Russian Fund for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE). In the first half of 2014, a first phase in this effort began, involving the explora-tion of potential for cooperation and the preparation of a joint R&D agenda for cluster partners. With Russia, as with other focus countries, the BMBF’s strategies include funding joint institutions (example: laser-test-ing centres, and consulting centres, in cooperation with Russia).

The bilateral innovation and research forums that the BMBF sponsors, in cooperation with important Eu-ropean partners also make lasting contributions to the establishment of innovation partnerships. Successful examples include forums in cooperation with Switzer-land (most recently, in 2013, with a focus on medical technology), France (most recently, 2011, with a range of topic areas, including biotechnology and non-energy raw materials) and Israel (with activities in the area of personalized medicine).


“Sino-German Innovation Platform”

In June 2011, the BMBF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) set up the

Sino-German Innovation Platform. The platform is designed to promote mutual understanding and exchanges on the innovation policies of the two countries.

In addition, it is aimed at facilitating exchanges on innovation-funding measures and at illu-minating the two countries’ specific innovation indicators. The two countries’ frameworks for innovation differ, in terms of such aspects as knowledge and technology transfer and innova-tion financing, and thus they offer opportunities for joint analysis and mutual learning. In Ger-many, the platform is expected to contribute to networking of innovation research of relevance to China.

In a first step, innovation researchers of both countries have prepared an analytical compar-ison of the two countries’ innovation systems. Annual conferences, alternating between Ger-many and China, have been held in this format since 2011, bringing together respresentatives of the science, industry and policy-making sectors for discussion on innovation-policy challenges.

In addition, partnering structures are being estab-lished with selected countries, with the involvement of companies, especially SMEs, for the purpose of devel-oping knowledge resources and assuring long-term market access in contexts requiring “local content”.

The aim with each such effort is to develop new operational fields, for German and foreign industry partners, that offer potential for positive economic, ecological and societal effects.

The Sino-German “Clean Water” research and innovation programme

The joint “Clean Water” research and innovation programme was launched by the MoST and the

BMBF in 2011. The findings it produces are to be applied to the development of strate-gies for sustainable water-resources and waste-water management for megacities and their surrounding areas. The active participants in this effort, which is aimed at developing sustainable, innovative strategies for livable “Cities of the Fu-ture”, include the “Clean Water Innovation Cen-tre” that was established in Shanghai’s Zhang-jiang Hightech Park in 2014, in cooperation with German companies organized in the “German Water Partnership” (GWP); Chinese companies; and the newly founded “Cooperation centre for environmental professions” (“Kooperationszen-trum für Umweltberufe”) in Qingdao.

The dissemination of innovative, sustainable wa-ter and wastewater technologies that are adapted to the conditions prevailing in China is to be accelerated. The BMBF plans to move forward on suitable measures in cooperation with the financial sector.

The good partnership shown by all stakehold-ers involved in the innovation process, in both countries, illustrates how the establishment of thematically oriented centres of excellence, in newly industrialized countries, can develop growth markets for innovative German compa-nies.

A good example of how this can function is provid-ed by the cooperation of a total of more than 15 Ger-man and Chinese science and industry partners in the framework of the collaborative research project “SEM-IZENTRAL”. The project has been aimed at building a new (first-ever) semicentralized water-supply, waste-water-treatment and waste-management centre for


some 12.000 inhabitants. The new centre was opened in April 2014 in the context of the World Horticulture Exhibition in Qingdao/China. While the Chinese side is responsible for the relevant investment costs, and the operation of the centre, the scientific support and expertise provided by the German research group is being supported by the BMBF. In addition, the project has been linked with the introduction of environmen-tal technology professions in the framework of the Sino-German Vocational Training Alliance. Plans call for such model projects, and their follow-on activities, to be conducted within the framework of the BMBF’s future China strategy (cf. Chapter 3).

Joint research projects with China, in the area of application-oriented basic research, are being carried out on the basis of the “Sino-German joint declaration on the establishment of a strategic partnership for elec-tromobility” that was issued on 28 Juni 2011, in Berlin. Universities of both countries are collaborating within this initiative. Future cooperation is to be structured and shaped in accordance with the results and experi-ence gained via the effort. The two sides are currently reviewing details relative to such future cooperation.

The BMBF also plans to intensify cooperation with other dynamically developing regions. An existing structure for cooperation with Turkey, the Ger-man-Turkish Advanced ICT Research Centre (GT-ARC, a research centre with locations in Berlin and Istanbul, sponsored by universities and companies in Germany and Turkey), for example, has been a success is continu-ing to receive support.

The “MiTec” funding measure, focused on technol-ogy partnership, is aimed at initiating transnational, technological developments that can help mitigate climate change. The format chosen for the measure is suited to the dynamic pace of innovation shown by German companies in emerging, promosing markets.

European initiatives

At the European level, a number of topic areas are be-ing preliminarily structured via European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs). The areas concerned include water, food, urbanization and raw materials. German stake-holders are taking an active role, and they are helping to advance European agendas, coordinated with Ger-man interests, in the relevant topic areas.

EUREKA

In addition, collaborative, innovation-oriented research, with strong German science and industry par-ticipation, is taking place especially via the Eurostars programme, the EUREKA intergovernmental initiative and the Joint Technology Initiatives.

Large corporations, and industrial SMEs, are tradi-tionally well-represented in international competition, and thus such companies profit most from growth opportunities in foreign trade. Nonetheless, foreign European markets also offer growth opportunities for small companies. At the same time, such SMEs often find it difficult to enter the relevant international coop-eration efforts.

For this reason, the BMBF has been urging that the “Eurostars” programme be continued, and intensified, within the “Horizon 2020” framework.

Eurostars 2

The “Eurostars” programme was established under the EUREKA umbrella as a public-public partner-

ship pursuant to Art. 185 TFEU, with a view to promoting the internationalization of research-strong SMEs. A total of 33 European countries (including all 28 EU Member States) are participating in it.

In the first programme period, a total of 400 million euros, 50 million euros of them from the BMBF, were provided Europe-wide. The perti-nent demand was unexpectedly strong, and it attested to the need for transnational funding opportunities for researching SMEs.

Due to its considerable success, Eurostars is being continued for a second programme period lasting from 2014 to 2020.


The European Institute of Innovation and Technol-ogy (EIT) is charged with enhancing the Member States’ innovation capacities, with a view to contributing to sustainable growth in Europe. To that end, it works to integrate areas within the “knowledge triangle”

(education, research and innovation) in Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), at the highest possible levels. The areas selected for such efforts include health, climate protection and production technologies.

Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

German institutions are involved in all three existing KICs (ICT Labs, Climate and InnoEnergy) – in part, with lead-

ership and coordinating roles. For each of the three KICs established to date, a “Co-Loca-tion-Center” (CLC), i.e. a cluster of institutions in Germany (in the Berlin and Karlsruhe metropolitan areas), is in place. The CLCs facilitate the integra-tion of German interests, in terms of both content (selection of projects) and structure (structuring of training modules). The effort has already proven successful. For example, in 2012 Trifense, a German spin-off from the KIC EIT ICT Labs, with activities focused on self-learning network security systems, was honored with an EIT Entrepreneurship Award as one of the best KIC start-ups throughout Europe.

Calls for proposals for future KICs are to be issued in 2014 (topics: Raw Materials, Healthy Living and

Active Aging), 2016 (topics: Added Value Manufac-turing, Food4Future) and 2018 (topic: Urban Mobil-ity). Numerous German consortium partners and potential Co-location Centres (CLCs) have already been found for these calls.

The BMBF will provide advising and take prepara-tory measures to support the optimum involvement of German stakeholders in the calls.

The thematic relationships between a) the existing and future KICs and b) the emphases of the High-Tech Strategies and the leading edge clusters – some of the German partners in KICs had already par-ticipated in measures in the BMBF’s Leading-Edge Cluster Competition – provide a good basis for German institutions’ success in future KICs and for maximal use of synergies.

The aim of the effort is to promote young entrepre-neurs, by facilitating translation of ideas into products, i.e. by helping entrepreneurs move “from the laborato-ry to the market”.

The networks run for up to 15 years, which is longer than the usual time frames for project funding.

By participating in such networks, German players gain access to resources, personnel and joint projects – such as innovative spin-offs that become innovative

start-ups. In addition, they are able to establish contacts to future cutting-edge innovators and leading young scientists and researchers. In the BMBF’s view, the KICs’ worldwide visibility will play a significant role in sharp-ening the international profiles of the participating German higher education institutions, research insti-tutions and companies. The resulting consolidation of European competencies will thus directly support the competitiveness of German institutions.


Target area 3: Strengthening cooperation with developing and newly industrialized countries

For developing and newly industrialised countries, Germany is a partner in demand due to its strengths in science, technology and innovation, and to its recog-nized education system.

Germany has key competencies in areas such as ad-dressing resources scarcities and preventing the spread of epidemics, areas that are also a basis for sustainable economic development and good governance in the countries in question.

The BMBF already cooperates successfully with a range of developing and newly industrialized countries in the areas of education, research and innovation.

And this applies to all key stakeholders in German education, science and research cooperation. While this emergence of numerous and diverse partners is basi-cally positive and desirable, it also means that German measures need to be carefully coordinated.

The BMBF is thus aiming to develop and apply German capacities efficiently and effectively, in keeping with strategic guidelines, and to exploit the synergies that joint action can provide (cf. Chapter 3 regarding the various individual regional and Länder strategies and the BMBF’s role and function).

Among the group of focus countries, the rapidly emerging science nations are of particular interest for Germany, since they offer an attractive level of excel-lence in their structures, resources and leading spe-cialists. Such countries will be key players in the global competition of the future, and they thus offer consid-erable opportunities for development of new markets. They can also function as partners, and as sources of local knowledge and expertise, in efforts to address (ultimately) global issues.

Research network as a basis for regional development

Regional development and integration processes offer opportunities for economic growth and positive soci-etal development.

In its research cooperation, the BMBF primarily emphasizes excellence-oriented cooperation. Key relat-ed activities can play important complementary roles, including capacity-building in the area of education and research and, especially, interconnection of the existing education and research structures of a region’s various countries.

In this area, the BMBF makes use of various proven and promising instruments:


a) Promotion of transnational collaborative research

Promoting transnational collaborative research is a proven instrument, and it is the backbone of the BMBF’s cooperation with developing and newly indus-trialized countries. With this instrument, it is relatively easy to bring excellent scientists from different nations together, in order to pool resources and knowledge. The collaborative research involved may be either bilateral or multilateral. The following representative examples – of which only a few can be presented here, due to the large number of measures being carried out in this framework – illustrate the different types of cooperation being carried out, and the different emphases involved.71

Successful cooperation, in education and science, has been underway with the Sultanate of Oman for over a decade. The “German University of Technology” (GUtech), which was founded in 2007 in Muscat, serves as a good example of the success the two countries have achieved in their bilateral relations in the higher education sector. Research links are also maintained in the areas of water resources and water-resources management. The Research Council of the Sultanate of Oman, working in cooperation with the Helmholtz As-socation, is establishing a research centre in Oman, the Institute of Advanced Technology Integration (IATI).

In 2013, Chile and Germany entered into a natural resources partnership. Chile, along with Brazil, is one of the focus Latin American countries in the BMBF’s international programme on economically strategic raw materials.

Attention should also be called to Germany’s cooperation with Colombia in the area of vocation-al training. Since 2011, the partner institute for the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), in Colombia, has been the Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA; the national vocational training service). The cooperation is focused on establishing a national research centre, along with a national voca-tional-training-research department at SENA. That department is to work at the national level, helping to formulate political aims and vocational orientation programmes. Modeled after the BIBB, it will carry out scientific analyses of data and information, prepare national data reports and conduct research, including re-search into the costs and benefits of vocational training.

The DFG’s “Brazilian-German Collaborative Research Initiative in Manufacturing Tech-nologies” (BRAGECRIM)

In the area of production research, the German Research Foundation (DFG), working in cooperation with two

Brazilian partner organizations, CAPES and CNPq, is promoting the joint German-Brazil-ian research group BRAGECRIM – now in a third project phase that is to run until 2019. In this phase, the German and Brazilian sides will each contribute about 3 million euros to promote joint research projects focused on new technological solutions and methods for improving efficiency and compet-itiveness throughout entire product life cycles. The projects are set up to include a balance of German and Brazilian research partners. All projects will also simultaneously train junior scientists, and each participating junior scientist will have a lengthy stay at the relevant partner institute.

Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest aircraft manu-factuer and the world’s fourth-largest automobile market, offers an enormous range of resources and capacities for state-of-the-art, production-rele-vant research. What is more, Brazil now has many internationally renowned universities and research institutions of its own in these areas.

Since 2009, when the BRAGECRIM initiative began, a total of 13 German and 11 Brazilian universities and research institutions – with over 30 institutes – have participated in it. To date, the DFG, CAPES and CNPq have funded over 25 projects in the BRAGECRIM format, with each partner providing about 6 million euros. A total of nearly 400 German and Brazilian (young) scientists have taken part. Furthermore, the effort has produced over 100 sci-entific publications, along with contributions at 250 national and international conferences, seminars and exhibitions.

71 Measures from other target areas also have impacts in this target area. One representative example is the beacon “Establishment of international centres

for advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences”, from target area 1.


Since 20011, the BMBF and France’s AIRD (Agence interétablissements de recherche pour le développe-ment) have jointly funded trilateral projects involving African partners, especially projects in the areas of food security and agriculture.

With regard to the funding initiative “Global food security – GlobE”, to the “European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership” (EDCTP) and to the regional centres of excellence for climate change and sustainable land management, see the remarks concerning target area 4.

Joint funding agreements and instruments in the framework of STC have been in place with Uzbekistan since 2012. The BMBF, in consultation with UNESCO, has also established sustainable cooperation structures relative to the challenges in the Aral Sea region. Other German institutions also have numerous cooperation relationships in place, including efforts via various university partnerships. In addition, the German Aca-demic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), working for years via in-dividual-funding programmes, have built up a network of alumni that now serves as a nucleus for the cooper-ation. Plans call for the cooperation with Uzbekistan to be intensified on the basis of the BMBF’s new strategy for Central Asia (cf. Chapter 3).

Pilot study: Agricultural Knowledge and Ad-visory Systems in Georgia and Tajikistan

The aim of the project is to study the local cultures, stakeholders and structures of knowledge and

innovation development, as well as the channels for innovation diffusion in place

in post-Soviet South Caucasus and Central Asia. A central emphasis is on improving applied research in the region, via the agricultural sector. The partners in the joint research group include the University of Bonn, Georgia’s Academy of

Sciences, Tajikistan’s Institute of philosophy, political science and law (within the academy of sciences) and the “Central Asian and Caucasus Association of Agricultural Research Institu-tions” (CACAARI), located in Uzbekistan.

The project is intended as a pilot project. If it is successful, the model will be applied to other countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus – and, especially, in other economic sectors.

Via bilateral R&D cooperation, the BMBF plans to develop one of the world’s most important growth markets for civil security solutions – India. The Indian government plans to double the size of its “home security” market, in the period 2011 to 2018. It will then have reached a volume of 16 billion dollars72.

Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) II

PDPs are non-profit organizations aimed at developing prevention strategies, vaccines, medications and

diagnostic tools and equipment for prevention/treatment of neglected, poverty-re-lated diseases and then bringing such results to the market at low cost. In PDPs, which usually have network structures, various types of stake-holders (academic institutes, public research institutions, pharmaceutical companies and NGOs) work together. The BMBF is providing four PDPs with funding totalling 21 million euros over a four-year period starting in 2011. An interim evaluation of the partnerships is taking place in 2014. The BMBF will use the evaluation as the basis for deciding on the continuation – and perhaps the expan-sion – of PDP funding.

