Issue 25, June 2012 - DAAD

DAAD Australia 

Information Centre Sydney 

Dear alumna, dear alumnus, dear friend of the DAAD, 

Welcome to the 25th edition of the DAAD Australia newsletter! 

Willkommen zur 25. Ausgabe des DAAD Australien-Rundbriefs! 

Rundbrief 25 

Juni 2011 

"Nothing is permanent except change", said Diogenes Laërtius in the 3rd century BC. Besides the wisdom in this 

sentence it is a good example that there always are great fitting quotes at hand to introduce one’s own agenda. In this 

case we have a number of changes to announce in this newsletter. Some of them concern DAAD representation in 

Australia; others have been introduced in Germany to make the country more welcoming to foreign students and 

researchers; amongst the latter are improvements in the recognition of foreign degrees as well as improved residency 

permits. You will find more information in this newsletter. 

In brief: 

� Changes at DAAD in Australia 

� Now on our website: Information for German students and researchers 

� Apply now for our DAAD Hochschul-Winterkurs and Encounter Europe scholarships! 

� RISE 2012 Results 

� Former DAAD Secretary General Dr. Christian Bode key note speaker at the AC21 International Forum in 

Adelaide, 12-14 June 

� DAAD Vice President Mukherjee to visit Australia in September 

� Numbers of Australian students enrolled in German Studies 

� Improvements for foreigners moving to and Germans returning to Germany: 

� Rückkehrförderung für deutsche WissenschaftlerInnen 

� Anerkennungsgesetz tritt am 1. April in Kraft – Start von Informationsportal und Hotline 

� Residency improvements for foreigners 

� Info brochure on gainful employment in Germany available 

� Discover the EU Centres at three Australian universities 

� Deutsche Rechtsanwälte in Sydney 

� Alumni News – Events and Publications 

� Alumnus Aidan Byrne new CEO of the ARC 

� Hirschfeld-Mack Professor Anna Haebich 

� Past Mentoring, Research Ambassadors and Alumni Meetings on 31 March/1 April 

� Become a member of RAMP.au - become a research ambassador, a mentor or mentee! 

� Are you already a member of the alumni association? 

� DAAD Alumni Portal on social media 

� Our regional alumni representatives 

� By the way … 

We’d love to hear your feedback and comments on all aspects of the newsletter! 

Enjoy! 

Ahil, Elisabeth & Andreas 

Find us on 

Find us on and follow us on ! 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/DAAD-Australia/170919229617549 

http://www.twitter.com/DAAD_Australia

DAAD Australien-Rundbrief - 2 - 

DAAD Information Centre Sydney, May 2011 

Changes at DAAD Sydney 

My dear friends, colleagues, partners – after 6 ½ years, 

the end of my contract and of my time in Australia is 

close. I will be leaving my two positions as director of the 

DAAD Information Centre Sydney and as lecturer at the 

German Department of the University of Sydney at the 

end of June. While this is sad news, I also believe that 

every change generates fresh ideas and new 

approaches, and I am very confident that I'll be leaving 

you in the very best hands: Jörn Hausner will be my 

successor from July onwards. Please find below a brief 

greeting that he kindly sent us for our newsletter. In the 

meantime, I would like to thank you all for the wonderful 

and enriching experience of working with you. I already 

know that I will miss all of you, my jobs, and our life in 

Australia. At the same time, I am looking forward to new 

challenges for me and my whole family at the Schloss 

Schule Salem, close to Lake Constance in Southern 

Germany. 

I also would like to thank you for the support with which I 

am sure you will welcome Joern and make his first 

weeks and months easier. 

G’Day/ Liebe LeserInnen, 

gern nehme ich die Einladung von 

Herrn Dr. Andreas Jäger an, mich 

in dem letzten von ihm 

herausgegebenen Newsletter als 

sein Nachfolger vorzustellen. In gut 

sechs Wochen schon beginnt für 

mich das Abenteuer Australien und 

damit vor allem die 

Herausforderung, seine 

erfolgreiche Arbeit im besten Sinne 

fortzusetzen und auch weiter zu führen. Wie viel 

dazugehört, in Andreas’ Fußstapfen zu treten, können 

die LeserInnen dieses Newsletter anhand der 

Bandbreite der regelmäßig verhandelten Themen u.U. 

noch besser ermessen als ich im Moment. 

Zu meiner Person: Ich habe in Leipzig am Herder-Institut 

DaF studiert und war fünf Jahre in Chambéry als DAAD- 

Lektor tätig. Nach meiner Rückkehr nach Berlin habe ich 

in einem Austauschprogramm der FU-Berlin als DaF- 

Koordinator gearbeitet und mich in Neukölln im Rahmen 

von sozialpädagogischer Jugendarbeit engagiert. 

