Germany is the second most important host country for international academics and researchers after the USA, according to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the publication "Wissenschaft weltoffen" published today. Over 75,000 researchers from all over the world worked in Germany. In addition, 380,000 international students were enrolled at German universities - a new record.

‘People to people contacts and networks are at the heart of Erasmus+,’ said the EU Ambassador to Kenya, Henriette Geiger, at the opening of the Erasmus+ Networking Forum “EU-Higher Education Cooperation between Germany and Eastern Africa” on 12 September in Nairobi, Kenya. This is precisely what the 120 or so university representatives from East Africa and Germany who took part in the two-day conference from 12-13 September 2024 have implemented in concrete terms. Many new contacts have been made and project ideas have been exchanged with the aim of establishing new partnerships and launching joint cooperation projects.

In September, the DAAD Regional Office in Nairobi hosted Dr. Rahel Hutgens, Director of the International Office at the FernUniversität in Hagen, for a presentation and dinner with representatives from the Kenyan university sector and beyond. Dr. Hutgens shared insights on the Evolution and Impact of the FernUniversität’s Distance Learning Model. The Distance Learning University in Hagen is Germany’s first and oldest public institution offering studies from the comfort of their students’ homes since 1975. Her talk prompted a lively discussion among almost 40 attendees.