Wissenschaft weltoffen - The Blog

The central aim of the Wissenschaft weltoffen blog is to promote the exchange between university research and university practice in the field of internationalisation and academic mobility. To this end, we conduct short interviews with relevant researchers and representatives from university practice and publish own articles and guest contributions. Please note that the views expressed in the interviews and guest articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the DAAD or the DZHW.

Source: Martha Stewart

“Donald Trump’s presidency is a disaster for American universities and research”

Exactly one year ago, Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term as President of the United States of America. What impact have his administration's policies had on the US higher education and science system since then? Are the accusations that universities such as Harvard University are not doing enough to combat antisemitic activities on their campuses justified? And how exactly is Donald Trump's second term in office affecting the work of international researchers at universities in the US? We discussed these questions with German Harvard researcher Mathias Risse, Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights at Harvard University.

Source: Petra Nölle

“Countries and universities with a broader international network seem to be more resilient”

One of the spotlight articles of this year's main edition of ‘Wissenschaft weltoffen’ deals with the effects of exogenous shocks on international researcher mobility. In an interview with us, author Dr Andrey Lovakov, postdoctoral researcher at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), explains what data he used for this analysis, what he considers to be the most important and surprising findings, and what practical conclusions can be drawn from them for the future.

Source: Petra Nölle/DZHW and IAU

„Virtual internationalisation is now an established reality at German universities“

The new DAAD study ‘Internationalisation in the Digital Transformation’ combines the analyses of two research projects: the project ‘Internationalisation in the Digital Transformation: Strategies of German Higher Education Institutions’ (INDISTRA), funded by the Federal Foreign Office, and data from the sixth Global Survey conducted by…

Source: Studioline Photography

„International students want to stay, which is a huge opportunity for the German labour market“

International students in Germany are largely optimistic about their professional future. The DAAD surveyed more than 20,000 international students at over 130 German universities about their perspectives on their career prospects. Two thirds plan to stay in Germany after their studies. The intention to stay…

Source: Lukas Klose

What do student visas cost – and why?

Emanuel Deutschmann is an assistant professor of sociological theory at the University of Flensburg and an associate at the Migration Policy Centre of the European University Institute in Florence. In this interview, he reports on the findings of an analysis of the costs of student visas worldwide, which he published as part of the DAAD publication series ‘DAAD Research Brief’. He discusses the reasons for conducting the analysis, its key findings and the recommendations that he believes should be followed based on the findings.

Source: Petra Nölle/DZHW

“DAAD-funded publications are based on a high proportion of international collaborations”

Dr Torger Möller and Philippe Dittmann are research associates at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). Together, they conducted a study examining the impact of DAAD graduate funding based on the publications of (former) DAAD grantees. In this interview, they explain their methodological approach, what they consider to be the key findings of the study, and what practical recommendations can be derived from these findings for the DAAD and other funding organisations.

Source: Uta Wagner/IW

“We analysed to what extent international students strengthen the skilled labour workforce in the country, especially after completing their studies”

A new study by the German Economic Institute (IW), commissioned by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), is the first to comprehensively analyse the economic impact of international students from the start of their studies up to their retirement. The study indicates that the approximately…

Source: Fynntastic

“The biggest crisis since Harvard was founded”

Michael Gritzbach is an MPA student at Harvard and an elected member of the Kennedy School Student Government. In this interview, he explains why the student government at Harvard is so important right now, what the current situation is for international students there and what he thinks of the current US government's accusation that Harvard's university management has not taken sufficient action against anti-semitic protests on campus.

Source: private

“We find a correlation between the role of anti-pluralist parties and declining academic freedom”

Dr Angelo Vito Panaro is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Political Science at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg. He is involved in the “Academic Freedom Index” (AFI) research project which measures and compares academic freedom worldwide once a year. In this interview, he explains how the negative trend in Germany’s AFI values is to be understood, why there are so much more countries with declining than increasing AFI values and what can be learned from the developments in Argentina, Poland and the United States.

“Despite the uncertainty, young people generally aspire to study and live in Ukraine”

Anuja Desai is a Senior Soft Power Analyst at the British Council. She oversees the British Council’s commissioned research on soft power in relation to development, peace, and security. In this interview, we talk to her about the concerns, needs and hopes of young people…