The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is an association of German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. It represents the world’s largest funding organisation dedicated to promoting international academic exchange.
The activities of the DAAD are financed in large part by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as the Federal Foreign Office (AA) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). On behalf of the BMZ and in close cooperation with German institutions of higher education, the DAAD has worked to accomplish the following objectives for many years:
a) Educating professionals and business leaders
b) Building efficient higher education systems
c) Providing access to the global knowledge society
d) Managing components of bilateral development cooperation
In 2015 the DAAD had 50 million euros at its disposal to fund scholarship and cooperation programmes with developing countries. In addition, DAAD is member of international consortia to implement technical assistance projects financed by international donors.