72 Cf. in this regard: www.indiastrategic.in/topstories1151_India_homeland_security.htm

http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories1151_India_homeland_security.htm


One central exemplary project, and one in which the BMBF is taking an active role, is the UNESCO “Learning Cities” process, which is being managed by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. As a result of the adoption of the 2013 Bejing Declaration, with its set of 37 “key features”, a “Global Network of Learning Cities” (GNLC) is now being established. The BMBF is planning to bring the results and experience gained via the “learning on-site” (LvO – Lernen vor Ort) programme to this network, in order to be able to apply good-practice examples from other countries – especially in east Asia and northern Europe – to “peer learning” of German cities and municipalities. Via the LvO transfer process, all German cities and municipali-ties are to be provided with management and monitor-ing instruments relative to development into “learning cities”.

b) Support for European and multilateral dialogues

The EU and the European Member States are increas-ingly working jointly in cooperation with developing and newly industrialized countries. This is making it possible to achieve “critical masses” in the cooperation, and to produce efforts that are often more effective than initiatives of individual states. In many processes, the BMBF is thus closely coordinating initiatives and measures with other stakeholders at the EU level or in multilateral contexts. The formats that the BMBF uses for consultation and coordination include the “Strate-gic Forum for International S&T Cooperation” (SFIC).

The regional ERA-Nets, such as ERANETMED, involving Southern Mediterranean countries, offer the BMBF important vehicles for intensifying coordi-nation of European policies with those of developing and newly industrialized countries. In the multilateral context, the BMBF also participates continually in EU coordination projects, including projects with the Cen-tral Asian region (IncoNET CA) and the “Eastern Part-nership” (IncoNET EaP)), and BILAT initiatives, such as the BILAT UKR*AINA with Ukraine. The BMBF plans to use these INCO activities as the basis for possible multi-lateral STC agreements involving multiple EU Member

States with similar interests with respect to developing and newly industrialized countries (cf. in this regard the remarks in Chapter 3).

The BMBF also represents German perspectives in joint bi-regional and bi-national platforms for research policy dialogue between the Member States and the European Commission and selected partner countries and regions. The EU initiatives are important activities that can usefully complement Germany’s bilateral commitments. Work via the EU level offers realistic opportunities for working together with other world regions in order to solve common challenges. The “High-Level-Policy Dialogue” (HLPD) with Africa, and the dialogue processes in place with the countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Mediterranean, provide encouraging examples in this regard. The work carried out via such dialogue platforms includes iden-tifying emphases for cooperation and developing and implementing joint agendas for cooperation.

Strengthening bi-regional dialogues between the EU and developing and emerging countries

The BMBF is making additional resources available to ensure that research topics that are of key im-

portance for Germany are taken into account in the implementation of bi-regional di-alogues between the EU and other world regions.

At the same time, corresponding national platforms are being established to pool German competence, and political and scientific inter-ests, and include them effectively in European initiatives.


c) Transformation processes

The societal and political transformation processes that have now been underway in the Mediterranean region for three years have placed the cooperation relation-ships established in the areas of education, science and research in a new context.

Within the framework of the Federal Government’s transformation partnerships with the North African countries – particularly Egypt and Tunisia – the BMBF is helping to support modernization efforts and forces for a civil society. The BMBF plans to intensify this cooperation, as part of implementation of the coalition agreement (cf. Chapter 2).

The establishment and development of knowledge societies in partner countries are being supported via project funding and system-consulting services.

In addition, new thematic accents are being jointly defined, such as research in the humanities and social sciences, knowledge and technology transfer and in-dustry-science cooperation and cooperation in the area of vocational training.

Support for societal transformation processes

The Federal Government’s transfor-mation partnerships have proved successful. The BMBF plans to

intensify these partnerships, focusing especially on Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.

The following measures are currently being im-plemented or are planned:

System consulting and capacity-building relative to science and industry cooperation (including entrepreneurship), to regional specialization (“smart specialization”) and to adaptations of vocational qualifications (“adaptability”);

Establishment, in cooperation with research and intermediary organizations, of a national forum for dialogue regarding transformation processes,

and establishment of a process for monitoring transition countries;

Strengthening of international science and industry cooperation – inter alia, via international cluster and techology cooperation;

Contribution to networking of research infra-structures relating to global challenges in the re-gion (including areas such as renewable energies, food security, water supply and climate change), taking account of the ESFRI framework;

Further development of the bilateral funding portfolio, and addition of regional funding approaches aimed at strengthening regional itegration (review of targeted North-South-South measures; promotion of networking by German institutions, including establishment of interna-tional presences; institute partnerships; bilateral universities and study programmes;

Use of the EU framework for supporting transfor-mation processes – for example, in the context of the “EU-Med Group of Senior Officials”.

d) Qualification of specialists and managerial staff for regional development

The BMBF makes use of German competencies and ex-perience in training of specialists and managerial staff, and in establishment of research structures in devel-oping and newly industrialized countries. Such actions strengthen the relevant partner countries, promote intercultural understanding and open up new markets for German institutions.

The BMBF supports efforts to promote young sci-entists, who need to be integrated within international cooperation contexts at the earliest possible points in their careers. At the same time, it works to recruit young scientists and researchers from abroad, to enable them to spend parts of their careers in Germany.


e) Bilateral higher education institutions and other German higher education offerings abroad

The BMBF promotes study programmes of German higher education institutions worldwide. Such activ-ities even include participating in the establishment of new universities. Efforts to educate and train future leaders in focus countries are linked with efforts to recruit students and young scientists for stays at partic-ipating German universities, and both types of efforts open up new opportunities for cooperation in the partner countries.

To date, five bilateral universities have been estab-lished at which, with the BMBF’s support, students study in accordance with common curricula and quality standards (Jordanian-German, Egyptian-Ger-man, Turkish-German, Vietnamese-German and Chinese-German universities). The universities’ study programmes are based on German curricula. German universities provide support as partners.

Turkish-German University in Istanbul

The Turkish-German University was opened in April 2014. Currently, it offers three bachelor’s degree and

two master’s degree programmes. Medium-term plans call for it to have a total of 5,000 students, in a total of five subject areas (engineering sciences, natural sciences, law, economics and administration, humanities and social sciences). On the German side, the academic responsibility for the institution lies with a consortium of 30 German universities. The BMBF is contributing funding for academ-ic operations, teaching and German language teaching, particularly via the university’s foreign language centre. In addition, for a two-year period, the BMBF is providing one million euros per year for a science fund earmarked for the purpose of recruiting especially qualified scien-tists to the university.

In future, the BMBF will support “university exports” via programmes of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which will serve as an inter-mediary organization. The Sino-German University of Applied Sciences (CDHAW) is part of the Sino-German University (CDH) at Tongji University in Shanghai (as one of CDH’s three pillars). It serves as a vehicle for introducing, to China, study programmes modeled after programmes at German universities of applied sciences. The German universities of applied science that sponsor the CDHAW are now planning, as a result of their success in China, to export a similar education-al model to Mexico, via a consortium of 26 German universities of applied science.


The DAAD’s “TNB study programmes of German universities abroad”

In the framework of the programme “Transnational education – study programmes of German universities

abroad” (“Transnationale Bildung – Studienangebote deutscher Hochschulen

im Ausland”), the BMBF promotes the establish-ment of courses of studies, academic depart-ments and entire higher education institutions abroad. The major projects in this context are “beacon” projects that entail numerous meas-ures, ranging from provision of teaching abroad to joint research activities. Such projects con-tribute significantly to the internationalization of the German higher education sector, and they have positive impacts on the partner countries’ higher education sectors. In September 2014, a new bi-national gradu-ate school is being established in an industri-alized country, within the TNB-programme framework: the “German-Russian Institute of Advanced Sciences” (GRIAT), in Kazan, Russian Federation. Ilmenau University of Technology (TU Ilmenau), the consortium leader for the effort, has cooperated for many years with Kazan National Research Technological University (KN-RTU), which is among the Russian Federation’s leading research universities. The new academic facility will be a graduate school of engineering sciences. The German applied-sciences model that is being applied, calling for close coopera-tion between university research and industry, is of special interest for the Russian partners involved in the project, with their long tradition of expertise in technical fields. In addition, the project offers German higher education insti-tutions the opportunity to develop contacts to outstanding young scientists in Russia.

In addition, the BMBF, in cooperation with vari-ous partner countries (such as Mexico, Argentina and Egypt), finances bilateral study programmes at higher education institutions, in various fields. The study programmes are interdisciplinary and integrative in nature, and they lead to internationally recognized

degrees. In cooperation with the DAAD and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Develop-ment (BMZ), the BMBF promotes integrated study programmes – including dual-degree and joint-degree study programmes – worldwide. The German-Argen-tinian University Centre (DAHZ), a joint initiative of the governments of Germany and Argentina, and of representatives of German industry in Argentina, is one of the most important instruments for cooperation with Argentina. The DAHZ offers bi-national, dual-de-gree study programmes, thereby also promoting in-stitutional, academic and scientific cooperation in the framework of higher education networks. The DAHZ is coordinated by secretariats in Buenos Aires (the Argen-tinian ministry of education) and Bonn (DAAD). As of 2014, a total of 14 study programmes are already being supported. Also as of 2014, and with a view to further intensifying the cooperation, a separate funding line for basic study programmes in engineering sciences is being established. In addition, supporting research pro-jects in fields in which study programmes have already been established are also being funded.

Research Chairs in Africa

The BMBF plans to fund research chairs at universities in Africa, under a new German initiative.

The aim is to define an own “brand” of German Research Chairs that can set an interna-tional standard for recruitment and equipment, and that will also make Germany and the BMBF highly visible internationally. At the same time, the chairs support the partners in their efforts to counter the drain of well-educated people from the countries and regions involved.

There are plans to establish four research chairs at African Institute for Mathematical Scienc-es (AIMS) centres in addition to the existing successful chair of mathematics at the AIMS in Senegal. The following locations are currently being discussed: South Africa, Ghana, Cameroon and Tanzania. The funding volume totals about 5 million euros.


Target area 4: Assuming international responsi-bility and contributing to the solution of global challenges

The human race faces enormous challenges in the 21st century. Here are just a few examples: climate change and species extinctions threaten our natural bases for life; infectious diseases are spreading rapidly around the world; all societies and economies need to make their energy supply systems at once safe, affordable and environmentally friendly; and food shortages are be-coming a survival issue in many parts of the world. The financial crisis of 2008/2009 caused serious economic, societal and political upheavals in a number of Euro-pean countries, and the resulting problems threaten social and political cohesion within, and between, European countries and even on a global scale.

To tackle these overarching challenges, which simultaneously affect many different systems and regions, coordinated, concerted efforts have to be made in all policy areas – including education, research and innovation policy. Apart from its supporting activities in the UN framework, the BMBF’s commitments in the area of global challenges are based on two pillars. The

first is a strong bilateral pillar; the BMBF works with selected partners to address especially relevant topic areas. The second consists of its substantial efforts at the European level, including support for ERA-Nets, Joint Programming Initiatives, etc., i.e. for programmes whose scope, and coordination overhead, exceed the customary bilateral frameworks.

With regard to the overall frameworks for its work, the BMBF supports the global scientific initiatives for defining and establishing common standards for scientific work, such as those of the Global Research Council (GRC); the initiative of the Leopoldina (Ger-man National Academy of Sciences) for cooperation with the African academies of science; and the work of the International Council for Science (ICSU), which is carried out under the aegis of UNESCO and is also aimed at promoting globally accepted standards for good science.

Such initiatives, pursued by the science sector itself, provide an important basis for credible, global research on global challenges. They help to put recognized standards for evidence-based solutions in place in the relevant areas.


Climate change

Thanks largely to the work of the United Nations’ “International Panel on Climate Change” (IPCC), there is now basic consensus about the causes and conse-quences of climate change. It is now accepted that greenhouse gases emitted via human activities are causing the earth’s temperature to rise. As a result, the frequency of extreme weather events such as severe storms, floods and droughts can very likely be expected to increase.

The BMBF funds research on climate change in numerous ways, including the following: it supports the IPCC’s work (for example, by funding the office of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research); and it helps to coordinate climate research throughout Europe in the framework of the Joint Programming Initiative on climate change (“JPI Climate”; the BMBF is on the Governing Board and has served as chair of that body), which integrates the research efforts of twelve European countries within a joint strategic research agenda.

With various funding priorities, the BMBF covers the various areas of work related to climate change. One example is “energy- and climate-structures in urban growth centres” (within the context of the pro-gramme “Research for the Sustainable Development of Megacities of Tomorrow”).

A new funding priority in the area of climate protection and supply security

The planned funding priority focuses on the impacts of climate change on the supply situation, throughout a

range of different fields and sectors of the supply chain.

Research in this area is expected to promote the implementation of efficient supply measures. The priority areas for the effort are water, energy, health, mobility/transport, food and air quality. The more-specific important areas in which research is needed, and in which adaptations/improvements will have to be made, include public health and health care, resilience poten-tial and public and individual participation in decision-making processes. In addition, require-ments for inter-sectoral research emerge via analysis of extreme weather events, and via the identification of “creeping”, long-term changes.

The funding priority offers great potential for cooperation with emerging science nations and for improving Germany’s innovativeness in the field of climate protection technologies.


The BMBF also supports the establishment of thematically oriented centres of excellence in devel-oping and newly industrialized countries. The current emphasis in this regard is on Africa.

In July 2010, the BMBF, working in cooperation with partners from ten west African countries, and five south African countries, and after a one-year preparation phase, began to establish two “Regional Science Service Centres” (RSSC) for climate change and sustainable land management. The initiatives are being carried out in cooperation with German higher education institutions, research institutions and the institutions’ related networks, and they are benefiting both sides. The centres of excellence are co-financed by the partner countries, which promotes lasting coopera-tion at high levels of quality. The BMBF is investing up to 100 million euros in the two centres.

The African countries cooperating in the West African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (WASCAL) include Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

The African countries involved in the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) include Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and South Africa.

The centres are charged with creating lasting infra-structures that will strengthen research and build rel-evant capacities in Africa itself. To those ends, existing research capacities are to be consolidated and closely interconnected with existing academic and govern-ment structures. In addition, the centres will provide advising services for local, national and regional land users, planners and policy-makers, and they will make German scientific expertise available, via partnerships, to the research communities in western and southern Africa. In the medium term, the centres of excellence will be expanded to include specially tailored edu-cational modules. The centres’ educational focuses will include health, climate change and social science research on transformation processes.

The BMBF’s cooperation also extends to joint funding of research infrastructures, as the following example from the area of German-Brazilian coopera-tion illustrates.

Amazonian Tall Tower Observation Facility (ATTO)

The BMBF is currently funding the construction of the ATTO atmos-pheric-measuring tower in asso-

ciation with the Brazilian Research Ministry (MCTI).

The tower is being constructed in a remote forest area in the Amazon basin, some 300 kilometres away from Manaus. With a height of 325 metres, it will be far taller than the tallest treetops. Numerous, sensitive measuring instruments will be used on the tower to measure – with virtu-ally no anthropogenic influences whatsoever – climate-relevant trace gases, and their sources and sinks, in the biosphere and atmosphere. The research results are expected to make a valuable contribution to our understanding of atmospheric exchange processes and to support forecasts of future climate developments.

Natural resources

Our natural bases for life are being threatened, on an enormous scale, by global population growth and by intensive use of natural resources. Internationally interconnected research and education can open the way to viable solutions for protecting and conserving natural resources.

