The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD; ), is a joint organization of German universities and student bodies that was founded in 1925 to foster their international relations.
History
The organisation was founded as "Akademischer Austauschdienst" e. V. (AAD) on 13 January 1925 in Heidelberg, based on a student initiative. The headquarters were moved to Berlin later that year. It was renamed Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD; English:German Academic Exchange Service) in 1931. After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, DAAD sought to secure future funding by realigning its purpose with Nazi ideology. Ewald von Massow, a member of the NSDAP, was appointed president. The office in the Berlin City Palace was destroyed by bombing in 1943 and the service was then dissolved in 1945.
On 5 August 1950, the DAAD was re-established in Bonn. Until the beginning of 2015, the association used the variants "Austausch-Dienst" and "Austausch Dienst" in its publications to clarify the acronym DAAD.
In 2021, DAAD's activities in Belarus were suspended at the request of the Belarusian authorities. In 2026, DAAD was designated as an "undesirable organisation" in Russia.
Joybrato Mukherjee, who has been DAAD president since 1 January 2020, was re-elected for the second term running from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2027.
In 2025, DAAD celebrated its 100th anniversary.
Tasks and goals DAAD's purpose is to promote the international exchange of students and academics. it is the world's largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and academics. having supported 132,903 people worldwide in 2025 and 140, 925 (including EU programmes)
However, its activities go far beyond awarding scholarships. The organisation also promotes the internationalisation of German universities and research, offers strategic advice to universities in the field of internationalisation and marketing, strengthens German studies, the German language abroad, supports countries of the Global South in establishing efficient universities, and advises decision-makers on cultural, education and development policy.
In 2024, the DAAD, including the EU programmes, supported more than 140,000 people around the globe, making it the largest funding organisation of its kind in the world. Annual report 2024 Its services range from semesters abroad for bachelor's and master's students to doctoral studies, from internships to guest lectureships, from information visits to the establishment of universities abroad. The DAAD supports the international activities of German universities through marketing services, publications, events and training courses, but also through special funding programmes for the establishment of international university partnerships. Scholarships for foreigners are advertised via the DAAD scholarship database and publicised via German embassies, DAAD regional offices, information centres (ICs), DAAD lecturers, and partner universities abroad. Contact with the DAAD for German students is usually arranged by the International Office of a university. One exception is the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme, which is aimed at visual artists, writers, and musicians.
DAAD is also the national agency for the coordination and implementation of the European Union's Erasmus+ programme for the higher education sector.
The organisation's statutory name is Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst e.V. (German Academic Exchange Service). Until the beginning of 2015, it is also used the variants "Austausch-Dienst" and "Austausch Dienst" in its publication to clarify the acronym DAAD.
DAAD Strategy 2030 In view of the global challenges facing international academic cooperation and the growing importance of international academic exchange, the DAAD published a new strategy in January 2025. This DAAD Strategy 2030 serves as a compass for the organisation. It analyses the current framework conditions of international academic cooperation and, on this basis, formulates the priorities and goals of the DAAD's work until 2030. The strategy emphasises the role of the DAAD as an actor in foreign science policy and science diplomacy and systematically takes account of current developments at universities and in society.
Against this background, the DAAD Strategy 2030 sets four priorities: strengthening Germany as a location for science, innovation and business solutions for global challenges science diplomacy in a multipolar world promoting democracy and social cohesion
These priorities are formulated in ten strategic goals in DAAD's three central fields of action - funding, networking, advising - and the three strategic cross-cutting dimensions - sustainability, diversity, and digitisation. Mission statement "Change by exchange" is the DAAD's motto. Through international academic exchange (mission), the DAAD promotes the personal development and qualification of people and shapes social and global transformation processes for a better future on the planet (vision).
Notable alumni Some Nobel Prize winners are DAAD alumni, including:
Günter Blobel (physiology, 1999), Gao Xingjian (literature, 2000), Wolfgang Ketterle (physics, 2001), Imre Kertész (literature, 2002), Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize, 2004), Herta Müller (literature, 2009), Mario Vargas Llosa (literature, 2009), Svetlana Alexievich (literature, 2015), Leo Hoffmann-Axthelm (Nobel Peace Prize, 2017), Olga Tokarczuk (literature, 2018), Peter Handke (literature, 2019), and others.
