The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has recently inaugurated its regional office in Amman to serve students and academics from Iraq, Lebanon, the UAE as well as Jordan looking for study and research opportunities in Germany.

The new DAAD Regional Office in Amman was inaugurated on Thursday by German Ambassador to Jordan Bernhard Kampmann. 

The inauguration ceremony, held in person and virtually, was also attended by Education Minister Mohammad Abu Qudais, presidents of the University of Jordan (UJ), Yarmouk University, Jordan University of Science and Technology and Al Hussein Technical University as well as alumni, students, researchers, academics and partners.

Voicing appreciation of the German support to Jordan, Abu Qudais noted that the German-Jordanian higher education cooperation will deepen with the establishment of the DAAD Regional Office in Amman. He also highlighted DAAD’s significance in enhancing the Jordanian-German cooperation and the new regional office’s contributions to strengthening the region’s cultural ties with Germany. 

UJ President Abdel-Karim Qudah said that the cooperation with DAAD dates back to the 1970s, also underlying the importance of the DAAD Regional Office in Amman in enhancing and facilitating academic exchange between Arab countries and Germany.

During a panel discussion, Ambassador Kampmann stressed Germany’s commitment to enhancing academic mobility and joint research between German universities and scientific institutes in their counterparts in the Middle East region.

He also explained that the reason for locating the DAAD regional office in Jordan has to do with the Kingdom’s technological advancements and its stability and security in a volatile region.  

 "With a growing number of students from the Middle East choosing to study in Germany and increased collaboration between German and Jordanian research institutions, the establishment of a fully fledged DAAD office covering Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates is an important step to deepen our cooperation”, Kampmann said.

The ambassador also explained that "science diplomacy” is a major component of Berlin’s foreign policy and endeavour to build bridges with the Middle East region, adding that the German economic growth, especially during the past five years, was "probably” the result of Germany’s openness to technology, human capital and open-door policy.

"We have to unearth talents and one way to do that is exchange,” he said.  

The other panelist was Manar Fayyad, president of the German Jordanian University, who described the Madaba-based institution as "the culmination” of the Amman-Berlin relations.  

DAAD funds around 2,500 students and academics from and in Jordan every year and there are currently over 120 collaboration projects between German and Jordanian universities.