Education & Research > Studying in Germany : New international climate protection fellowships in Germany

Education and research in Germany: Germany has announved up to 20 new climate scholarships

New international climate protection fellowships in Germany

September 25, 2009

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has announced up to twenty international climate protection fellowships to researchers from non-European threshold and developing countries, annually funded under the German Environment Ministry's (BMU) International Climate Protection Initiative.

The program targets prospective leaders engaged in the field of climate protection and resource conservation in academia, business and administration in their own countries. The fellowship will enable the recipients to conduct a research-related project of their own choice with hosts in Germany whom they are free to choose themselves.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is running the programme, which is currently scheduled to last until 2012/2013, in cooperation with the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies in Environmental Management (CIPSEM) at TU Dresden, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt (DBU), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) and the Renewables Academy AG (RENAC).

The objective of the program is to facilitate the mutual exchange of knowledge, methods and techniques between the fellows and their hosts in Germany, taking into account the question of practical applicability in the fellows’ countries. The scholarships are open to the entire South Asian region including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri-Lanka.

The German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel welcomed the announcement from the Humboldt Foundation to give these scholarships to academicians from developing and emerging countries. “Economy and Ecology are not mutually exclusive. Green business is the success model of the future”, said Gabriel.

The global challenge posed by climate change can only be met by cross-border international collaborations. This programme makes a contribution to this by enabling future decision-makers and multipliers to conduct a research-related project in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany. Funding is available for project proposals which address issues relating to climate protection and resource conservation as well as adaptation to climate change.

Helmut Schwarz, president of the Humboldt Foundation believes that competence and knowledge should be fostered in countries, who will be and in some cases already are worst affected by climate change.

In addition to financing the project, the fellowship aims to facilitate and promote the development of long-term contacts and collaborations with colleagues in Germany. In the course of group programme events (introductory seminar, training courses, final meeting) during the fellowship year, fellows should gain an overview of climate protection and resource conservation as well as the important actors in these fields in Germany.

Another objective of the programme is to create cross-border, cross-disciplinary networks amongst the fellows as a precondition for building up an international expert network on climate protection and resource conservation. As a long term objective networking should be extended to include scientists working in these fields in the respective countries who are members of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s network of excellence.