The BMBF’s central international measures and contributions in this area are based on, inter alia, the funding priority “Sustainable Land Management”. The numerous and diverse bilateral activities being carried out in this framework are oriented to enhancing networking, and to building necessary structures, in directly affected countries.


Bilateral project with Uzbekistan to reduce water salinization

A shortage of water resources, and rising soil and water salinity levels, are restricting the development of

agriculture in Uzbekistan. Increasing water salinity is a special problem. Not only is it affecting water resources in the Aral Sea region, it is significantly disrupting affected ecosystems and threatening food security. On the German side, this exemplary project is being supported by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF).

The BMBF is also involved in pertinent transna-tional EU measures, such as funding of European ERA-NET research networks, which are aimed at improving coordination of national programmes in Europe. The pertinent efforts include SEAS-ERA (development of an integrated European oceanographic research strategy); the ERA-NET IWRM (Integrated Wasser and Resources Management) and the ERA-NET BiodivERsA2, which includes topic areas such as “Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services” (URBES) and “Ecosystem serVIce provision from coupled planT and microbiAL function-al diversity in managed grasslands” (VITAL; develop-ment of sustainable use concepts for alpine grassland systems). The BMBF is also playing an active role in the development of the Joint Programming Initiative “Healthy and Productive Seas and Oceans” (JPI Ocean), which is designed to strengthen strategic oceanograph-ic research in Europe.

Food security

More than nine billion people are expected to be living on the earth by 2050. In light of the rapid growth in the world’s population, global food security is one of the grandest challenges of the 21st century.

The BMBF’s most important activities in this area include funding transnational collaborative research on the global food supply, in the framework of the National Research Strategy BioEconomy 2030, which includes topic areas on plant research and global food security.

The “Securing the Global Food Supply (GlobE)” funding initiative

The “Securing the Global Food Supply (GlobE)” funding initiative, which the BMBF launched in July

2011, is aimed at the promotion of efficient and sustainable agriculture that draws on both modern and traditional knowledge. It focuses especially on cooperation with partner countries in Africa. On the basis of regional assessments of requirements, it analyzes food systems, identifies research topics and carries out research projects, via partnership. And in light of Africa’s very rapid pace of change, it also looks at the things that Europe can learn from Africa. African partners work from the outset as equal partners. This develops their own problem-solv-ing capacities, and it enhances the chances the new methods will be applied.

The aim of the effort is to build new bridges between African countries and Germany, and between highly developed, modern cultivation technologies and traditional cultivation meth-ods. The know-how gained via the research work is expected to be applicable to cooperation with other regions of the world. The initiative, which is intended as a model, is helping to enhance Germany’s worldwide attractiveness and visibili-ty as a partner for cooperation in this key field of action by the international community.

The BMBF is also increasingly introducing German competencies and resources into European activities. In 2012, for example, it founded the “Food” (“Lebens-mittel”) task force, in order to strengthen food-produc-tion research at the national and European levels, and to help provide German research and industry with greater access to EU funding. The BMBF is participating in the two Joint Programming Initiatives of relevance for this global challenge, the JPI on “Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change” (FACCE-JPI) and the JPI on “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JDI HDHL). Both JPIs were launched in 2010, with strong support from


Germany. They are now each coordinating the efforts of over 20 participating countries. The efforts have already registered initial successes. FACCE-JPI, for ex-ample, has been able to include two European research networks within the European Framework Programme (MACSUR Knowledge Hub and the ERA-Net Plus “Climate Smart Agriculture”). Germany is a sponsoring partner in both projects.

These activities complement the BMBF’s commit-ment in the ERA-Net “Sustainable Food Production and Consumption”, which was launched in 2011 and is aimed at promoting research on sustainable food production and consumption.

Global health

Three of the United Nations’ eight Millennium De-velopment Goals are health-related: reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other widespread diseases.

The so-called “neglected diseases” in developing countries present a special challenge. The pharmaceu-tical industry has little incentive to conduct research in connection with such diseases, due to the poor profit prospects involved. In industrialized countries, research

Research Networks for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Health is a central development goal. And research is an important driver of development. As of 2014,

the BMBF is promoting health research in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa via the Research Networks for Health Innovations.

The funded research networks are expected to build on existing structures and resources and to make use of synergies with existing networks and activities. And they should focus specifically on the needs of people in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The initiative is designed to promote coopera-tion between German medical research insti-tutions and African universities, as well as to advance networking among African research centres.

tends to focus on population-age-related increases in rates of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

In this area as well, the BMBF is relying on the strong bilateral pillars in its international cooperation. Its funding of research networks for health innova-tions in Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, is aimed at comprehensively strengthening biomedical research in Africa overall – and, in developing countries, is helping both to fight poverty-related infectious diseases and to address the growing problem of “civilization(-related) diseases”.

Its bilateral activities in this area are complement-ed by its strong commitments to pertinent European initiatives.

One such initiative is the “European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership” (EDCTP), which is focused on developing medications, diagnostic tools and equipment and vaccines for prevention/treatment of HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis and other neglected infectious diseases. The programme, in which 16 EU Member States and 47 Sub-Saharan countries are participating, has already produced initial successes. The BMBF thus plans to participate actively in EDCTP 2.


Demographic change

Under current global population-growth trends, by 2050 the number of people over 65 will triple between 2010 (500 million) and 2050 (about 1.5 billion). At the same time, the ratio of numbers of senior citizens to numbers of younger people of working age will continue to tip in favour of the seniors. In addition to affecting Europe, this trend will affect Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea and, with some delay, will also reach China and Brazil.73 Extensive, interna-tional research in this area is needed.

In the coming years, the BMBF will expand its relevant European activities primarily within the framework of the Joint Programming Initiative “More Years, Better Lives – The Challenges and Opportunities of Demographic Change”. The JPI’s focus is integrated within the Federal Government’s research agenda on demographic change and its demographic strategy. It is promoting the development of innovative solutions and the development of the potential inherent in an ageing EU population.

At the European level, this commitment is being linked, within the framework of a dialogue process, with the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA); with thematically related Joint Programming Initiatives (“Urban Europe”, “Neurodegenerative Disease Research” and “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life”); with other EU initiatives (Ambient Assisted Living-Joint Programme /AAL-JP, ERA-AGE, FuturAge, SHARE, etc.); and with the “Euro-pean Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership” (EDCTP).

In light of the success achieved to date, and positive perspectives for the effort, an expansion of the Joint Programming Initiative is currently being prepared. At present, 14 EU countries and Canada are participating in the effort. Additional non-EU countries and inter-national organizations are to be integrated as well. In addition, the initiative will increasingly focus on joint implementation and on alignment of national research programmes in the area of demographic change.

Societal transformation

As a result of today’s enormous cultural, political, social and economic interconnectedness, and of the great complexity of the tasks of providing viable economic perspectives, stabilizing transnational markets and regulating them as necessary and assuring lasting se-curity and peace, individual states often find they have reached the limits of their own regulatory and action spheres.

New transnational perspectives are developing, so-cieties are changing and new ways of achieving stable societal consensus are being sought in a global context.

The BMBF wants to assist science in its efforts to support such societal transformation and to provide suitable decision-making options for policy-makers. It is thus participating, in diverse ways and with numer-ous measures, in addressing the international chal-lenges resulting in the context of the aforementioned societal transformation.

One component of such efforts is to build and pro-vide the research infrastructures needed for systematic research in the humanities and social sciences.

For this reason, the BMBF, working in the ESFRI framework, is promoting the social science projects SHARE and CESSDA (Council of European Social Sci-ence Data Archives; for construction of an integrated archive of social science data; at the national level: the BMBF financing the relevant organizational structure) and the humanities projects CLARIN (Common Lan-guage Resources and Technology Infrastructure) and DARIAH (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities).

Since 2009, the emphases of the BMBF’s interna-tional activities have included funding “Area Studies” projects. Such projects analyze the structures and development dynamics of other societies and regions, from both current and historical perspectives. In the process, they also examine transregional and global interrelationships and exchange processes. The BMBF’s active commitment in the ERA-NET HERA (“Human-ities in the European Research Area”), relative to the

73 U.S. National Institute on Aging; www.nia.nih.gov/research/publication/global-health-and-aging/humanitys-aging

http://www.nia.nih.gov/research/publication/global-health-and-aging/humanitys-aging


topic “Cultural Encounters”, has also been successful. In this effort, the BMBF is cooperating with funding institutions from a total of 17 countries, as well as with the European Commission. Working in interdiscipli-nary, transnational frameworks, such projects study an enormous range of cultural interrelationships through-out the course and cultural spheres of human history, along with their causes, development and consequenc-es. Further German participation in HERA, focusing on the topic “Uses of the Past”, is planned. This work will include interdisciplinary study of the various types of societal and cultural capacities and resources.

The following two examples of bilateral coopera-tion illustrate the BMBF’s commitment in this area:

In a funding initiative in the context of Ger-man-Greek cooperation, humanities and social scienc-es projects are being funded that are analyzing the socio-economic impacts of the financial and economic crisis, along with the strategies being used to address those impacts.

Since 2012, the Franco-German collaborative research project “Saisir l’Europe” (“Seizing Europe”) has been studying the areas of the “welfare state, sustainability and urban spaces and violence”. The pertinent research network – which is part of a larger Franco-German network – includes three partners in Germany: the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Humboldt-Univer-sität zu Berlin.

Another means of assuming international respon-sibility, in this context, involves cooperation with the Palestinian territories. The BMBF plans to expand this bilateral cooperation, with a view to supporting the peace process in the region. A joint call for proposals, to involve funding of joint research projects and of scien-tists’ mobility, is currently being prepared.

In the coming years, Ukraine will require a phase of internal stability, if it is to develop its potential for so-cietal and political renewal and to redefine its position within Europe. Science and research are playing a cen-tral role in the strengthening of Ukraine’s civil society.

The BMBF is supporting the country’s reform process-es, with the aims of enhancing universities’ research performance; providing advising in connection with legislation and structural reforms; helping to interna-tionalize the country’s higher education institutions and research institutions – for example, via mobility programmes and participation in the EU’s “Horizon 2020” programme; and helping to link publicly funded research with the innovation sector.

Regional Integration Processes in West Africa

Transnational political and econom-ic regions offer Africa great oppor-tunities, but they also present major

challenges for integration processes. Political-science research findings relative to Eu-ropean integration can support efforts to analyze regional integration processes and to promote their further development.

With this in mind, the BMBF has been funding a research collaboration between the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) and the West Africa Institute (WAI) in Cabo Verde since 2012.

The cooperation has a supra-regional orienta-tion, and it encompasses the countries within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The project is intended to serve as a model for sustainable partnership between Africa and Europe. In addition to promoting the necessary networking activities, it is also strengthening lo-cal and regional capacities for scientifically based advising of policy-makers in West Africa.


Target area 5: Creating perspectives through edu-cation – for people and the economy

The Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy of 2008 placed a central focus on the areas of research and development. The past few years have highlighted the special importance that vocational training has in publicizing and promoting Germany’s educational sector at the international level.

Since 2008, when the crises began, vocational train-ing has contributed strongly to companies’ economic stability and competitiveness, and to the employability of young people, in Germany, and this has been well ap-preciated both nationally and internationally. European institutions have made vocational training (Vocational Education & Training – VET) a priority in their efforts to promote education, culture and youth through the year 2020. “Work-based Learning” (WBL) is becoming increasingly important, internationally, and it has been identified by the OECD as a key factor. The OECD coun-try reports and studies “Learning for Jobs” and “Skills beyond School” substantiate the importance of the German model in this area and the international inter-est being shown in it. Demand for the “German” system has increased considerably and, consequently, so has the number of international programmes for vocational training cooperation in which Germany is involved.

For this reason, this area is being featured here in a separate target area.

German vocational training cooperation is linked with policy-making in the areas of education, econom-ics, the labour market, immigration, foreign policy and development policy. It creates numerous interfaces between the relevant ministries, institutions and those organizations that act on behalf of ministries. This function led to the creation of a new structure in this area in 2013: a “round table”, and a central agency in the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB). In the spite of the great diversity of activities involved, of the great number of stakehold-ers involved, including representatives of the areas of policy-making, industry, education and administration, and of the widely diverse aims that are involved, the new structure has brought consistency to vocational training cooperation, with clear structures and efficient work-sharing.


The BMBF’s activities in this area are based on a strategy paper entitled “vocational training coopera-tion from one source” (“Berufsbildungszusammenar-beit aus einer Hand”), which the Federal Government approved in 2013. The leadership responsibility in the area of international vocational training cooperation lies with BMBF (cooperation with Europe, and with OECD countries, BRICS countries and newly indus-trialized countries) and with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (in the framework of development policy cooperation).

Germany, the largest EU Member State, is strongly export-oriented but poor in natural resources. These characteristics lead to its vital interests in international liberalization and cooperation in the education sector. Increasingly, German companies need employees who, along with the requisite professional skills, also possess the ability to collaborate with people from other lan-guistic and cultural spheres. In its efforts to modernize training and further training, the BMBF will thus also focus on intercultural competencies and on develop-ments in international qualifications, and it will seek to significantly enhance the learning-related mobility of young people, especially of young people in vocational training.

The German Parliament has established the ambi-tious goal of ensuring that by 2020 at least ten percent of all trainees of each age cohort obtain some part of their training abroad (parliamentary resolution of 2013). Efforts to achieve this goal will rely especially heavily on the European Erasmus+ (2014-2020) educa-tion programme.

In addition, the BMBF plans to promote the trans-parency, transferability and acceptance of qualifica-tions in the European education and training area by making active use of the European EQR, ECVET and Europass initiatives.

Furthermore, Germany plans to cooperate inten-sively with the EU and the OECD in these regards. In the EU sphere, the BMBF will emphasize implementa-tion of the 28 EU countries’ new European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA). In the same context, the BMBF will support the OECD in its planning of an interna-tional comparison of the performance of vocational training graduates and vocational training systems. And the BMBF is supporting the “European Skills,

Competencies and Occupations taxonomy” (ESCO) reference system.

In its strategy paper on “Vocational training cooperation from one source” (“Berufsbildungszusam-menarbeit aus einer Hand”), the Federal Government has defined the following strategic aims with regard to increasing the employment opportunities of young adults:

• Promoting employment of young adults by strength-ening company-integrated training components, especially within the European Union;

• Supporting governments, and employers’ and employees’ representatives, in strengthening dual structures in their countries’ vocational training sys-tems by providing advising and transferring relevant know-how;

• Meeting industry’s requirements for skilled manpow-er, both nationally and internationally, and strength-ening German companies’ international commit-ments and technology transfer;

• Supporting provision of German training and educa-tion services abroad;

• Establishing a stakeholders’ dialogue on education policy, to provide impetus for national vocational training policy and to strengthen international voca-tional training research in Germany;

• Internationalizing vocational training and education, especially professional development training, in order to ensure that skilled personnel have the qualifica-tions they need in a globalized economy;

• Supporting the introduction of an inclusive, holistic approach to vocational training in those countries in which Germany maintains development cooperation, and in which vocational training can be a driving force for growth and employment and thus – inter alia – contribute to the stabilization of fragile contexts;

• Via trusting, goal-oriented dialogue between all stakeholders, providing a basis for cooperation in other areas.

These aims provide a strategic framework for all bilateral vocational training cooperation, a framework that can be specifically operationalized in keeping with the situations and requirements of partner countries.


New structures

Since 2013, international vocational training cooper-ation in Germany has been organized on the basis of new structures.

