Dear DAAD Friends and Alumni!🎓

Welcome to our April edition of the DAAD Australia Newsletter of 2023.

Say Goodbye to summer - Welcome to still warm and sunny autumn days in Sydney!

In this issue we are sharing glimpses of DAAD Australia's recent activities as well as showcasing our bilateral funding programmes for the research community.

For the creative industry - we would like to draw your attention to the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin programme, an artist-in-residence programme for established artists working in the fine arts, film, literature and music.

Last but not least - the 2023 Falling Walls Lab Sydney event will be held in August!

This Newsletter includes further details on the above and updates on our key topics:

• DAAD - Position Paper 2023, International Students are the Skilled

Workers of Tomorrow

• DAAD IC Sydney: Activities and Partnerships
• Upcoming Event: Falling Walls Lab Sydney 2023
• DAAD Visiting Lecturer Programme
• Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2023: Architect Professor Achim Menges
• Australian-German Joint Research Scheme
• Bioeconomy International 2023
• Research in Germany - April Newsletter
• DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme
• German Cultural Events - Focus: German Poetry and Film

We would love to hear from you. Get in touch with us if you have feedback

for us or questions regarding the topics in this edition.

With kind regards

Silke Schoppe und Michael Rieke

DAAD Australia - Information Centre Sydney

Information Centre Contact

For enquiries and information, please contact us by:

Telephone: +61272088119

Email: info@daad-australia.org

Teleconferencing: please contact us via email, and we will arrange a Zoom meeting and provide you with an access link.

DAAD - Position Paper 2023

International Students are the Skilled

Workers of Tomorrow

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is calling for more international students to be recruited as future professionals for the German labour market. In a position paper published in March it presents ten recommendations for joint action by politics, universities and business.

"In Germany, we have been heading towards an ever-increasing gap in skilled workers on the labour market for several years. At the same time, the Federal Republic is becoming increasingly popular as a place to study: we have been ranked 4th worldwide for several years and top the list among non-English speaking countries. We need to think about both developments together and show international students more effectively and in greater numbers the path to a professional career in Germany. They are highly qualified and well-integrated, and we should make more strategic use of their exciting potential as skilled workers in Germany.

As the DAAD, we see politics, universities and industry as having a joint responsibility in this regard," said DAAD President Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee.

The press release can be read here and the position paper (in German) can be found here.

DAAD IC Sydney

Activities and Partnerships

A delegation of the German Helmholtz Association was officially welcomed in Sydney by the German Consul General, Axel Zeidler, and representatives from Australian universities and research institutions in March. The reception offered the opportunity for networking and developing ideas for future collaborations in science. The DAAD joined this special celebration of Australian-German Research Partnerships.

In March, the IC Sydney invited students to discover various opportunities to study abroad at the Global Fair 2023, hosted by the University of Technology, Sydney.

We were excited about the great engagement with students on the campus and the wide interest in studying in Germany.

In April, the IC Sydney joined the Sydney Abroad Fair 2023 at the University of Sydney. At the event we provided students with information on Germany as a study destination as well as on exchange and scholarship programmes.

The first German Cultural Day 2023 at the Goethe-Institut in Sydney attracted many visitors with a hight interest in German language and culture. The IC Sydney informed on the German higher educations system, the university landscape and funding programmes.

Upcoming Event: Falling Walls Lab Sydney 2023

Falling Walls Lab Sydney 2023

The call for applications is now open for Falling Walls Lab Sydney 2023.

Students, researchers, and early-career professionals who are residents of NSW or the ACT are invited to apply with their ground-breaking research, business models, and initiatives from all disciplines.

The aim of the Falling Walls Lab is to provide a diverse and interdisciplinary pool of students, researchers, and early-career professionals with a world-class platform that helps them drive their innovations, develops their communication skills, and connects them with each other, creating a global network and impactful and sustainable community of innovators and changemakers.



The Falling Walls Lab Sydney is hosted by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the DAAD Australia and EURAXESS Australia & New Zealand, and supported by the Australian Academy of Science.

Online Event: 3 August 2023, 5:00pm-7:30 pm (AEST)

Closing date for applications: 2 July 2023



Join the FWL Sydney and apply here.

DAAD Visiting Lecturer Programme

Assoc. Professor Niki Edwards from Australia spends a semester in Germany as a DAAD Visiting Lecturer

Changes in perspective help us to gain new insights and promote the exchange of knowledge. This was also the experience of Assoc. Prof. Niki Edwards, a DAAD Visiting Professor from the University of Southern Queensland. Prof. Edwards is a lecturer and researcher in the field of social work, health, and well-being and came to teach at Fulda University of Applied Sciences in the winter semester of 2022/23. Prof Edwards’ guest lectureship also opened opportunities to stimulate and initiate collaborations between researchers and universities. “I return to the University of Southern Queensland with innovative approaches to curriculum design, teaching, and innovations in pedagogy. There are research partnerships that are being explored and that will be activated.”

