DAAD NY Congratulates This Year's EMGIP Recipients  

EMGIP (Émigré Memorial German Internship Program) offers internship opportunities for US and Canadian students in the German parliament, the Bundestag. The internships are two months long in positions matching the student’s interest and experience. Interns are placed with their preferred committee. In addition to contributing to the respective offices, interns have the opportunity to study legislative and administrative procedures in the German parliament.

This year's recepients are:
-Clay Rehring, Syracuse University, will be on the committee on Economics and Technology. -Benjamin Walvoord, Wayne State University, will be interning on the Committee of Internal Affairs.
-Margaret Watts, Carleton University, will be interning on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment.
-Erick Feijoo, Edmund. A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, will be interning on the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union.

There will be another round of recipients leaving in the fall.

For more information, please visit www.daad.org/?p=emgip

DAAD at "Take Metro to Europe" - EU Open House on May 12th

For the first time, the embassies of the European Union member states will open their doors to the

general public during an “EU Open House” in Washington D.C. on Saturday, May 12, 2007, from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.

Over 20 European embassies will offer District residents and visitors a colorful program including

food, music, tours, cultural highlights and fun for the whole family.

DAAD will be on-hand at the German Embassy (4645 Reservior Road) to answer any questions you

might have about study and research in Germany.

The Open House will give visitors a rare behind-the-gates look at the European embassies, many of

which are among Washington’s historic and architectural highlights. The embassies will be connected by a free shuttle service operated by

the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to help visitors see more of Europe in DC on May 12.


More information, including a schedule of events for each participating embassy, shuttle routes and opening times are posted at http://www.europe-in-dc.com

Two Newsletters from German Information Center USA

Did you know about the German Embassy’s free service delivering the latest news from today’s modern Germany right to your inbox – in English or German?
The weekly newsletters “Deutschland Nachrichten” (DN) and “The Week in Germany” (TWIG) offer Americans from coast to coast shortcuts to Germany.

DAAD's Presence at the 2007 NAFSA Conference 

DAAD at Booth #1013

DAAD will be at Booth #1013 at NAFSA's 59th Annual Conference in Minneapolis from May 27th - June 1st, alongside representatives from many German universities. At our information booth you'll find our brand new brochures outlining DAAD's various grant programs for the 2008/9 academic year. We'll also be there to answer any questions you might have.

DAAD Events at NAFSA

DAAD will be co-hosting a reception with the Austrian Exchange Service, and the German and Austrian-American Fulbright Commissions for NAFSA participants on Wednesday, May 30 at 6pm. In addition, we will also host an information workshop for German NAFSA participants on Monday, May 28, 9am-1pm at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Sessions Featuring DAAD Representatives

The panels and poster sessions below will feature presentations by speakers from DAAD on trends in study abroad and current issues in higher education in Germany:

Wednesday, May 30th:
1:45 - 3:00 Poster Session: “Education Abroad, What’s New, What's Working” (Laura Montgomery)
3:45 - 5:00 Session: "Shifting Trends in Global Student Mobility" (Dr. Christian Mueller)

Thursday, May 31:
9:30 - 10:30 Session: “Not just Bologna: Making German Higher Education more Competitive” (Dr. Christian Bode/ Ulrich Grothus)
3:00 - 5:00 Poster Session: “Preparing Global Citizens Through Work, Internships and Volunteering Abroad” (Peter Kerrigan)

Friday, June 1:
9:30 - 10:45 Session: "What does being a Global Citizen Mean?" (Peter Kerrigan)

We look forward to meeting you there in person!

Advertisement : : Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology & Friedrich Miescher Laboratory

International PhD Program – Fall 2007

The Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology and the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory, Tübingen, Germany invite applications for PhD positions for Fall 2007 in the following areas:

Biochemistry
Developmental Genetics
Bioinformatics
Evolutionary Biology
Cell Biology
Plant Development
Quantitative Genetics
Structural Biology

Candidates should have a strong background in molecular biology, possess good communication skills and should be able to work independently.

All applicants should hold or anticipate receiving a Diploma or Masters degree within half a year from their admission to the program. The positions are funded by Max Planck Fellowships.Applications along with all supporting documents and 2 letters of reference should be sent to PhD_Ebio@tuebingen.mpg.de by 30th June 2007 (overseas applicants) and by 20th August 2007 (European applicants). Short listed candidates will be invited for interviews during September 12-14, 2007.

Application forms and information on how to apply are available at www.eb.tuebingen.mpg.de/phd-program.

International Parliamentary Scholarship

Internships are available in the office of a Member of the German Bundestag, the German parliament. This scholarship offers a unique opportunity that includes a supplementary academic program organized by Berlin’s three universities and the fun of being together with people from other nations.

Eligibility requirements include: an interest in politics, excellent knowledge of German, a Bachelor's degree (BA, BS), US citizenship and a date of birth after March 1, 1978.

Deadline for application is June 30, 2007.

To learn more about this scholarship, please visit www.germany.info/relaunch/education/new/edu_IPS_Internship_4_2007.htm

Photos from Sound Understanding - The DAAD Alumni Association's Annual Concert

DAAD's 6th Annual Sound Understanding Concert, a joint effort of DAAD and the DAAD Alumni Association, took place on April 26th, at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City.

The varied and entertaining program featured challenging works such as Ravel's sonata for violin and cello, performed by Ulrike Schmitz and Leonhard Straumer.