A “round table” is now serving as a centre for coor-dinating activities in bilateral international vocational training cooperation. The round table supports inter-departmental, inter-organizational cooperation and consultation regarding the strategic orientation of the Federal Government’s international vocational training cooperation. The relevant body meets regularly, at working and state-secretary levels.

The members of the round table are drawn from the participating federal ministries, the organizations that operate within their spheres and the institutions that sponsor the national vocational training system, especially the chambre organizations (Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) and German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH)) and the “social partners” (employers’ and employees’ rep-resentatives; Confederation of German Employers’ As-sociations (BDA) and Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB)). The Federal Institute for Vocational

Education and Training (BIBB), the “German Office for International Cooperation in Vocational Education and Training” (GOVET) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany are also represented.

GOVET has been sited within the BIBB in order to ensure that all of its expert resources, as a national center of excellence for vocational training cooper-ation, enter into international vocational training cooperation.

GOVET supports the Federal Government’s coop-eration relationships, and its work complements the existing advising services of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), of the KfW Group and of other German stakeholders. It collects information about the Federal Government’s new and ongoing vocational training cooperation efforts, suit-ably processes the information and then provides it, as necessary, to individual German stakeholders. It serves as a point of contact for all institutions involved in Ger-man vocational training cooperation. It also will soon be available to provide information to foreign parties.

Its services include establishing and advising bilateral working groups, identifying, initiating and supporting networking, cooperation and beacon projects, managing knowledge resources and process-ing relevant information and providing on-location cooperation and advising services.

Bilateral cooperation in vocational training

The BMBF has been registering a growing demand for bilateral cooperation. At the European level, such de-mand has been linked – also as a result of the economic and financial crisis – with the aim of combating youth unemployment.

The BMBF’s cooperation with international part-ners is oriented both to country-specific requirements and to the strengths of the German vocational training system.

These strengths can be summarized in the follow-ing five core principles: (1) Cooperation between social partners (employers’ and employees’ representatives), industry organizations and government; (2) On-the-job learning; (3) Acceptance of national standards; (4) Qualified training personnel; and (5) Institutionalized vocational training research and advising.


For many partner countries, consensus-oriented co-operation, integrating social partners (employers’ and employees’ representatives) – and thus amounting to public-private cooperation – is something largely new. In each case, therefore, the BMBF works to ensure that bilateral-working-group meetings in the partner coun-try bring together the stakeholders who are needed for the shaping of a practice-based, cooperatively oriented vocational training system modeled after the German system. In the process, the BMBF aims also to include relevant partners from the cooperating country’s labour market. This enhances their role in vocational training and, ideally, encourages them to take on great-er responsibility in the dual system that is being devel-oped. The initial successes achieved in introducing dual – i.e. cooperative – structures, with the participation of all systemically relevant stakeholders in the partner country, have upheld the BMBF’s approach.

The thematic priorities, sequence and results of bilateral vocational training cooperation vary in keeping with the outset situation and developmental requirements of the relevant partner country. As a rule, joint activities focus on developing and testing ele-ments of the German dual system – such as curriculum frameworks, examining boards, teaching materials and training materials.

In December 2012, the BMBF signed a relevant joint memorandum with six EU countries – Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Latvia and Slovakia – in the framework of a conference of ministers of education. In the mem-orandum, the participating countries agree to imple-ment dual elements, via various measures, within their vocational training systems.

In addition, the BMBF, in cooperation with a group of dual-oriented countries (Austria, Switzerland, Lux-embourg, the Netherlands and Denmark), presented an initiative for introducing joint instruments, and joint programmes for transferring dual principles to partner countries, into the European Alliance for Apprentice-ships (EAfA).

The first cooperation and networking projects in this context have already produced initial successes. One such successful project has been the FEDA project in Spain (providing for inclusion of trainees of Spanish companies in cooperation between German vocational schools and companies in Barcelona and Madrid).

The Mentoring Dual International (MENDI) project has also developed very positively in Greece.

The “Mentoring Dual International” (MENDI) project

The aim of MENDI is to establish a three-year dual training course for the tourism industry in Greece,

following a set-up phase lasting one year. The project is designed to demonstrate, via a focus on the growing tourist industry, that the employability of young people can be signifi-cantly improved through workplace-oriented learning.

In February 2014, a vocational school was opened on Crete, and in the summer of 2014 a practical phase began that was developed in close consultation with Greek companies. Initially, a total of 180 young people are being trained in the project. Since September 2013, the DEKRA Akademie, with the support of the BMBF, and in close cooperation TUI subsidiary Robinson Club, has been establishing training programmes in Athens and Heraklion.

The relevant training, being provided on a mod-el basis in three occupations, has been specifical-ly adapted via coordination with Greek training programmes. This is yielding new occupational profiles that are being implemented with the support of Greek ministries for education, labour and tourism.

These projects are creating good references and thus can serve as models for other, similar efforts.

In addition to its cooperation with the six EU countries in this context, the BMBF has long cooperat-ed with BRICS countries. Its cooperation is especially intensive with China, Russia and India.

The BMBF plans to further expand its vocational training cooperation efforts. In addition, cooperation programmes with South Korea, Thailand, the U.S. and Mexico are currently being refined.

A key priority in such efforts is to establish German standards abroad, in order to assure a sufficiently high level of training quality, and to provide a reference framework for industry-state cooperation in vocational training.


Establishment of German vocational training profiles in partner countries

Working in close cooperation with the partner countries, and with the Association of German Chambers

of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the BMBF is supporting the systematic establishment of vocational training committees and examination commissions at German Chambers of Commerce abroad (AHK), in order to establish sustainable dual vocational training profiles along German lines.

In this effort, cooperation with Russia, India and China is particularly intensive. In all countries, Ger-man Chambers of Commerce abroad (AHKs) serve as important partners for implementation. For example, at the AHK Shanghai, vocational training commissions and examination commissions, with German and Chinese members, have been estab-lished with regard to various individual occupa-tions. Chinese vocational schools are making use of these commissions, in cooperation with German and Chinese companies. Plans call for an entire range of new, state-accredited vocational training profiles, modeled after German profiles, and with consistent structures, to be established throughout all of China. This is to occur via several regional co-operation centres, with the AHK Shanghai serving as a key basis.

The BMBF plans to use this effort as a model for further, systematic expansion of its international

vocational training cooperation. In “equal partner-ships”, vocational training standards and principles, modeled after those of Germany, and in keeping with the relevant partner country’s circumstances and requirements in each case, are to be introduced. The services provided by the German side will cover a broad spectrum, including political advising, establishment of management systems, structural development, research cooperation and specific education and training services.

From the outset of the cooperation, the BMBF assumes responsibility for coordination at the political level. The future partner countries are to be prioritized on the basis of specialized success factors, and of political and economic potential – i.e. cooperation will be developed with those countries that offer especially good conditions for success and in which Germany has a special interest. In the medium term, as a result, vocational training is to be developed, as a field for cooperation, to the point at which it is systematically visible as a potential component for foreign policy developments and as a part of necessary confidence-building measures.

Plans call for the establishment of similar cooper-ation projects with Mexico and European partner countries, as well as for the intensification of rele-vant existing projects.

Links with UNEVOC

In cooperation with the BMBF and the Federal In-stitute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), the UNESCO Vocational Centre (UNEVOC) will offer regionally adapted vocational training aimed at pro-moting economic activities in which growth is harmo-nized with sustainability (“Greening TVET”). Systematic linking of such activities with activities in bilateral vocational training cooperation will enhance the value and impacts of both groups of activities.

In a two-year consolidation phase, the UNEVOC network was revitalized and upgrated, by vocational

training stakeholders worldwide, via a focus on the core topics “Greening TVET” and “Youth and skills”.

The substantial reorientation has considerably enhanced the network’s relevance in political UN processes.

UNEVOC is taking a leading role in introducing vocational training aspects into the future design of ac-tivities in the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework, and it is helping to shape the educa-tional aspects of the Post2015 Development Agenda. The BMBF has assumed special responsibility for the reorientation of UNEVOC, also via systematic linkage with the Federal Institute for Vocational Education


and Training (BIBB). Now, a substantial and structural consolidation, in the framework of a medium-term cooperation, is planned.

In addition to further substantial consolidation and quality-assured growth of the network, this effort will also include a reorganization. This is expected to facilitate intensified participation by third parties. The BMBF plans to actively support this process, with a view to developing UNEVOC’s potential to function as a useful multilateral complement to German bilateral vocational training cooperation.

Exporting vocational training

Many countries are not yet able, within the framework of their own training systems, to meet current and growing requirements for high-quality training. The needs of internationally operating German companies, whose requirements for highly qualified specialists on location are growing as they expand their international operations, are playing an important role in this regard. Exports of vocational training, by Germany, are thus responding to real market demand – to growing inter-national demand for highly qualified employees.

iMOVE – “Training – Made in Germany”

iMOVE (International Marketing of Vo-cational Education) is a BMBF-estab-lished initiative for internationalizing

German training and education services.

To German training-services providers, iMOVE offers an extensive range of services for the development of international markets.

With its slogan, “Training – Made in Germany”, iMOVE internationally advertises German com-petency in vocational training and education.

Via iMOVE, providers of training and education services receive subject-related and country information in the form of studies, and via sem-inars, workshops and a providers’ database that offers opportunities for networking.

According to the 2013 iMOVE “trend barometer”, the German training and education sector achieved a new record in its international revenue. Its compa-nies had unprecedented optimism about their future growth opportunities abroad. The companies surveyed for the trend barometer generated a combined revenue of 2.78 billion euros in the education sector overall and 550 million euros in education exports.

In 2013, nearly one out of every four German pro-viders exported education services. The corresponding figure in 2010 was about one out of every ten. With this result, the exporting percentage of providers of training and education services more than doubled over the period in question. A total of seven of every ten companies surveyed see greater growth potential in international markets than in national markets. Asia, including India and China, its most important markets, is the most popular region for exports. Nearly seven out of every ten exporters are already active in it. Techni-cal occupations have been meeting with greater and greater success: in seven of every ten cases of educa-tion exports, they are what is being exported. Some eight out of ten providers surveyed report that the “door-opener function” performed by German govern-ment agencies “tends to be important” with regard to their own company’s education exports. The following section highlights the developments and perspectives in this area.

Via its “vocational training export” funding initia-tive, the BMBF offers German providers of vocational


training and education the opportunity to develop and test innovative, sustainable business models. The initi-ative also has the function of helping to meet German exporting companies’ demand for skilled personnel in the focus regions concerned. To date, four funding an-nouncements have been published, and a total of about 140 projects have been funded. The annual funding volume is about 13.5 million euros.

The R&D collaborative research projects being funded, which include partners from both the academ-ic and business spheres, are expected to serve as models

and pilots for development of export strategies and implementation of sustainable international voca-tional training services. The projects are also expected to yield practically oriented findings of relevance for education-sector companies (most of which are SMEs). In addition, the projects can exemplify ways in which training methods can be transferred with reference to the German dual system.

The “VETNet” strategy project highlights the quality of the projects being funded by the BMBF.

VETNet

Via “VETNet”, a strategic project, the BMBF, in cooperation with the Associ-ation of German Chambers of Com-

merce and Industry (DIHK), is strength-ening the competence of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHKs) in 11 countries (Brazil, China, Greece, India, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and Thailand), six of them within the European Union, through the introduction of sustainable dual training courses.

The effort links the system-reforming, struc-ture-forming level of vocational training cooper-ation with innovative, implementation-oriented

R&D project funding. Via the leadership of the eleven AHKs, pilot projects are being implemented, on location, that are supporting efforts for reform and for introduction of practice-based vocational training systems in the relevant partner countries. The establishment of quality assurance structures modeled after German structures is being promoted via the AHKs, as is the integration of the relevant re-sponsible agencies, such as ministries, chambers, etc.

The project, which has been underway since Octo-ber 2013, is to run for a two-year period and has a total volume of 4.6 million euros.

Recognition of vocational qualifications acquired abroad

Immigrants already offer significant competencies and qualifications that can boost innovation in German industry and research. The “Assessment and Recogni-tion of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act”, which entered into force in 2012, provides an important basis for making effective use of this potential

The Act enhances the options for assessing and rec-ognizing profession qualifications earned abroad, and

for making use of such qualifications in the German labour market. For people with qualifications earned abroad, it improves opportunities for finding employ-ment in keeping with their qualifications – and, thus, it supports their integration into the labour market. As to its external impacts, the Act enhances Germany’s attractiveness for skilled personnel from abroad. The Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act thus supports efforts to assure the availability of skilled personnel.


Using the potential of the “Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Professional Qualifications Act”

This federal law has established new opportunities, and use of these oppor-tunities has already begun. Now all the

responsible stakeholders, especially the Länder, chambers, competent federal ministries, the Federal Employment Agency and companies, are called upon to actively support the law’s effective implementation.

As the lead ministry responsible for the law, the BMBF will closely support the various processes involved.

In the process, it will apply four emphases:

First, further progress needs to be made in unifi-cation of the legal foundations for assessment of foreign professional qualifications. A number of Länder have chosen to exempt certain professions from the law, and this, in the Federal Government’s view, is unacceptable: assessment and recognition procedures must be available for persons qualified in third countries – especially persons qualified in understaffed professions.

Second, the ways in which the Federal Government and the Länder enforce and apply the new assess-ment and recognition rules need to be standardized

to the greatest possible extent. This will involve extensive standardization of the relevant proce-dures and the greatest-possible concentration of procedural responsibilities.

Third, use of the law must be supported by large-scale expansion of the information and advising services available to persons seeking to have quali-fications recognized, and to employers, and the ser-vices need to be optimized in the coming years. In the medium term, the aim in this regard is to enable the institutions that are regularly responsible for advising relative to the labour market and skilled personnel to also provide – in the framework of their tasks – advising relative to recognition of pro-fessional qualifications. Furthermore, at the federal level, an overall strategy for Germany’s internation-al advertising aimed at attracting skilled personnel and students is needed. Such a strategy would pro-vide a framework for coordinating synchronizing the various information services available.

Fourth, training programmes for adapting and upgrading qualifications, that produce transferable results, are needed in connection with assessment and recognition procedures, along with a suitable range of funding instruments relative to individual further training.

106 SUPPORTING MEASURES

5. Supporting measures

Monitoring relative to internationalization

To be efficient, internationalization has to be founded on a broad basis of information. For this reason, the BMBF plans to establish a comprehensive monitoring system. Relevant monitoring will follow the inter-nationalization of the German research sector, along with relevant internationally oriented development, and available cooperation opportunities, in important partner countries.

At present, there is no generally accepted indicator system that describes the quality of the international dimension of an innovation system. And few individ-ual indicators are available that would make it possible to compare countries in terms of central aspects of the international dimension. Many of the analytical instruments needed for the international sector remain to be developed.

This is the context for the development of the “ERA Monitoring Mechanism (EMM)”74.

74 www.eubuero.de/era-monitoring.htm.

www.eubuero.de/era-monitoring.htm

107SUPPORTING MEASURES

The BMBF plans to develop a monitoring system with four dimensions:

• The descriptive dimension: Development of an indicator system, based extensively on existing data sources,75 for assessment of the scope, quality and impacts of the internationalization of the German education and research sector, via international com-parison and taking account of the EMM;

• The analytical dimension: Collection and processing of information about important international de-velopments, as well as about bilateral and European cooperation opportunities for German stakeholders in education and research;

• The strategic dimension: Establishment of a network of experts that will support the German education and research sector in the strategic orientation of international cooperation;

• The participative dimension: Establishment and strategic reorientation of platforms for structured information exchange, relative to cooperation with focus countries, between all internationally active players in education and research.

