Global Engagement: Guideline, Focus, and History

Global engagement has always been and remains an integral part of the foundation's funding activities. This is enshrined both in the preamble to the foundation's statutes, which state that "It promotes [...] international scientific cooperation" as well as in the key guidelines for funding activities: "The foundation helps to overcome borders between academic disciplines and research fields as well as between countries and cultures."

This guideline and the priorities derived from it are translated into needs-based measures in line with the strategic goals of our four profile areas. In doing so, the foundation draws on a variety of tried-and-tested funding formats, but also develops innovative formats based on its many years of experience and – where appropriate – in cooperation with other stakeholders and partners. The goal is always to provide pioneering stimuli.

We specifically evaluate our activities to determine whether they contribute to, for example,

• stabilizing and building global science networks in times of crisis,
• strengthening European cooperation,
• maintaining close scientific relations with the US, or
• supporting scientists in crises and emergencies.

By fostering scientific excellence, we aim at contributing to resilient science and the development of evidence-based, sustainable solutions to current global challenges.

Shaping global engagement:
A close-up of our guideline 

• Goal-oriented
  Our international funding activities are not an end in themselves. Rather, they are guided by our strategic guidelines and the objectives of our four profile areas Exploration, Societal Transformations, Understanding Research, and zukunft.niedersachsen.  
• Responsible
  We are committed to the highest scientific quality and ethical standards. Our funding activities clearly align with our fundamental democratic values and academic freedom (preamble to the Statutes: "The foundation is committed to academic freedom and to ensuring the highest scientific quality and integrity").
• Flexible
  We refrain from setting rigid red lines regarding specific scientific regions. Instead, we also seek to establish cooperations with scientists in challenging political contexts or in societies with authoritarian tendencies by means of flexible, country-specific solutions on a case-by-case basis – without, however, neglecting the respective political and economic conditions, potential areas of conflict, or risks of abuse. 

Four Foci: Status Quo and Future Prospects

The four foci of our global engagement

1. We intensify networks and cooperations with global partners.

2. We strengthen international academic collaborations and mutual trust.

3. We support scientists to effectively deal with disruptive change.  

4. We provide space for global exchange. 

History

Since the beginning of its funding activities, the foundation has attached particular importance to international cooperation.

• 1960s: The foundation supports the first scientific relations between Germany and Israel, even before the two countries have established diplomatic relations.
• Between 1964 and 1987, funding programs for cooperative research in regions such as East Asia, Latin America, the Near and Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North America followed.
• Cooperation between researchers in Germany and China was also particularly promoted in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Early 1990s: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, several programs were launched to promote cooperation with scientists in Central and Eastern Europe. At the turn of the millennium, these were eventually replaced by funding initiatives for cooperation with the successor states of the Soviet Union in Central Asia/Caucasus and countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since 2011, all transnational activities have been bundled in the former funding area "International Funding". Beyond the transnational composition of research consortia, internationality has increasingly manifested itself in all areas of funding activities: from the composition of expert panels to the international composition of review committees or in the context of cooperation with foundations abroad.

The last projects of the funding initiatives in Central Asia/Caucasus and in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are currently coming to an end after a period of around 20 years. The foundation has thus deliberately moved away from regional funding in the traditional sense and from its dedicated “International” funding area. It has become apparent that international funding integrated into the overall strategy allows for more targeted action and greater impact.