International Cooperation
Science and research are by definition international. Thus, the DFG’s statutes include an obligation to foster contacts between scientists and researchers in Germany and abroad. To advance internationalisation, the DFG has opened its funding programmes for international collaboration between researchers - an absolute necessity for Germany in its role as a pioneering and simultaneously cosmopolitan centre of research and science.
The DFG plays an active role in international research policy through its membership in various international non-governmental organisations as well as in a number of other international committees.
In order to carry out its activities in the interest of research, the DFG maintains partnerships and relations with a large number of partner organisations on all continents. In many countries around the world, formal agreements continue to be a necessary prerequisite for cooperation in the field of science and research.
The process of European integration and an emerging "European Research Area" led the DFG to focus particular attention on scientific and research cooperation in Europe. The range of cross-border projects meanwhile extends from ordinary academic exchange grants and fellowships to financial support for scientific events.