In addition to providing this monitoring system, and other information services, the BMBF plans to present a report, every two years, on internationaliza-tion in the German science and research sector. Such reports will give policy-makers (including the German Parliament) an overview of the BMBF’s international and European activities, as well as of the activities of the research and intermediary organisations funded by the BMBF.

The descriptive dimension: an indicator system

Information is to be collected and processed on two levels.

At the national level, and in a first step, making use of a dialogue platform, common indicators for the international dimension of the innovation system will be defined in cooperation with the relevant German organizations and experts.

In a second step, following a testing phase for assessing the practicability of the indicators, the jointly defined indicators will be compared internationally and then, at the international level, will be presented to the relevant EU, OECD and UNESCO bodies. This will enable the German contribution to the international dimension of research and innovation systems to enter the indicator systems used at the international level. Since 2013, the BMBF has applied this approach in the development of the “ERA Monitoring Mechanism”, to ensure that that mechanism reflects the international component of the European Research Area.

The analytical dimension: international coopera-tion opportunities

Over the past few years, the BMBF has considerably expanded the range of information that it provides relative to international cooperation opportunities in the area of education and research.

Its information services are based on three pillars:

• The “Research in Germany” and “Kooperation inter-national” information portals;

• The network of science representatives based at German embassies abroad, and

• International representative offices of the German research and intermediary organisations.

“Research in Germany” and “Kooperation interna-tional”

The “Research in Germany” (www.research-in-ger-many.de) website is a central information portal for foreign scientists who are interested in R&D coopera-tion with Germany. It was relaunched in June 2013, and it now receives more 300,000 visitors per month. In late 2012 / early 2013, relevant activities were also launched in social media, and “Research in Germany” now has over 3,000 followers on Twitter and more than 45,000 fans on Facebook (last revision: 4 April 2014).

75 Plans call for further development, within the framework of “Pact”-related monitoring, of indicators for assessing target achievement for “internationalization”.

http://www.research-in-germany.de



The “Kooperation international” portal (www.kooperation-international.de), which is for the “other direction”, offers German scientists and companies information on international cooperation opportuni-ties in education and research. In 2013, it received an average of nearly 150,000 visits per month.

The monthly “ITB infoservice” newsletter (ITB = international technology reports (Internationale Tech-nologie-Berichterstattung)) is part of the “Kooperation international” concept. With over 1,850 subscribers (as of March 2014), it is the most important text-based information source about developments in interna-tional education, research, technology and innovation policy. Since 2010, focus issues on relevant regions and topics have appeared semi-annually. To date, issues on the Nordic countries, Latin America, South East Asia, the Danube Region, Russia and the MENA region, and on multilateral cooperation, have appeared.76

Continuing development of the information services will be conducted in close cooperation at the European and international levels – for example, with the “EU Research and Innovation Observatory” (RIO) and the international monitoring systems of the OECD and UNESCO.

The strategic dimension: establishment of a network of experts

In addition to shaping indicators and information systems into a monitoring system, the BMBF plans to develop a range of analytical instruments.

The resulting instruments are to be used to prepare requirements-oriented analyses relative to further strategic orientation of international cooperation, and of related measures. Such analyses are to be made avail-able to decision-makers in the BMBF, in the science sector, in companies and in other participating institu-tions, such as Germany Trade and Invest GmbH (GTAI).

The new range of instruments is expected to en-hance the various institutions’ ability to develop new opportunities for bilateral and international coopera-tion. It will enable them to respond more quickly, and more appropriately, to new trends and measures in other countries and regions. The BMBF expects these effects to provide new impetus for policy-making in Germany.

The establishment of an interdisciplinary network of experts will play a key role in this connection. Along with German experts on specific regions, the network will include innovation stakeholders, in the science and industry sectors, who focus on issues pertaining to national innovation systems.

The network will also include the science repre-sentatives based at German embassies and representa-tives of the international presences of German research and intermediary organizations. Such representatives are experts on the focus countries concerned, and they maintain networks that can be used for coordinating relevant activities, especially with activities of local representative offices of other EU countries.

The network is expected to facilitate the process of organizing and processing available information about potential partner countries and regions – in ways that will enable international education and research policy to take account of future potential and opportunities.

76 www.internationales-buero.de/de/1887.php.

http://www.kooperation-international.de

http://www.kooperation-international.de

http://www.internationales-buero.de/de/1887.php


The participative dimension: establishment of country-specific / regional dialogue platforms

To be coherent, policies need to reflect relevant on-going dialogue. With this in mind, the BMBF plans to establish dialogue platforms.

The platforms will bring together all innova-tion-sector and civil-society stakeholders who main-tain, or are planning, cooperation with specific coun-tries or regions. Significantly, the platforms will take account not only of the relevant activities of national stakeholders, but also of EU activities relative to the countries and regions in question.

Furthermore, the platforms, with the help of work-shops, conferences, etc., will especially highlight rapidly emerging science nations as focuses for cooperation.

Advertising Germany as a centre for education, research and innovation

German education and research institutions use the “Research in Germany – Land of Ideas” brand in pre-senting themselves internationally. The BMBF also uses the brand to promote such measures.77

This marketing and advertising strategy has been used successfully for many years. It consists of four pillars, representing the areas of research and innova-tion, Years of Science, higher education institutions and vocational training. Numerous research institutions, higher education institutions and companies have have used this brand to present themselves, and Germany’s education, science and research sectors, worldwide.

An evaluation carried out in 2014 of the BMBF’s research marketing campaigns found that higher edu-cation institutions and SMEs especially benefited from them by being able to use them as springboards for in-ternational networking. In many cases, contacts made during such campaigns led to successful recruiting of young scientists. The evaluation provided useful rec-ommendations for the future orientation of research marketing overall. The key recommendations included improving networking and developing joint messages (cf. also the following section on Research Marketing 2.0). Overall, it was clear that research marketing has contributed significantly to the improvement of per-

ceptions of Germany as a centre for R&D – especially Germany as a whole, not individual R&D institutions.

For these reasons, the BMBF plans to expand its marketing efforts in this area.

Advertising Germany’s attractiveness as a centre for research and development

The current situation

Germany’s innovation sector may be characterized in terms of its highly diverse range of players and stakeholders; of the extensive freedom and autonomy that its research and intermediary organizations and companies enjoy; and of the ways it is shaped by Ger-many’s federal structures. For this reason, the BMBF’s marketing strategy is aimed both at a) supporting its institutions in developing their marketing measures and b) encouraging them, in their activities, to present and publicize Germany in its entirety, as a centre for education, science and research.

77 www.land-der-ideen.de/.

http://www.land-der-ideen.de/


Its research marketing stands on three pillars:

1. The political pillar: The BMBF defines the political framework for advertising Germany as a centre for innovation. Via political dialogue with partners, both within and outside of Germany, doors are opened, foundations for future marketing activities are laid, business measures are agreed and contributions to overarching country strategies are made.

2. The structural pillar: The “International Research Marketing” network, including the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), German Academic Ex-change Service (DAAD), German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG), carries out joint marketing activities, in keeping with the members’ core competencies, to present the Germa-ny’s education, science and research sectors abroad.

3. The campaign pillar: Via marketing campaigns with thematic and country focuses, the BMBF supports German R&D networks in carrying out international marketing activities. Since 2006, a total of 71 net-works have been funded, with a total of 6.2 million euros. As a rule, such networks consist of research institutions, higher education institutions and companies. Often, the companies involved are SMEs or spin-offs from universities. The networks’ activ-ities are supported by central marketing measures of the BMBF, including the Internet portal www.research-in-germany.de, publications, press relations and joint presentations at international trade fairs.78

These initiatives are complemented by overarching measures that the BMBF carries out directly. One such measure is the international “Green Talents” compe-tition for young researchers.79 “Green Talents” (“Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development”) was carried out for the first time in 2009, in connection with an environmental technology campaign. The competition, which is held on an annual basis, is aimed at outstanding young scientists and researchers from abroad, especially those from BRICS countries. The 25 competition winners (2009: 15; 2010/2011: 20) are invited to Germany for a two-week science forum. In addition, they are offered the opportunity to come to Germany, during the year following the competition, for a research stay of up to

three months at an institution of their own choosing. The competition has been a success, as is apparent in the consistently high levels of international visibility it has generated and – especially – in the continually growing numbers of applications and participating countries it has attracted (2009: 156 applications from 42 countries; 2013: 431 applications from 80 countries).

Many of the competition’s prize winners have continued, after the end of the programme, to main-tain and cultivate the contacts they made during the programme. And some prize winners are now working at German universities and research institutions.

It is important to provide ready Internet access to information about current initiatives and about key stakeholders and players in the German innovation system. “Clusterplattform Deutschland” (www.clus-terplattform.de), for example, a joint portal operated by the BMBF and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), with collaboration by the Länder, is aimed at persons worldwide who are seeking information about cluster-oriented funding measures and initiatives of the Federal Government and the Länder. It offers a central access to the diverse German cluster sector.

Forschungsmarketing 2.0 (“Research Marketing 2.0”)

In 2015, the BMBF is going to introduce “Forschungsmarketing 2.0” (“Research Marketing 2.0”), a new overall research marketing strategy. It will include an improved strategic management structure, aimed at achieving a high level of consistency in mar-keting and publicity activities.

It is also expected to make better use of existing research marketing, both within Germany and abroad, and it is expected to have an enhanced public impact. In addition, it will include larger numbers of German higher education institutions and research-intensive SMEs in research marketing campaigns.

In implementing the new strategy, the BMBF will apply the following two emphases:

1. The “International Research Marketing” consortium will be continued, with a view to communicating the aims of the marketing initiative more effectively and

78 www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/de.html.79 www.greentalents.de/.



http://www.clusterplattform.de

http://www.clusterplattform.de

http://www.research-in-germany.de/dachportal/de.html

http://www.greentalents.de


intensively to the German R&D sector and to includ-ing larger numbers of stakeholders. The consortium’s tasks will include proposing suitable new activities, optimizing existing activities and supporting the var-ious players and stakeholders in their goal-oriented cooperation and networking.

2. The second emphasis is on the overarching aim of “networking”. Improved networking and intercon-nection of the various structures used to advertise the German education, science and research sectors, such as “Study in Germany”, “Gate” and the activities of other departments (organized via GTAI or GIZ), will improve the overall coherency of measures and activities. This, in turn, will enhance the effectiveness of marketing activities.

In addition, networking with other international measures is being improved. Marketing measures can provide an important dialogue function in connection with implementation of the “beacons” described in Chapter 4, for example, as well with expansion of coop-eration in the framework of regular STC negotiations and bilateral intergovernmental consultations.

Along these lines of action, research marketing is being developed into a central BMBF beacon for inter-national cooperation.

The BMBF’s Years of Science

International “Years of Science”, introduced in 2005, are an instrument for expanding bilateral partner-ships. The Years held since 2009 have been devoted to the new economic powerhouses China (2009/2010), Brazil (2010/2011), Russia (2011/2012) and South Africa (2012/2013). The partner for the current Year of Science is Turkey.80

In each Year, various event and communication formats are combined, over a period of about twelve months, with the aim of highlighting existing cooper-ation and laying a foundation for future intensification of the bilateral cooperation. The principle of reciproc-ity – i.e. the partner country also carries out activities in Germany – is a key to the Years’ high visibility and lasting real-world impacts.

The Years of Science carried out to date have been successful in many ways. Under the umbrellas of the past four Years of Science, more than 700 events have been carried out, exchanges of young scientists and researchers have been promoted, bilateral research in-frastructures have been established and scientific coop-eration with the partner countries has been intensified.

The Years of Science have proven to be an im-portant tool. Via the Years, international cooperation with selected partner countries has been significantly intensified.

Further development of the strategy for the Years of Science will focus on using synergies; intensifying in-terconnections with other related marketing measures; and coordinating the Years with related interdepart-mental measures, such as the Federal Government’s “Germany Years” (“Deutschlandjahre”).

As a result, the Years of Science will be integrated more effectively within the relevant country strategies via which the most important topics and areas for Ger-man interests, in education, research and innovation, are identified.

80 www.deutsch-tuerkisches-wissenschaftsjahr.de/.

http://www.deutsch-tuerkisches-wissenschaftsjahr.de


Examples of successes achieved with past bilateral Years of Science

The German-Chinese Year of Science and Edu-cation 2009/2010:

• The BMBF’s participation in the German-Chi-nese “promenades” in Shenyang and Wuhan, on the topic of “sustainable urban develop-ment”, that were organized as part of the event series “Deutschland und China – gemeinsam in Bewegung” (DuC; “Germany and China – moving together”), attracted a great deal of attention. Each promenade was seen by more than 300,000 visitors.

• The Year of Science provided important impe-tus for the first and second German-Chinese intergovernmental consultations (in 2011, in Berlin; in 2012, in Beijing), at which a total of seven joint declarations on education and research topics were signed.

German-Brazilian Year of Science, Technology and Innovation 2010/2011

• A number of events conducted with strategic partners in Brazil have led to intensified coop-eration in the area of innovation management. Fraunhofer (Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG)) has been expanding its presence in Brazil – inter alia, by opening two project centres in 2012, by maintaining an FhG contact office and by supporting Brazil in establishing innovation centres.

• Important impetus has been provided for cooperation with higher education institutions and research institutions. Various universities (including UAMR, TU München), and (for ex-ample) the Helmholtz Centre for Environmen-tal Research (UFZ Leipzig), now have represent-ative offices in Brazil.

The German-Russian Year of Education, Science and Innovation 2011/2012:

• Special successes were achieved in oceano-graphic and polar research. For example, joint research institutions such as “Ulrich Schiewer Experimental Laboratory for Aquatic Ecology” were established, and two German-Russian Arctic research expeditions were carried out.

• The BMBF and the Russian Fund for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE) have published their first thematically unrestricted joint funding announcement.

The German-South African Year of Science 2012/2013:

• The BMBF-funded Neville Alexander Memorial Fund was established by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This special initiative is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Neville Alex-ander, a “Humboldtian” and political associate of Nelson Mandela. It is structured to support-ing capacity-building in (South) Africa.

Higher education marketing

The BMBF promotes marketing and information ini-tiatives relative to Germany’s higher education sector, with the following emphases:

• The campaign “Study in Germany – Land of Ideas” is designed to raise awareness of Germany as an out-standing place to study, and to increase the numbers of excellent foreign students at German higher edu-cation institutions. The website www.study-in.de, a platform for foreign students, is flanked by presences in social networks.

http://www.study-in.de


• GATE Germany81, a higher education consortium, has been supporting member higher education institutions (now 147) since 2001 in their marketing efforts. It offers them resources for recruiting foreign students and establishing strategic partnerships with other countries. Over 80 % of all foreign students in Germany are enrolled at member institutions. In addition to exhibition presences, its range of services includes establishment of marketing expertise at higher education institutions, expansion of training and advisory services (also online) and expansion of Internet-based forums and media. The services are designed to assist institutions in conducting infor-mational events either aimed at specific regions or aimed worldwide.

Marketing aimed at international students will

continue to be tailored to specific groups of students and audiences. The marketing strategy is expected to emphasize and exploit synergies between the afore-mentioned two main operational structures. Relevant research will support this focus via efforts such as systematic monitoring.