Isabelle Engels played Bartok's Sonata for Violin, and Ulrich Kempendorff conducted a quartett with saxophones. All of the other works, including compositions by Michael Langemann (DAAD...ad...ad...ad... for trombone and ensemble), Johannes Lauer, Pascal Niggenkemper, Carolin Pook and Peter Ehwald exhibited a strikingly multifaceted mix that showcased the richly diverse musical training of the present German music fellows.

As in previous years, the program was led by former CNN correspondent and DAAD Alumnus, Garrick Utley.

To view the Sound Understanding Concert Program, please visit www.daad.org/?p=concertprogram.

To view pictures from the event, go to www.daad.org/?p=photos2007.

German Responses to the Latest Developments in the Bologna Process

On May 17, 2007 education ministers from 46 states convened in London to advance the ongoing project of a European higher-education area. Among the principle goals of the conferences was for member states to discuss the progress of the Bologna Process. One of the principal objectives of that the EU education ministers agreed upon in 1999, in Bologna,(the conference that gave birth to the Bologna Process) was to institute international structure of Bachelor's and Master's degrees throughout the European Union by the year 2010. Institutional autonomy, academic freedom, student-centered education, equal opportunities, international mobility and employability constituted the central themes of the London conference. Matters concerning international graduation requirements also ranked high on the London Conference Agenda.

While a number of the European states have already succeeded in making the widespread changes to the education system, which include the conversion to a three-tiered (Bachelor, Master and PhD) degree structure these changes have posed challenges to other countries. Nonetheless, significant progress has been registered on the Bologna Process overall. For instance, the Trends V study by the European University Association reports that now more than 80% (up from 50% that was registered in 2003) of EU universities are implementing the three-tier system. In addition more than 70% of univiersities are using the European Credit-Transfer System. To read the Trends V: Report by the European University Association, go to www.eua.be/index.php?id=347

Despite numerous challenges and cultural resistance to the Bologna Process, Germany has registered significant progress in adopting the educational reforms. Presently, roughly half of the university programs of study correspond to the new system. According to the 2007Hochschulrektorenkonference (The Conference of University Presidents), 48% of the total of programs of study in Germany are under the new system. That number is expected to exceed 60% by the next academic year.

Yet, accompanying these trends is a vigorous ongoing debate in Germany that these reforms are worthy of criticism and not quite right for Germany. For instance, the "TU9," (the German acronym for the consortium of Germany's largest technical universities) is also critical of the Bologna reforms.At the London Conference, the president of the TU9, Horst Hippler argued that with the European reforms, the university programs in engineering would not be able to maintain their current level of excellence. Hippler opposes the ways in which the reforms seek to regulate graduation time. He maintained that "The completion of a doctoral degree should be seen as the first step toward independent research, not as the third-step in a university education." Critics of the reforms have also raised that the new graduation time-frames imposed by the new regulations make it difficult for bachelor students to study abroad. Whereas many critics raise that the Bologna Process entails adopting rules that are overly rigid, Federal Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan expressed that the Bologna Process is a great opportunity for bringing about European integration. Schavan also called for flexiblity in adopting the changes and that "the goal of the Bologna Process is to foster diversity, not harmonization."

To read the London Communique, visit www.dfes.gov.uk/bologna/

DAAD Congratulates This Year's Undergraduate Scholarship Winners 

DAAD is pleased to announce the recipients of the Undergraduate Scholarship for 2007/08. 54 undergraduate students from 45 different Canadian and US universities were selected by a panel of experts in higher education to receive a prestigious scholarship to study in
Germany.

This years scholarship recipients were selected from a group of 168 applicants from the US and Canada. Most will head to Germany this fall. The Undergraduate Scholarship Program is aimed at students who want to spend part of their third or fourth year of college in Germany. The grantees stay anywhere from a semester to a full academic year, either to study, for internships, or senior thesis research.

The universities with the most students selected for scholarships are Northwestern University (four scholarships) and the University of Manitoba (three scholarships). Two scholarships each are going to Louisiana State University, the Pennsylvania State University, the University of Rhode Island and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.



The rest of the scholarships were awarded to students from 40 other institutions throughout the US and Canada.The scholarship recipients are mostly majoring in German and German Literature (14) and in Political Science/European Studies (9). The Natural Sciences are also represented by Engineering students (6), Chemistry students (5) and others such as Computer Science (2), the Bio-Medical Field (2), Mathematics and Psychology. The other scholarship holders study the Classics, Economics (2), Education, English, Fine Arts, Forest Ecology, History (2), the Media, the Middle East, Philosophy, Sociology and Theater.

For more information on DAAD programs please visit our website at: /www.daad.org

Come Visit DAAD at the NAFSA Conference 

Don't forget: DAAD will be at Booth #1013 at NAFSA's 59th Annual Conference in Minneapolis from May 27th - June 1st, alongside representatives from many German universities. Visit our booth to talk to DAAD Representatives about the various study and research abroad opportunities or to pick up a brand new brochures outlining DAAD's various grant programs for the 2008/9 academic year.

At the Conference, DAAD representatives will also be presenting talks on the latest trends in study abroad trends as well as current issues in higher education in Germany.

We look forward to meeting you there in person!

To view the NAFSA Program Schedule, visit www.nafsa.org/annual_conference