Other Alumni: Margaret Atwood (*1939), writer Unsuk Chin (*1961), composer Willie Doherty (*1959), artist Jeffrey Eugenides (* 1960), writer Jim Jarmusch (* 1953), film producer Philippa Lindenthal (* 1976), fashion designer Ryszard Kapuściński (1932-2007), journalist Nam June Paik (1932-2006), artist Max Söllner (1929-2003), artist Susan Sontag (1933-2004), writer and director Bob Wilson (* 1941), director and playwright Ghil'ad Zuckermann (* 1971), linguist Emmett Williams (1925-2007), Fluxus artist Claus Kleber (* 1955), journalist Karl Lauterbach (* 1963), German physician, health economist and politician (SPD) (* 1958), astrophysicist Sascha Spoun (* 1969), German-Swiss economist. President of Leuphana University of Lüneburg since 2006 Juli Zeh (* 1974), writer and lawyer Jutta Allmendinger (* 1956), sociologist Karamba Diaby (* 1961), politician (SPD) and member of the Bundestag Magdalena Götz (* 1962), neurobiologist and university lecturer Claudia Kemfert (* 1968), economist, Head of the Energy, Transport and Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), Professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Juliane Kokott (* 1957), lawyer, Advocate General at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and titular professor at the University of St. Gallen Dagmar Schäfer (* 1968), sinologist and historian of science Andreas Meck (1959-2019), German architect and university lecturer Juliane Vogel (* 1959), literary scholar, Professor of Modern German Literature and General Literary Studies at the University of Konstanz Wolfgang Ketterle (* 1957), German physicist, university lecturer and Nobel Prize winner Harald zur Hausen (1936-2023), physician and Nobel Prize winner Tsitsi Dangarembga (* 1959), author and filmmaker Alexander Gerst (* 1976), geophysicist and astronaut Susanne Mahlmeister (1952-2000), painter, photographer and sculptor
Funding The DAAD's budget comes mainly from public funds (Federal Foreign Office, BMBF, BMZ, EU, etc.), but also from private donors and organisations.
The total budget (total funds) in 2024 amounted to €752.82 million.
Organisation DAAD employs around approx. 1220 people worldwide Bodies The President (see adjacent) represents the DAAD externally.
In addition to the President and Vice-President, the DAAD Board currently consists of ten representatives (m/f) of the universities (Presidents, Rectors or Heads of the International Offices) and three student representatives. The Board members are elected by the General Assembly, whereby the student representatives must have the majority of all votes and those of the student bodies. The representatives of the universities are elected every four years, those of the student bodies every two years. The following are also co-opted as guests
· Representatives of the financing federal ministries (AA, BMBF and BMZ),
· the presidents of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK), the Goethe-Institut and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH)
· the General Secretaries of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) and the “Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft”, more specifically their representatives.
The General Assembly meets once a year. Presidents +NameTerm of OfficefromtoAlfred Weber19251925Viktor Bruns19251931Theodor Lewald19311933Ewald von Massow19331942Gustav Adolf Scheel19421945Theodor Klauser19501954Werner Richter19541959Emil Lehnartz19601968Gerhard Kielwein19681972Hansgerd Schulte19721987Theodor Berchem19882007Stefan Hormuth20082010Sabine Kunst20102011Margret Wintermantel20122019Joybrato Mukherjee2020as of 2025
Head office
The DAAD Head Office is headed by Secretary General Kai Sicks. In 2019, the budget volume amounted to 594 million euros, the number of permanent positions as well as project and third-party funded positions was 929. In 2021, the DAAD funded around 64,000 students, graduates, scientists, artists and administrators: 14,427 came to Germany from abroad, 49,825 Germans gained experience all over the world. The “National Agency for EU Higher Education Cooperation” within the DAAD is responsible for implementing Erasmus+ activities in the higher education sector, coordinating not only study abroad programmes but also internships and exchanges of lecturers and other university administration staff. As part of the Erasmus+ mobility programmes, 40.063 people were funded in 2024.
In addition to its headquarters in Bonn (Kennedyallee 50), the DAAD maintains a capital city office in Berlin, which is located in the WissenschaftsForum Berlin. The renowned DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme is also affiliated with the capital city office.
Regional offices and information centres
A network of 21 regional offices, 36 information centers (ICs) and 6 German Centres for Research and Innovation (DWIH) in more than 50 countries maintains contact with the partner countries and provides advice on site (as of 2024).
The first DAAD regional office was founded in London in 1927, the most recent in Accra in 2024 and in Bishkek in 2025.
The Regional Offices with their founding year:
DAAD Regional Office London (founded in 1927; reopened in 1952) DAAD Regional Office Cairo (1960) DAAD Regional Office New Delhi (1960) DAAD Regional Office Paris (1963) DAAD Regional Office New York City (1971) DAAD Regional Office Rio de Janeiro (1972) DAAD Regional Office Moscow (1973, 1993) DAAD Regional Office Nairobi (1973) DAAD Regional Office Tokyo (1978) DAAD Regional Office Jakarta (1990) DAAD Regional Office Beijing (1994) DAAD Regional Office Warsaw (1997) DAAD Regional Office Mexico City (2001) DAAD Regional Office Hanoi (2003) DAAD Regional Office Brussels (2007) DAAD Regional Office Tunis DAAD Regional Office Amman DAAD Regional Office Bogotá DAAD Regional Office Tunis (2020) DAAD Regional Office Tiflis (2021) DAAD Regional Office Accra (2024) DAAD Regional Office Central Asia, based in Bishkek (2025)
DAAD-Freundeskreis e. V. Foreign students on DAAD scholarships are supported in Germany by former German DAAD scholarship holders who are members of the DAAD-Freundeskreis e. V.