Vocational training marketing

International interest in the German dual system of vocational training has grown considerably in recent years. The internationalization of German vocation-al training is already being systematically supported on all levels – via political dialogue of high-ranking

working groups on vocational training; via system consulting by the Federal Institute for Vocational Edu-cation and Training (BIBB); via iMOVE’s informing and interconnection of providers of training and education services; via funding of research for German education providers; and via coordination, under the “edvance” initiative, with stakeholders (other departments, etc.). The primary aim of such efforts is to achieve meas-urable increases in exports of German education and training services and programmes.

Such successful efforts will be expanded in future and linked with related activities. Ultimately, voca-tional training is to be integrated, on an equal footing alongside research and higher education institutions, in marketing of Germany as a centre for innovation. (Regarding the specific measures, see also target area 5.)

International presence

The international presence of Germany’s innovation sector covers a broad spectrum, including the interna-tional offices of German higher education institutions and science institutions, international chambers of commerce, international locations of German com-panies and German embassies. The German staff of international organizations and bodies in the areas of education, research and innovation are part of Germa-ny’s international presence.

Science representatives based at German embassies abroad

A total of 78 persons, including local staff, are em-ployed at 34 agencies and missions abroad who are responsible for dealing with matters related to science and research (figures as of January 2014). Of these persons, 20 are science representatives who spend all of their working time focusing on science and research policy. In cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, the BMBF will continue to ensure that science repre-sentatives are assigned to areas that offer perspectives for Germany – for example, where investments in research and development are increasing significantly. This criterion is met especially by rapidly emerging science nations.

81 www.gate-germany.de/.

http://www.gate-germany.de


International representative offices of the German research and intermediary organizations

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) maintains 15 offices abroad and 53 information centres (“IC”) worldwide (25 of them in Asia). The ICs abroad support the DAAD’s work and publicize Germany’s education and research sectors.82

In addition, many German higher education institutions now have cooperation structures in place abroad or offer joint study programmes in cooperation with foreign higher education institutions.83

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) is supported abroad by 38 liaison scientists, in a total of 32 countries.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has seven offices worldwide (Beijing, Delhi, Tokyo, Washington D.C., New York, Moscow, São Paulo).

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FhG) works via various levels abroad: FhG representative offices, temporary cooperation centres (Fraunhofer Project Centers) and long-term Fraunhofer Centers and Fraunhofer Insti-tutes (with special legal forms).

The Max Planck Society’s (MPG) international presences include “Max Planck Centers” (13 centres at eleven locations, and two partner institutes) and five international Max Planck institutes. The former are institutionally connected with partners abroad, while the latter group are legally full-fledged members of the Max Planck Society.

The international on-location activities of the centres of the Helmholtz Association, and of the institutions of the Leibniz Assocation (WGL), have also been growing. Unlike the FhG and the WGL, the HGF does not have any central programmes for establish-ing presences abroad. Relevant initiatives, especially initiatives for participation in international research infrastructures, are coordinated in the HGF’s individual centres. In part, the international presences of individ-ual Leibniz Association institutions can be financed via the “Leibniz Competition”, on the basis of the Leibniz Association’s funding lines.

The Max Weber Foundation (DGIA; Deutsche

Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland)84, which is funded by the Federal Government, funds research in the areas of history, economics, humanities and social sciences, in selected countries, and it promotes mutual understanding between Germany and the DGIA host countries. The DGIA Foundation is the only German research institution that, as a result of its mission, conducts all of its research work abroad. Currently, the DGIA maintains ten institutes abroad.

German staff in supra-national and international organizations

The staff of the EU, OECD and UNESCO, and of other relevant organizations, is an focus group for Germa-ny. The BMBF is aiming to increase the numbers of Germans (as percentages of total staff) in the relevant supra-national and international organizations. In ad-dition, efforts are being made to increase the numbers of managerial / directorial positions that are staffed by Germans.

With this focus, the BMBF is responding to the growing importance of these institutions, and is seeking to more effectively apply national expertise to such tasks as setting agendas, supporting processes and making decisions.

To this end, the BMBF plans to develop a person-nel-development strategy for the international sector.

82 www.daad.de/portrait/kontakt/adressen/08965.de.html.83 www.daad.de/hochschulen/hochschulprojekte-ausland/05454.de.html. With regard to the BMBF’s funding for German higher education programmes

abroad, cf. the Chapter on training of specialists and managerial staff for regional development.84 www.maxweberstiftung.de.

http://www.daad.de/portrait/kontakt/adressen/08965.de.html

http://www.daad.de/hochschulen/hochschulprojekte-ausland/05454.de.html

http://www.maxweberstiftung.de


Institution-oriented international presences

The current situation

The international presences of research organizations and higher education institutions are a visible manifes-tation of growing international networking. Compared to important competitors such as the U.S., the UK and France, which have long been visible with interna-tional universities and with international locations of research institutes, Germany has relatively little expe-rience with research presences abroad. International locations and affiliations, with long-term orientations, tend to be the exception.

In terms of their objectives, international presences can be basically differentiated as follows:

1. Representative offices (with no scientific / academic functions);

2. Project-related research presences (with both scientific and representative functions; tend to be temporary and project-financed), and

3. “Institutional” research presences (with their own legal forms; have a long-term orientation).

International presences provide direct scientific, science-policy and economic benefits, including access to research topics and objects; access to staffing and infrastructural resources; added expertise; networking and cooperation with the partner country’s centres of excellence; development of new markets for third-par-ty-funded research, etc..

International presences can also play an important role, with regard to shortages of skilled manpower, by linking scientists from third countries to German insti-tutions, for considerable periods of time.

A new goal

The growing competition for the best minds and ideas is creating new requirements in the area of internation-al presences. On-location presences make it possible to participate in the excellence of other science regions and areas.

At the same time, while international presences have important external impacts, they can tie up signif-icant quantities of resources in the medium and long terms. To be justified, therefore, permanent locations abroad need to be especially effective in their specific fields and must benefit Germany in concrete ways.

The founding of the German Houses of Research and Innovation (DWIH), in 2009, was a first important step toward improving the networking and visibility of German science abroad.

In the BMBF’s view, the following criteria should be applied to decisions on the establishment or expansion of international locations of research and intermediary organizations and of universities:

• Provision of assured access to relevant research ob-jects and/or infrastructure, and access to the world’s best large-scale research equipment;

• Enhancement of the expertise of research institutions and their institutes – with corresponding benefits for Germany’s science and research sectors;

• Recruiting of outstanding scientists for German re-search institutions; recruiting of young scientists via “brain circulation”, and reinforcement of networking;

• Marketing of Germany’s education, science and research sectors, via German presences and positions in the world’s most dynamic scientific and economic centres – ideally, via presences with supra-regional visibility;

• Establishment of joint projects with other European institutions;

• Development of international innovation resources and potential, and development of assured market access.

In a first step, the BMBF plans to establish a na-tional contact point for “international presence”, with the aim of developing, via transparency and mutual learning, “good practices” in the establishment and management of international locations. The contact point will collect information on the various relevant institutions’ experience, and will support development of “good practices”.

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6. Annex

Overview of “beacons”

“Beacons” are BMBF projects that can serve as examples for further measures with regard to their structural ap-proach, networking and impact. They are specially marked in the Action Plan.

Where measures have already begun, or are being continued due to their success, the years in which they began are placed in parentheses.

Beacon Beginning Description

"Research Marketing Alliance"

2014/2015 The BMBF plans to initiate a dialogue with stakeholders in science, industry and the political sector. All the parties involved in this dialogue will cooperate on drafting a framework strategy for a "Research Mar-keting Alliance". The strategy will be presented at a conference of representatives of the policy-making, science and industry sectors in spring 2015.

Ideas Competition on the European Research Council (ERC)

2014/2015 The BMBF will issue a call for an ideas competition in the context of the ERC in which prizes will be awarded for concepts to enhance the attractiveness of German institutions and to thus strengthen Germa-ny's international competitiveness.

ERA Fellowships for "EU 13" 2015 The BMBF will launch a special fellowship programme for science managers from the "EU 13" Member States, in order to support the new EU Member States in their efforts to establish a professional science management sector.

International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC)

(2012) In the area of biomedical research, recent years have seen the emer-gence of the internationally highly acclaimed new field of medical epigenomics. The "International Human Epigenome Consortium" (IHEC), a worldwide association of research funders and research groups, was founded in 2012. Germany is playing a leading role in this process, in keeping with its scientific competence and strategic commitment.

Cooperation with the U.S. in regenerative medicine

2014 In order to promote the implementation of regenerative therapies, the BMBF is providing targeted support for international cooperation between the world-leading experts and translation centres in this area, and it has signed bilateral agreements with relevant research funding institutions in the U.S., such as the Californian Institute for Regenera-tive Medicine (CIRM). To date, seven projects involving German partic-ipation, and total funding of over 7 million euros, have been approved, and further projects are being prepared. This shows that regenerative medicine in Germany is very highly rated in the international science community.

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Establishment of Interna-tional Centres for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences

2014 The BMBF is supporting the establishment of international centres, outside of Europe, for advanced studies in the humanities and social sciences. These are to be visible centres of cooperation between Ger-many and the partner countries involved.

"Establishment and Expansion of Joint Research Structures in Europe" programme

2015 The "EU 13", and the official accession candidate states Former Yugo-slav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, are gradually es-tablishing and expanding research capacities and centres of excellence. With the support of the BMBF, German stakeholders in science and industry will profit as strategic partners from access to these institu-tions and contribute to establishing joint structures.

"Networking" initiative 2015 The BMBF will use this initiative to support the interconnection of various organizations' specialized international activities.

Joint Programming at the European level

2014 The BMBF will provide targeted support to help the German research scene actively participate in Joint Programming Initiatives. Further-more, the BMBF will coordinate the JPI activities with relevant bilateral measures and make use of synergies to ensure a high level of sustain-ability.

"Centres for Innovation Competence (ZIK), Creating excellence – keeping talent"

(2014) The Eastern German regions need top research on their doorsteps in order to develop clusters that are economically successful and interna-tionally competitive in the long term. A total of 14 centres are receiv-ing funding of over 240 million euros, in two rounds of funding. The second funding phase for the most recently established centres (ZIK II) will end in 2019/2020. As a result of the positive effects of this funding instrument on the internationalization of the centres concerned, a new funding measure for the ZIKs is being considered with a view to systematically expanding the individual approaches currently taken by the centres.

National platform on "Global Knowledge Sourcing"

2015 In the area of Global Knowledge Sourcing, the BMBF intends to provide targeted support to German companies and applied research, particularly with a view to funding cutting-edge German technology. A dialogue process is expected to lead to the establishment of a national platform that will contribute towards improving the general conditions for innovation-oriented companies and facilitate the exploitation of sources of knowledge.

Internationalization of leading-edge clusters, core projects and comparable networks

2014 The BMBF is preparing a measure to support the further interna-tionalization of leading-edge clusters (and other instruments of the High-Tech Strategy). Following a conceptual and preparatory phase, this measure will fund bilateral or multilateral projects involving top international centres.

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Internationalization of core projects: The example of the "City of the Future"

2014 In a first step, a strategic research agenda on the content design for this core project will be drafted. This will be based on the "National Platform for the City of the Future (NPZ)". Demonstration projects will show how innovative concepts for mitigation of climate change, and adaptation to it, can function in cities all over the world.

The German-Chinese "Innovation" platform, and platforms with other BRICS countries

(2011) In June 2011, the BMBF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Tech-nology (MoST) set up the German-Chinese "Innovation" platform. The platform is designed to promote mutual understanding and exchanges on the innovation policies of the two countries. The platform has proved valuable, and it is serving as an example for the additional innovation platforms that are being prepared with other BRICS countries.

The German-Chinese "Clean Water" research and innovation programme

(2011) within the framework of the German-Chinese Intergovernmental Con-sultations (2011, 2012), MoST and the BMBF agreed on a research and innovation programme, and on the establishment of a "Clean Water" innovation centre in Shanghai. These measures are helping to improve access for German SMEs to the growing Chinese market for adapted and sustainable environmental technologies.

Eurostars 2 (2014) Due to its considerable success, Eurostars is being continued for a second programme period lasting from 2014 to 2020.

EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)

2014 The calls for proposals for the future KICs are taking place in 2014 (topics: Raw Materials, Healthy Living and Active Aging), 2016 (topics: Added Value Manufacturing, Food4Future) and 2018 (topic: Urban Mo-bility). Numerous German consortium partners and potential Co-loca-tion Centres (CLCs) have already been found for these calls. The BMBF will take preparatory measures to support the optimum involvement of German stakeholders in the calls.

Pilot study: Agricultural Knowledge and Advisory Systems in Georgia and Tajikistan

2014 The aim of the project is to study the local cultures, stakeholders and structures of knowledge and innovation development, as well as the channels for innovation diffusion in place in post-Soviet South Cauca-sus and Central Asia. The project is intended as a pilot project. If it is successful, it will be applied to other countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus – and, especially, in other economic sectors.

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Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) II

(2011/2014) The BMBF is providing four PDPs with funding totalling 21 million euros over a four-year period starting in 2011. An interim evaluation of the partnerships is taking place in 2014. The BMBF will use the evalu-ation as the basis for deciding on the continuation – and perhaps the expansion – of PDP funding.

Strengthening Bi-regional Dialogues between the EU and Developing and Emerging Countries

2014 The BMBF is making additional resources available to ensure that research topics that are of key importance for Germany are taken into account in the implementation of bi-regional dialogues between the EU and other world regions. At the same time, corresponding national platforms are being established to pool German competence, and po-litical and scientific interests, and include them effectively in European initiatives.

Support for Societal Transformation Processes

2014 The Federal Government's transformation partnerships have proved successful. The BMBF plans to intensify these partnerships, focusing especially on Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.

Turkish-German University in Istanbul

2014 The Turkish-German University was opened in April 2014. The BMBF is contributing funding for academic operations, teaching and German language teaching, particularly via the university's foreign language centre. The BMBF is also providing one million euros per year, for two years, for a science fund which is intended to help recruit particularly well-qualified scientists to the university.

Research Chairs in Africa 2015 The BMBF plans to fund research chairs at universities in Africa, under a new German initiative. The aim is to define an own "brand" of German Research Chairs that can set an international standard for recruitment and equipment, and that will also make Germany and the BMBF highly visible internationally. There are plans to establish four research chairs at African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) centres in addition to the existing successful chair of mathematics at the AIMS in Senegal.

Establishing a new funding priority in the area of climate protection and supply security

2014/2015 The planned funding priority focuses on the impacts of climate change on the supply situation, throughout a range of different fields and sec-tors of the supply chain. The funding priority offers great potential for cooperation with emerging science nations and for improving Germa-ny's innovativeness in the field of climate protection technologies.

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Amazonian Tall Tower Observation Facility (ATTO)

2014 The BMBF is currently funding the construction of the ATTO atmos-pheric-measuring tower in association with the Brazilian Research Ministry (MCTI). The research results are expected to make a valuable contribution to our understanding of atmospheric exchange processes and to support forecasts of future climate developments.

Bilateral project with Uzbekistan to reduce water salinization

(2014) A shortage of water resources, and rising soil and water salinity levels, are restricting the development of agriculture in Uzbekistan. Increas-ing water salinity is a special problem. Not only is it affecting water resources in the Aral Sea region, it is significantly disrupting affected ecosystems and threatening food security.

The "Securing the Global Food Supply (GlobE)" funding initiative

(2011) The "Securing the Global Food Supply (GlobE)" funding initiative, which the BMBF launched in July 2011, is aimed at the promotion of efficient and sustainable agriculture that draws on both modern and traditional knowledge. It focuses especially on cooperation with partner countries in Africa. The initiative, which is intended as a model, is helping to enhance Germany's worldwide attractiveness and visibility as a partner for cooperation in this key field of action of the international commu-nity.

