DAAD funding ranking:
Once again top ranking for internationalization [23.12.21]
In 2020, the University of Hohenheim received 344 euros in funding per student: No. 2 in Ba-Wü, Top Ten in Germany / Despite Covid-19, no slump in international application numbers
The University of Hohenheim received a total of 2.96 million euros for internationalization projects and scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2020, as shown in its current funding atlas. The DAAD shows which universities qualified for the largest amounts of funding with their activities. Since 2015, the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart has been one of the top two universities in Baden-Württemberg. This year it can also look forward to a top ranking: With a funding amount of 344 euros per student in 2020, it ranked second in Baden-Württemberg. Nationwide, it ranks 7th among all types of higher education institutions.
With regard to funding for scholarships and activities abroad, there is encouraging continuity: In the DAAD's funding atlas, this puts the University of Hohenheim in first or second place in the state for the seventh time in a row and in the top ten nationwide without interruption since 2017. In first place in Baden-Württemberg this year is the University of Ulm with 484 euros per student.
"For a relatively small university like Hohenheim, this is remarkable," said Benjamin Gehring, head of the university's Office of International Affairs. "Especially since, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been significantly fewer applications for funding, for example by students for a scholarship abroad. In view of the situation, many did not know whether they would be able to take up their requested stay abroad at all. At the same time, in accordance with the principle of caution, no disbursements of grants to support stays abroad were approved in the summer semester of 2020 if they related to high-risk areas as designated by the Robert Koch Institute."
DAAD funding brings internationalization forward in a targeted manner
"The University of Hohenheim is using the DAAD funding to advance its internationalization strategy in a targeted manner. We attach great importance to supporting students and lecturers in international projects and establishing long-term partnerships," said the Vice President for Internationalization at the University of Hohenheim, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pyka. "The consistently high level of funding in program and project funding confirms that we are on the right track."
The international appeal of the University of Hohenheim has not been diminished by the pandemic: For the 2020/21 winter semester, around 1,300 young people from abroad applied for a place at the university. This represents an increase of 16 percent compared to the previous year. Of these, 142 applicants from non-EU countries began their studies in Hohenheim. The university was able to record a similarly high number of applicants for the current winter semester 2021/22. Of the first-year students, 160 were from outside the EU.
Emergency aid fund for international students from non-EU countries continued
The Covid-19 pandemic pushed students from non-EU countries in particular to their financial limits. In Baden-Württemberg, they have to pay 1,500 euros in tuition fees per semester. "Very few international students come from wealthy families," explained Prof. Dr. Pyka. "Many rely on part-time jobs to pay the fees and their costs of living." Those jobs, however, have become scarce as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
The emergency fund, which was already set up spontaneously in the summer semester of 2020, was continued in 2021. A total of 110,500 euros was collected for this purpose. The majority came from private donations, and 25,000 euros were funded by the DAAD STIBET program. 110 students could be supported with up to 1,000 euros each.
The Office of International Affairs put students from high-risk areas who had to be quarantined in the university's own guest houses and provided them with care packages. Students from the ISO group (International Students Organisation Hohenheim e.V.), who traditionally welcome the newcomers as “buddies," also played an important role.
International doctoral program IPPAE extended
There was good news for the joint international doctoral program of the Universities of Hohenheim and Giessen. The DAAD will continue to fund the scholarship program for doctoral students for another eight years. More than two million euros will be made available for both universities from 2022 to 2030, plus around 480,000 euros for support services.
The International PhD Program in Agricultural Economics, Bioeconomy and Sustainable Food Systems (IPPAE) aims to enable professionals and managers from developing and emerging countries to better exploit the potential of the agricultural sector for poverty alleviation and food security, to achieve more sustainable use of natural resources, and to tap into new opportunities arising from the global development of the bioeconomy, i.e. the shift to biobased economies.
Internationalization projects with the highest funding volume in 2020
Food Security Center (FSC)
The University of Hohenheim’s FSC makes an innovative and effective scientific contribution to decreasing hunger and improving global food security. In 2020, the FSC received funding of 300,000 euros as part of exceed - University Excellence in Development Cooperation. After a successful ten years, the FSC entered a three-year transfer phase at the beginning of 2020, during which all activities, grants, and research projects that have been started will be completed. Until the end of this phase in December 2022, the FSC will still receive around 600,000 euros in funding.
Exchange program Erasmus+:
Despite Covid-19, the Erasmus+ exchange program also did not experience a slump, but reached roughly the same financial level as in the previous year. In 2020, however, only 81 students went abroad in Europe due to the pandemic, while many postponed their planned stays abroad to subsequent years. 130 students from partner universities in Europe decided to stay in Hohenheim. The DAAD estimates around 483,000 euros for Erasmus+ in the current funding ranking.
Bilateral SDG Graduate School Clifood
From 2017 to the end of 2020, the graduate program "Climate Change Effects on Food Security (CLIFOOD)" of the University of Hohenheim with Hawassa University in Ethiopia ran at the FSC. The program aims to contribute to achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2020, the DAAD funded the project with a total of 450,000 euros. At the beginning of 2021, CLIFOOD started a five-year extension, which will be funded by the DAAD with 2.25 million euros from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
International student supervision: (Ex-)Change your Perspectives
The University of Hohenheim continues to vigorously expand its support services for international students. To this end, the University of Hohenheim’s Office of International Affairs already applied to the DAAD in 2018 for "(Ex)Change your Perspectives" as a model project to promote a welcoming culture. The DAAD supported the university with around 85,000 euros as part of the STIBET 2020 program.
Turkish-German University
The Turkish-German University (TDU) in Istanbul is a Turkish state institution established in 2013 on the basis of a German-Turkish intergovernmental agreement. Since 2015, the University of Hohenheim has been a member of the consortium "Turkish-German University" (K-TDU) e.V. It is in charge of establishing an economics Bachelor's program, which started in September 2018 with 16 students. In the meantime, the third cohort has already begun their studies in economics at the TDU. In 2020, the DAAD supported the establishment of the program with around 80,000 euros.
Topic network Strategic Network Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Financing (INEF)
With its five international partners, INEF looks into topics such as corporate financing, innovative start-ups, and the implementation and financing of innovations. DAAD funding in 2020 amounted to around 38,000 euros.
DAAD Prize
Every year, the DAAD awards 1,000 euros to exceptionally committed and academically outstanding foreign students nationwide. With this award, the DAAD wants to help put faces to the large numbers of international students at German universities and connect them with stories.
The 2021 special achievement prize at the University of Hohenheim went to Ariana Alva Ferrari from Peru, who is enrolled in the Master's program in Bioeconomy. For her idea to combat plastic pollution in the oceans, she also won third place at the University of Hohenheim's Greenovation Hackathon 2020.
BACKGROUND: DAAD funding atlas
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is the world’s largest funding organization for academic exchange. It is supported by German universities and students. Since 2000, the DAAD has provided funding atlases for its member universities. The atlas contains information on individual funding as well as program and project funding.
The DAAD lists the 100 universities with the highest amount of funding (in relation to the total number of all students at the university).
DAAD Funding Atlas 2020: https://bit.ly/3EWMwNF
Text: Stuhlemmer
Contact for press:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Pyka, University of Hohenheim, Vice President for International Affairs,
T +49 (0)711 459-24481, E a.pyka@uni-hohenheim.de
Benjamin Gehring, University of Hohenheim, Director of the Office of International Affairs,
T +49 (0)711 459 22012, E benjamin.gehring@ua.uni-hohenheim.de