Her teaching visit was funded by the DAAD Visiting Lecturer Programme.



(Photo: Assoc. Prof. Niki Edwards and Prof. Karim Khakzar, President Fulda University of Applied Sciences)

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2023:

Architect Professor Achim Menges

Prof. Achim Menges - DAAD Alumnus

Leibniz Prize 2023

Achim Menges is awarded the Leibniz Prize 2023 for his research in the field of digital planning methods and robotic manufacturing in architecture, which enable new types of construction. Menge’s approach is highly interdisciplinary in that he collaborates with researchers from civil engineering and robotics, materials science and biology, for example, as well as drawing on the social sciences and the history of architecture. The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize is the most important research award in Germany. The DAAD congratulates DAAD alumnus Prof. Menges on this prestigious award.

Read the full article here.

Australian-German Joint Research Scheme

The Australia–Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme is an initiative of Universities Australia and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

It fosters research collaboration of the highest quality and supports exchanges of researchers from member universities to spend time at partner institutions in Germany, and for collaborating German researchers to spend time at Australian universities. Researchers must be working on a joint research project with their German counterparts, rather than furthering their individual research in Germany. The inclusion of early career researchers (ECRs) is a significant focus of this scheme.

Applications for funding under the 2023 round of the scheme (funding to commence in 2024) are now open and will be accepted until 21 June 2023.

Find more information here.

Bioeconomy International 2023

Call for Proposals for Bioeconomy International 2023 (Germany/Queensland)

The Queensland Government (through the Department of Environment and Science - DES) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Science in Germany (BMBF) have established the Queensland -German Bioeconomy Collaborative Science Programme under the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) for Cooperation in Bioeconomy.



This first bilateral call in bioeconomy seeks to support practical and applied collaborative science and research projects in the target areas of (bio-) technology, agriculture and food (waste):  

The deadline for proposal submission is 20 June 2023, 1pm CET.

Further information can be found here.

Research in Germany - April Newsletter

New DAAD networking database for international AI researchers

The DAAD‘s new AI-NeT Database is a convenient matchmaking tool that international AI researchers can use to search for institutions and individuals with corresponding scientific interests in Germany. Information on open positions and future cooperation partners is also provided. The Database is a living document that will be updated and enlarged continuously. It’s worth to stop by repeatedly!

Read the full newsletter here.

DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme

The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Programme is one of the world's most respected artist-in-residence programmes for established artists working in the fine arts, film, literature and music.

The Artists-in-Berlin Program sees itself as a platform for artistic and cultural exchange throughout and beyond Europe. Every year, it invites applications from around the world for approximately 20 funding a usually one-year stay in Berlin. These scholarships are aimed at extraordinary and internationally established artists from abroad. The Artists-in-Berlin Program is designed to offer its guests space for their creative work, promote the diversity and variety of artistic viewpoints, and strengthen the freedom of the arts and the written and spoken word. Scholarship holders therefore have every freedom to develop their approach, to work on their art or interact with fellow artists.

The next application period for fellowships in 2025 will start in October 2023. 

Furter information about the programme can be found here.

German Cultural Events

Focus: German Poetry and Film

German Contemporary Poetry

Join the 'Reading and Talk about Contemporary German Poetry' with German authors Fayer Koch and Ronya Othmann at the University Melbourne. Both writers are invited by the German Academic Exchange Service and students of the German department at the University of Melbourne to present examples of their works and to discuss poetry in the 21st century. The topic will be explored with the audience in English and German. The entrance is free.

Date: 12 May 2023, 4pm-6pm

Location: Campus Uni Melbourne, Arts Hall, Old Arts Building (149) and online

Please use the QR-code for your registration.

Find further information here.

German Film Festival 2023

It’s German Movie Time! Secure your tickets for The German Film Festival 2023. The screening will take place from 2 May to 24 May in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane and Byron Bay. The diverse programme includes key selections direct from the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival (The Berlinale), a music-themed retrospective, a focus on female filmmakers and the family sidebar Kino for Kids.

Find the program and order tickets here.

Berlin Professional School

Study in Berlin

MBA & International Master’s Programmes

Improve your leadership skills. Gain digital know-how. Study management in English. Become part of an international student body. Benefit from many corporate activities, valuable career consultation and coaching. Discover Berlin Germany’s startup hub, low cost of living, culturally rich and colourful.

Further information is available here.

ESB Business School at Reutlingen University

Study truly international in Germany

ESB Business School offers top-ranked undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes in business administration and business engineering (German and/or English), providing a strong network of partner companies and international partner universities all over the world.

Further information is available here.