Research Networks for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa

2014 The BMBF is promoting health research in the countries of Sub-Saha-ran Africa via the Research Networks for Health Innovations, which it launched in 2014.

Regional Integration Processes in West Africa

(2012) The BMBF has been funding a research collaboration between the Center for European Integration Studies (ZEI) and the West Africa Institute (WAI) in Cabo Verde since 2012. The project is intended to serve as a model for sustainable partnership between Africa and Eu-rope. In addition to promoting the necessary networking activities, it is also strengthening local and regional capacities for scientifically based advising of policy-makers in West Africa.

"MENDI – Mentoring Dual International"

2014 The aim of MENDI is to establish a three-year dual training course for the tourism industry in Greece, following a set-up phase lasting one year. The project is designed to demonstrate, via a focus on the growing tourist industry, that the employability of young people can be significantly improved through workplace-oriented learning.

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Establishment of German vocational training profiles in partner countries

(2014) Working in close cooperation with the partner countries, and with the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the BMBF is supporting the systematic establishment of vocation-al training committees and examination commissions at German Chambers of Commerce abroad, in order to establish sustainable dual vocational training profiles along German lines. In this effort, coop-eration with Russia, India and China is particularly intensive. Plans call for the establishment of similar cooperation projects with Mexico and European countries, as well as for the intensification of relevant existing projects.

"German Chambers World-wide Network for Cooperative, Work-Based Vocational Education & Training" (VETnet)

(2013) Via "VETNet", a strategic project, the BMBF, in cooperation with the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), is strengthening the competence of German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK) in 11 countries, six of them within the European Union, through the introduction of sustainable dual training courses.

Using the potential of the "Federal Recognition Act (Anerkennungsgesetz)"

2014 This federal law established new opportunities for improving the assessment and recognition of foreign professional qualification, and use of these opportunities has already begun. Now all the responsible stakeholders, especially the Länder, chambers, competent federal min-istries, the Federal Employment Agency and not least companies, are called upon to actively support the law's effective implementation. As the lead ministry responsible for the law, the BMBF will closely support the various processes involved.

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Glossary

Academic Freedom Act (Wissenschaftsfreiheitsgesetz) In the summer of 2008, the Federal Government ap-proved the “Initiative for the Academic Freedom Act”. The Act grants non-university research institutions greater freedom in the management of their funding resources, and in the areas of personnel, cooperation, construction and contract awards.

Bologna Process The aim of this process for reform of the higher edu-cation sector, which was initiated in 1999 in the Italian university city of Bologna, is to create internationally accepted higher education qualifications, to assure the quality of study programmes and to promote employ-ability. The Bologna process, in which 47 countries, the European Commission and eight organizations in the higher education sector are participating, applies a partnership approach, by focusing centrally on the involvement of higher education institutions, students and social partners (employers’ and employees’ repre-sentatives).

Brain drain A loss of human resources and knowledge capital – usually in the context of an entire country – via (net) emigration of skilled workers. (Source: EFI report, 2014)

Brain circulation International movements of scientists, and the result-ing shifts of human resources and knowledge. (Source: EFI report, 2014)

Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) Total expenditure on R&D performed on the relevant national territory, whatever the source of finance; this thus also includes funding from abroad for R&D performed within the pertinent country. On the other hand, it does not include expenditure for R&D carried out abroad by organizations located within the relevant country.

Federal Report on Research and Innovation (BuFI) A Federal Government compendium that reports com-prehensively on the research, technology and innova-tion policies of the Federal Government, the Länder and the European Union. It appears every two years. As the result of a 2006 resolution on the reorganization of the Federal Government’s reporting on research and innovation, the BuFI report has taken the place of the “Report of the Federal Government on Research” and the “Report on Germany’s Technological Performance”. The BuFI reports address the conclusions presented in the reports of the independent Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI).

Carnegie This term refers to meetings of G8 science ministers and senior officials, and of the European Commission, that have been held annually since 1991 (and semi-an-nually until 2008). The meetings in this format are aimed not at publishing resolutions, but at promoting informal, open exchanges on science policy issues. Since 2008, the G5 countries (Brazil, China, India, Mex-ico and South Africa) have joined the G8 countries at the meetings.

Cluster Group of companies, and of relevant economic stake-holders and institutions, that are based in close region-al proximity to each other and are linked with each other in networks. A cluster can thus also be a network of stakeholders that maintain trade relationships along a value-creation chain. Ideally, the various companies and institutions in such groupings gain competitive advantages via close cooperation.

COST COST (European Cooperation in Science and Research) is a framework for European cooperation in the area of scientific and technological research. It was established in November 1971, at a European conference of minis-ters. COST initiated coordinated European cooperation in research and development prior to the EU’s frame-work programmes for research. A total of 35 Member States, and one cooperating country (Israel), currently participate in COST. The COST framework is open for participation by institutions from non-Member States.

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Cutting-edge technology Goods for the production of which, on an annual average, more than 9 % of relevant revenue is invested in R&D.

Entrepreneurship The term refers both to identification of market opportunities and to development of business ideas, to the start-up stage. A successful entrepreneur is able, by combining different types of knowledge, skills, capabilities and resources, to turn an invention into a successful innovation. The term “entrepreneur” is thus applied especially to start-up founders with innovative, growth-promoting business ideas.

Europe 2020 Europe 2020 is the EU’s growth strategy through the year 2020. It succeeds the Lisbon Strategy, which termi-nated in 2010. The new strategy is designed to promote smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is thus expected to achieve high levels of employment, pro-ductivity and social cohesion in the Member States. Its effectiveness is continually being monitored in terms of five quantifiable indicators: growth in employment rates; improvement of the conditions for research and development; reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions via increases in energy efficiency and in use of renew-able energy sources (as a percentage of total energy consumption); improvements in education levels; and the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Each Member State has defined its own national targets for each of these areas. In addition, the strategy is being flanked by concrete measures at the EU and Member State levels. “Horizon 2020” is the most important instrument for the implementation of the “Innova-tion Union”. “Horizon 2020”, which was launched on 1 January 2014, is designed to strengthen Europe in the context of global competition.

European Research Area (ERA) An “area without boundaries”, for European research. The completion of the ERA, via partnership and coop-eration between the Member States and the European Commission, is one of the key guiding principles for the orientation of measures in the area of research. The following areas of action (known as ERA priorities) apply in relevant implementation: 1) More effective national research systems

2) Optimal transnational cooperation and competition (planning and implementation of transnational coop-eration and of research infrastructures) 3) An open labour market for researchers 4) Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research 5) Optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scien-tific knowledge 6) Strengthening the internationa dimension of the European Research Area

European Framework Programme for Research (FP) A multi-year EU programme for the promotion of re-search, technological development and innovation. The primary aims of the framework programmes for re-search are to strengthen the EU’s scientific and techno-logical foundations, to promote the EU’s international competitiveness and to support all research measures that are deemed necessary in light of other EU policies. They are thus targeted primarily at transnational re-search and development that can provide the basis for innovative European industry – while also providing direct benefits for citizens.

European Research Council (ERC) The European Research Council (ERC), which is financed via the EU’s “Horizon 2020” programme, promotes basic research in cutting-edge areas of knowledge. Its project funding criteria emphasize the scientific excellence of the persons involved and of the relevant project ideas. The ERC does not prescribe research topics; it applies a “bottom-up” approach. With this approach, the ERC seeks to enable scientists to pursue approaches of their own that are thematically unrestricted and completely new.

European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERIC) In 2007, the ESFRI strategy forum proposed that a com-mon legal framework for new research infrastructures be established, with a view to enabling Member States to implement ESFRI-roadmap projects more rapidly at the European level. The Council Regulation (EC) on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) was adopted in June 2009, and it entered into force in August 2009. The aim behind the regulation is for ERICs to be classified in future as international bodies within the meaning of Art. 143 letter g) and 151 (1) letter b) of the Council

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Directive on the common system of value added tax. The recognition of an institution as an international body, exempting the institution from value added tax / turnover tax, is carried out by the Member State desig-nated by the relevant consortium as the home state for the relevant future new research infrastructure. When a Member State recognizes an institution as an inter-national body, the institution is then automatically so recognized by all EU Member States.

European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) The European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) are an im-portant structural element of the “Innovation Union” lead initiative (October 2010). Each such partnership should be focused on a specific societal challenge, and should help bring together relevant know-how and resources. In particular, they should bring together measures on the supply side (R&D funding measures) and the demand side (procurement, standardisation).

European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) The EIT was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. The purpose of the EIT is to help increase the Member States’ innovation capacities and, thereby, to contribute to sustainable economic growth in Europe. To that end, it works to integrate areas within the “knowledge triangle” (education, research and innovation) within Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), at the highest possible levels.

European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) The European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) is aimed at accelerating the devel-opment and evaluation of new vaccines and drugs for the prevention and therapy of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and to do so in close partnership between European countries and sub-Saharan African countries. Another EDCTP emphasis is on building supply and research capacities for the execution of on-site studies (capacity building). The EU Commission is providing up to 200 million euros in financing for EDCTP. In a co-financing role, the Member States are to provide an additional 200 million euros.

European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) ERAC is charged with focusing on all research and innovation issues that relate to the development of the ERA. The members of ERAC include the European Commission and all EU Member States. The group of observers includes all countries associated with the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research. ERAC is chaired by the European Commission (by its Directo-rate-General for Research and Innovation), while the position of vice-chair is held, for two years in each case, by a representative of a Member State.

Eurostars Eurostars is a joint funding programme of EUREKA and the European Commission. The aim of Eurostars is to motivate small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to participate in European cooperation in research and development projects.

ERA-NETs ERA-NETs have the tasks of improving cooperation by programme management agencies and of coordinating research activities carried out by the Member States, and associated states, at the national and regional levels. The basis for such work consists of networking of funding activities, and of mutual opening, devel-opment and execution of joint calls for proposals and programmes. International ERA-NETs orient such efforts to cooperation with specific partner countries or partner regions outside of Europe.

Erasmus+ Erasmus+ is the European Union’s programme for edu-cation, youth and sports. It brings together the previous EU programmes for lifelong learning, youth and sport, as well as the cooperation programmes previously in place in the higher education sector. It has a budget of approximately 14.8 billion euros. More than four mil-lion people are expected to profit from this EU funding through 2020.

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ESFRI (roadmap) The European Strategy Forum on Research Infra-structures (ESFRI), which was initiated in April 2002, is charged with contributing to a European strategy for research infrastructures. In particular, ESFRI is charged with identifying new research infrastructures of European interest that will be needed in the coming years in order to maintain the status and standards of the European science and research sector. In address-ing this task, ESFRI prepares a “roadmap” for the most important relevant projects. ESFRI’s membership consists of representatives of the Member States and a representative of the European Commission. ESFRI is supported by a secretariat sited within the European Commission.

EURAXESS “EURAXESS – Researchers in Motion” is the central European network for issues of international mobility. It is a network of national coordination bodies that cooperate with the international research officers of higher education institutions and non-university re-search institutions and assist them in sharing ideas and experience. The platform www.euraxess.de provides information on research in Europe, European research policy, funding options and topics such as entries into countries (residence regulations and contact persons), social insurance, housing, kindergartens and schools and quality of life.

EURAXESS Links EURAXESS Links is a network instrument designed especially for European scientists living outside of Eu-rope (with emphases on Asia and the Americas), as well as for non-European scientists from relevant countries / regions who are interested in research careers in Europe. To date, EURAXESS Links has been launched in North America, Brazil, China, Japan, India and the ASEAN region.

EUREKA Eureka is an intergovernmental R&D initiative aimed at consolidating financial resources and technical ex-pertise throughout Europe and at promoting applica-tion-oriented research projects. The EU is a member of Eureka.

Expert Commission on Research and Innovation (EFI) A commission that scientifically advises the Federal Government on issues of research, innovation and technology policy. It publishes annual reports on Germany’s research, innovation and technological performance that are prepared on the basis of compre-hensive analyses of the strengths and weaknesses of the German innovation system as seen in international and chronological comparisons.

Excellence Initiative An agreement of the Federal Government and the Länder on the promotion of science and research, at German higher education institutions, with the aim of improving the institutions’ international competitive-ness.

Foresight Systematic consideration of the longer-term future of science, technology, industry and society, with the aim of identifying areas of strategic research and emerging technologies. For sector specialists, Foresight processes provide an orientational framework that can support effective, forward-looking decision-making. System-atic Foresight processes comprise successive research, analysis and integration phases.

GAIN The German Academic International Network (GAIN) is a network of German scientists in North America that supports German scientists in resuming scientific careers in Germany.

Intellectual property Immaterial goods of intellectual origin, such as in-ventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images and utility models. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are a complex of rights that protect economically and societally valuable applications of ideas and in-formation. In each case, the creators of the property in question are granted certain exclusive rights to the new findings and information they have produced. Such rights have the purpose of preventing unauthorized uses. The types of rights that are differentiated include industrial property rights (for inventions, brands, utility models and indications of geographic origin) and


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copyrights (for literary or artistic works such as novels, films, musical compositions, paintings, photographs and architectural designs).

Joint Programming InitiativesA new strategic concept of the European Union and the Member States, and one of the five initiatives for the European Research Area (relevant work began in 2009). The purpose of Joint Programming Initiatives is to enhance joint efforts to address major European and global challenges for society (such as climate change, food security, population ageing). Under Joint Pro-gramming Initiatives, the Member States coordinate their research programmes more closely than before, and the EU and the Commission carry out a supporting role.

Global Science Forum (GSF) A special OECD body. Currently, 29 of 34 OECD coun-tries, including Germany, are members of the Global Science Forum. The Forum develops strategic visions and roadmaps for selected areas of science, as well as recommendations on science policy issues, especially with regard to international R&D cooperation and research infrastructures. A number of new internation-al cooperation efforts, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Global Earthquake Model (GEM), are the result of GSF activities.

Global value chains Production, trade and investments are increasingly be-ing organized in global value chains in which different parts of production processes and related processes are located in different countries.

High-Tech Strategy (HTS) The High-Tech Strategy, dating from August 2006, con-solidates all of the Federal Government’s central areas for funding of research and innovation, establishes priorities in selected innovation areas and pursues new approaches in cross-cutting funding of innovation. In the current legislative period, the High-Tech Strategy is being expanded into a comprehensive, interdepart-mental innovation strategy for Germany. The over-arching aims of this effort are to further strengthen Germany’s position within the global competition of knowledge societies, to combine resources more effectively and to provide new impetus for innovation

in industry and society. The new strategy systematically considers the entire innovation chain, and it integrates all aspects of innovation-relevant activities. It is thus producing a comprehensive innovation policy that will create an optimal environment for ideas, innovation and new value creation.

Higher Education Pact The Higher Education Pact 2020 is an agreement between the Federal Government and the Länder that was concluded in 2007 and covers the period through 2020. It consists of three pillars: (1) the provision of capacities in keeping with the demand for higher education; (2) the granting of programme-overhead financing for projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG); and (3) the Teaching Quality Pact.

Horizon 2020 Horizon 2020 is the new EU framework programme for research and innovation. As of 2014, it succeeds the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research (FP7). Horizon 2020 consolidates research- and innovation-relevant funding programmes of the European Commission.

INCO-Nets INCO-Nets are projects that are funded in the frame-work of the EU-FP7 and that support bi-regional dialogue between Europe and defined partner regions, with a view to strengthening internationalization of the European Research Area. The aims of this pro-gramme include identifying and prioritizing research areas for cooperation that is of mutual interest and provides mutual benefit.

Innovation Successful implementation of an idea or invention in the form of a new product, service, process, procedure or business model, along with the successful applica-tion and adoption of the result of such implementation in the market. Innovation can thus entail economic, social and/or cultural changes. A common distinction is made between incremental (slight) and radical (fun-damental) innovation.

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Innovation Alliances Innovation Alliances are a new research and innova-tion policy instrument within the framework of the High-Tech Strategy. They are strategic partnerships, i.e. strategic industry-science collaborations. Each such Alliance is oriented to a specific application area or emerging market. Innovation Alliances have special economic leverage effects.

Innovation management Core operational activities that have to do with inno-vation processes in enterprises. Before something new can be termed an “innovation” in a business manage-ment sense, it must have entrepreneurial relevance.

Innovation indicators Indicators for describing and assessing innovation participation by companies, sectors or countries; levels and structures of expenditures on innovation projects; and innovation success with new products and new processes. Innovation indicators can be used to com-pare the effectiveness and performance of different national innovation systems.

Innovation system Network of institutions in the public and private sec-tors that attempts, via interaction, to initiate, promote and disseminate innovations. It is clear that, as a rule, innovations are produced not by persons working alone but by persons interacting with other stakehold-ers (such as higher education institutions, non-univer-sity research institutions, other companies, customers) and that, consequently, the applicable institutional frameworks can, in general, either promote or brake innovation.

Innovation Union An initiative in the framework of Europe 2020 for the improvement of the conditions and financial support for R&D investments in the private sector.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) The IPCC is a scientific, transnational body that was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP). IPCC is charged with serving as an

objective source of information about climate change, for political decision-makers, and for institutions that study and seek to address climate change. The IPCC does not carry out any research of its own, Instead, it compiles and assesses the current scientific, techni-cal and socio-economic literature relative to climate change that is published worldwide.

International Council for Science (ICSU) The International Council for Science is a scientific non-governmental organization of national and inter-national science organizations and academies.

Investment Use of financial resources for procurement of assets. In an economic sense, it refers to use of funds for procure-ment of means of production.

Key technologies Technologies that make it possible to develop new technical areas, and that provide the basis for new products, processes and services that can be of use in addressing concrete societal challenges. Such innova-tion drivers include biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, information and communications technologies, optical technologies, production technologies and materials technologies.

Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) KICs are partnerships charged with carrying out innovation-oriented, cutting-edge research in areas of central economic and societal interest, as well as with disseminating exemplary procedures, in the innovation sector, that can help improve Europe’s international competitiveness. In general, participants in KICs can be any organizations that operate in the “knowledge triangle” consisting of higher education, research and innovation. In each case, however, a KIC must include three partner organizations established in three differ-ent Member States.

Knowledge society A society in which value creation occurs primarily via the generation and use of knowledge.

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Knowledge sourcing Refers to all measures that support the acquisition of knowledge relevant to innovation in companies, including both internal measures – and especially com-panies’ own R&D activities – and external measures (for example, licensing, acquisitions of companies active in R&D, collaborative research projects, etc.).

Leading-edge clusters The aim of the Leading-Edge Cluster Competition is to support the most capable clusters in gaining a leading position in international competition. Promotion of the strategic development of excellent clusters sup-ports the process of harnessing regional innovation resources for continuing and lasting value creation. That, in turn, protects and creates growth and jobs and enhances Germany’s position as a centre for innovation.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) MSCA have been established by the European Com-mission for the purposes of promoting international and inter-sectoral mobility, and career development, of researchers and of R&I personnel in the areas of technology and management and of enhancing the attractiveness of scientific careers. Beginning in 2014, MSCA actions will be financed via the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Pact for Research and Innovation The Pact governs the growth between 2011 and 2015 in the financing provided to the five non-university-sec-tor science and research organizations by the Federal Government and the Länder. In return, the science and research organizations have committed themselves to increasing the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of their research and development activities.

Patent An officially issued property right for the protection of a technical invention. In Germany, patents are issued in accordance with the Patent Law (Patentge-setz – PatG) for inventions that are new, are the result of an inventive step and are commercially applicable (Art. 1 (1) PatG). Patents, especially triadic patents and international patents, are considered in assessment of companies and of countries’ overall technological per-formance and capabilities. International/transnational

patents are considered to be indicative of intentions to expand in or into innovative markets.

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC study) PIAAC is an OECD project in which over 25 countries are participating. The participants’ group includes the U.S., Japan, the UK, France, Germany and the other major Western industrialized countries. The purpose of PIAAC is to compare the competencies of adults internationally. For the PIAAC study in Germany, some 5,000 persons, ranging in age from 16 to 65, were selected, as a representative group, and their compe-tencies were determined via a by-household survey. The competencies considered included key skills such as reading, mathematics and various general compe-tencies. (Source: OECD)

Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) PDPs are international non-profit organizations that work to develop prevention strategies, diagnostic tools and medications aimed at neglected, povertry-related diseases. PDPs bring together relevant knowledge from the areas of science, industry and civil society. PDPs are financed by public and private (charitable) donors. In return, the products they produce are provided later, to those who need them, at very low prices.

Research and development (R&D) Measures that contribute directly to scientific or technological progress by addressing and illuminating open questions of a scientific or technological nature. R&D involves creative work that is carried out in order to expand our knowledge – including our knowledge about human beings, cultural issues and society – and to apply the resulting findings to the design of new applications. R&D comprises the following three areas: basic research, applied research and experimental research.

R&D expenditure Expenditure for systematic, creative work aimed at expanding our knowledge (R&D).

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R&D funding Public-sector financing of new ideas and technologies. Research funding includes funding of research projects throughout a broad spectrum of topic areas (such as basic scientific research; environmentally oriented, sustainable development; new technologies; informa-tion and communications technologies; life sciences; and workplace design), structural research funding at higher education institutions, innovation funding and funding of technology transfer. The framework for research funding is defined by regulations that apply consistently throughout the EU.

SFIC The Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SFIC), which consists of high-ranking representatives of EU Member States and of the European Commission, works to identify com-mon priorities in international cooperation, develop coherent approaches for internationalization and to define regional and thematic research emphases. With its orientation, the Strategic Forum thus implements one of the five initiatives for the European Research Area.

Small and medium-sized entreprises (SME) Companies with fewer than 250 employees, and with annual revenue of less than 50 million euros (source: EU). SME account for about 99 % of all companies in the EU.

Spin-off An economically and legally independent company created out of an organizational unit of an existing structure (such as a company, university or research institute). Often, a spin-off will be founded by em-ployees of the parent organization. Even though the spin-off is a new legal entity, it may retain thematic and/or economic ties to the parent organization. As a rule, spin-offs are oriented to the profitable marketing of research findings.

Start-up A young company that is in its initial phase or estab-lishment phase, or that has just recently begun its busi-ness operations and has not yet begun selling products or has not yet begun selling products on a large scale.

Strategic partnerships Cf. Innovation Alliances

Technology transfer International transfer of technologies or of findings from research and development. It can be initiated by technology-promotion measures.

Scouting Structured observation, and early identification, of changes, potential and important knowledge related to technological developments and processes. As a rule, this involves demand-driven searches for experts, and for the knowledge they are assumed to possess, in order to obtain solutions for specific problems.

Treaty of Lisbon An international treaty, between the Member States of the European Union, that reforms EU laws and supplants the “Treaty of Nice”. It entered into force on 1 December 2009. It includes key portions of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe that France and the Netherlands rejected in 2005, via referendum. In the main, the Treaty of Lisbon brought changes in three areas: First, it strengthened democracy and protection of fundamental rights within the EU. It considerably increased the powers of the European Parliament, strengthened national parliaments’ rights of participation and gave EU citizens new rights of direct participation. Second, the Treaty streamlined the structures of European agreements by giving the Union a unified legal personality. Third, it enhanced the Union’s capacity to act, by introducing a so-called “double majority” system for decisions in the Council of the EU, by creating the office of President of the Eu-ropean Council and by establishing new competencies in several EU policy-making areas (including the area of research policy).

UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development The United Nations proclaimed the years 2005 to 2014 as a “UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Devel-opment”. The purpose of the Decade is to enshrine and uphold the principle of sustainable development in all areas of education. It is aimed at giving all people edu-cational opportunities that enable them to acquire the

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knowledge and values, and to learn about the modes of behaviour and lifestyles, that are needed if we are to have a bright future and bring about a sustainable society.

Value added The value expressed as the difference between the val-ue of services provided by a company, and the services received by the company (advance services), in a given period of time. In national accounts, value added refers to all of the factor income created in a given period (salaries, wages, interest, rent, leases, sales profits).

Science and technology cooperation (STC) International cooperation – also by Germany – in science and technology. In many cases, STC agreements at the intergovernmental level provide the internation-al-law foundation for Germany’s cooperation rela-tionships with partner countries. Germany maintains STC relationships with about 50 countries, including relationships on all different relevant levels (Federal/Länder, science and research organizations).

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List of abbreviations

AAL-JP Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme AEUV (TFEU) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union AIM Assistance for Implementation (project in support of measures in the framework of the BMBF programme International Partnerships for Sustainable Technologies and Services for Climate Protection and the Environment (CLIENT)) AIRD Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement (France) AIRR Association of Innovative Regions of Russia AHELO Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes AHK International chamber of commerce (Auslandshandelskammer) AvH Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) ANR Agence Nationale de la Recherche (France) APIF Astroparticle Physics International Forum ATTO Amazonian Tall Tower Observation Facility BIBB Federal Institute for Vocational Training BILAT Bilateral Coordination for the Enhancement and Development of S&T Partnerships BIP Gross domestic product BMBF Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMEL Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture BMUB Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety BMWi Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology BMZ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development BNE (ESD) Education for sustainable development BDA Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände) BRICS Association of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South AfricaCACAARI Central Asian and Caucasus Association of Agricultural Research InstitutionsCDHAW Sino-German University of Applied Sciences (Chinesisch-Deutsche Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften) CELAC Community of Latin American and Caribbean States CESSDA Council of European Social Science Data Archives CLARIN Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure CLC Co-Location-Centre CMB Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology DAAD German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst) DAHZ German-Argentinian University Centre (Deutsch-Argentinisches Hochschulzentrum) DARIAH Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities DBWTI German-Brazilian Year of Science, Technology and Innovation (Deutsch-Brasilianisches Jahr der Wissenschaft, Technologie und Innovation) DEKRA Deutscher Kraftfahrzeug-Überwachungs-Verein (expert organization) DFG German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft e.V.), Bonn DGB Confederation of German Trade Unions (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) DGIA Foundation of German Humanities Institutes Abroad (Stiftung Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland; now Max Weber Stiftung – Deutsche Geisteswissenschaftliche Institute im Ausland / Max Weber Foundation – German Humanities Institutes Abroad)

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DIHK Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag) DuC Germany and China (Deutschland und China) DWIH German Houses of Science and Innovation (Deutsche Wissenschafts- und Innovationshäuser) EAfA European Alliance for Apprenticeships ECTS European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System ECOWAS Economic Community Of West African States ECVET European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training EDU Education EDCTP European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership EEAS European External Action Service EFR (ERA) European Research Area EHEA European Higher Education Area EIP European Innovation Partnerships EIP-AHA European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing EIT European Institute for Innovation and Technology EMM ERA Monitoring Mechanism EMMIR European Master in Migration and Intercultural Relations EMBRAPA Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária)ERA-NET European Research Area Network ERA-AGE European Research Area on Ageing ERAC European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) ESCO The European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis ESFRI European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures EU European Union EUREKA Initiative for intensified technological cooperation in Europe EQF European Qualifications Framework ERANET-MED EURO-MEDITERRANEAN Cooperation through ERANET joint activities ESRC Economic and Social Research Council (UK) FASIE Fund for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises FEDA Formación Empresarial Dual Alemaña, Business School Madrid, Spain FP6 Research framework programme R&D Research and development FhG Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich G7 Group of 7 G8 Group of 8 G20 Group of 20 GAIN German Academic International Network GATE Consortium for international higher education marketing GERD Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit GlobE Securing the Global Food Supply (funding initiative; Globale Ernährungssicherung) GNLC Global Network of Learning Cities GSF GSF Research Centre for Health and the Environment GSO Group of Senior Officials GTAI German Trade and Invest GmbH CIS Community of Independent States GOVERD Government intramural expenditure on R&D

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GRC Global Research Council HERA Hadron-electronic ring accelerator (Hadron-Elektron-Ringbeschleuniger-Anlage; at DESY, Hamburg) HGF Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres HIV Human immunodeficiency virus HIVERA Harmonizing Integrating Vitalizing European Research on AIDS/HIV HLPD High-Level-Policy Dialogue HTS High-Tech Strategy IC Information centres ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions IF Individual Fellowships IGSTC Indo-German Science and Technology Centre IHEC International Human Epigenome Consortium ICT Information and communications technologies iMOVE International Marketing of Vocational Education IMPRS International Max Planck Research Schools INCO International Cooperation Network for Central Asian Countries IPBES Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ITB Reporting service on international technology developments (Internationale Technologie Berichterstattung) IW Cologne Institute for Economic Research IWRM Integrated water resources management JPND Joint Programming Initiative on Neurodegenerative Diseases JPI Joint Programming Initiatives JPI FACCE Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change JIRI Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation JTI Joint Technology Initiative KfW KfW Bank Group (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) KICs Knowledge and Innovation Communities SMEs Small and medium-sized entreprises KOWI European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (Kooperationsstelle EU der Wissenschaftsorganizationen) LvO Learning on-site (Lernen vor Ort) MCTI Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation MDG Millennium Development Goals MENDI Mentoring Dual International MOST Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology MPG Max Planck Society NEURON (ERA-NET NEURON) ERA-NET for basic, clinical and translational research in disease-related neuroscience NWO National research organization of the Netherlands (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OMC Open Method of Coordination ORA Open Research Area in Europe for the Social Sciences PDP Product Development Partnerships

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PIAAC Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies PISA Programme for International Student Assessment RIO Research and Innovation Observatory RISE Research and Innovation Staff Exchange RSSC Regional Science Service Centre SAB Scientific Advisory Board SASSCAL Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management SDG Sustainable Development Goals SEAS-ERA Marine research project funded under the EU FP7 ERA-NET scheme SFIC Strategic Forum for International S&T Cooperation SHARE Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe STI Science, Technology and Innovation SUTAS Sustainable Use of Tropical Aquatic Systems TRANSCAN ERA-NET on translational cancer research TU Munich Technical University TVET Technical Vocational Education and Training SOM Senior Officials Meeting UAMR University Alliance Metropolis Ruhr UFZ Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (Umweltforschungszentrum Leipzig-Halle GmbH), Leipzig UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNEVOC UNESCO Vocational Centre UNU United Nations University UNU-EHS United Nations Institute for Environment and Human Security UNU-ViE United Nations University Vice-Recorate in Europe UNU-IHDP International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change URBES Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services VET Vocational Education & Training VITAL Ecosystem serVIce provision from coupled planT and microbiAL functional diversity in managed grasslands (development of sustainable use concepts for alpine grassland systems) VN/UN United Nations, New York (Vereinte Nationen) WAI West Africa Institute WASCAL West African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management WBL Work-based Learning WHO World Health Organization WR German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat) WTZ Science and technology cooperation (STC; Wissenschaftlich-Technische Zusammenarbeit) WWU University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) ZDH German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks) ZEI Center for European Integration Studies (Zentrum für Europäische Integrationsforschung) ZIK Centres for Innovation Competence (Zentren für Innovationskompetenz) ZMT Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology (Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie)

135NOTES

136 NOTES

137

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