Ich freue mich auf die Zusammenarbeit mit meinen 

KollegInnen der University of Sydney, mit der Crew des 

IC-Büros, mit meinen DAAD-KollegInnen in Adelaide 

und Melbourne sowie allen anderen Multiplikatoren und 

Mittlern. 

Sonnige Grüße in alle Richtungen aus einem 

überraschend hochsommerlichen Berlin und auf sehr 

bald, 

Ihr Jörn Hausner 

G’Day/ Dear readers, 

I'm happy to accept Andreas' invitation to introduce 

myself in this newsletter. In about six weeks, my 

adventure in Australia and the challenge of continuing 

Andreas' successful work will begin. Considering the 

large spectrum of topics and issues that are regularly 

featured in this newsletter, you will probably have an 

even better idea of what this entails than I currently do. 

But let me introduce myself: I studied DaF (Deutsch als 

Fremdsprache, German as a Foreign Language) in 

Leipzig and then spent five years in Chambéry as DAAD 

lecturer. After my return to Berlin, I served as DaF 

coordinator for an FU Berlin exchange programme and 

was also involved in youth social work. 

I look forward to working with my colleagues at the 

University of Sydney, the IC team in Sydney and my 

DAAD colleagues in Adelaide and Melbourne as well as 

all the other advocates, alumni and more. 

With best regards from the surprisingly warm and 

summery city of Berlin, 

Jörn Hausner 

Thanks, Jörn, I wish you all the best down under! 

You might have read with surprise that Joern addressed 

a DAAD colleague in Adelaide – this is very exciting 

news indeed! In addition to Melbourne University, where 

our lovely and energetic Tina Stubenrauch works as 

DAAD lecturer, and Sydney University, the German 

Department at the University of Adelaide will get a DAAD 

lecturer, Stefan Hajduk, who will introduce himself in our 

next newsletter. Meanwhile, we have some biographical 

information for you: 

Dr Stefan Hajduk studied German Studies, Philosophy 

and Theatre Studies in Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Naples 

and Baltimore. After gaining his PhD at Humboldt 

University, Berlin, in 1998, Stefan worked as a lecturer at 

the University of Poona (India) and the University of 

Limerick (Ireland). His main focus is on German 

literature from the 18th to the 21st century; apart from 

pulications on Goethe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Fontane and 

others, Stefan has also published a book on Robert 

Musil (Die Figur des Erhabenen. Robert Musils 

ästhetische Transgression der Moderne; Würzburg 

2000). His current research deals with the aesthetics 

and poetics of Stimmung ("mood" or "atmosphere") since 

Goethe's times. 

Stefan, all the best from us all! 

Andreas and the DAAD team Australia 

back



Now on our website: Information for German 

students and researchers 

As this is something we've been frequently asked in the 

past, we have now put together some information for 

Germans wanting to study or do research in Australia as 

well as information for German researchers wanting to 

return to Germany permanently. You will find all this and 

more on our website: 

http://ic.daad.de/sydney/StipendienfuerDeutsche.htm 

Apply now for our DAAD Hochschul-Winterkurs 

and Encounter Europe scholarships! 

Winterkurs 

In co-operation with the universities of Duisburg-Essen, 

Freiburg, Leipzig and the IIK Duesseldorf, the DAAD is 

once again offering scholarships to participate in a sixweek 

"Deutschlandkundlicher Winterkurs in January and 

February 2013. The programme is designed for 

bachelor, master and PhD students with a sound 

knowledge of German (at least B1, preferably B2) and 

some background in German Studies who are interested 

in improving their language skills and understanding of 

contemporary affairs and aiming for further (p/g) studies 

in Germany. 

The programme includes a course of six weeks (German 

language, German literature and Modern Cultural 

Studies of Germany) including study trips. 

For more information and an application pack, please 

visit http://ic.daad.de/sydney/winterkurs.htm. 

Encounter Europe 

In co-operation with 

the ASKO Europa Stiftung (AES) and other renowned 

partners in Germany and Australia, the DAAD is once 

again offering scholarships for a two-week course 

dealing with a variety of issues regarding the European 

Union. Two weeks full of exciting opportunities for 

students – from the fields of law, politics, international 

relations, European studies or similar subjects – wanting 

to improve their understanding of contemporary 

European affairs and legislative regulations, organised 

by the European Academy Otzenhausen, the University 

of New England and the DAAD. 

The course will be held in English. The programme 

consists of a course on European affairs as well as study 

trips to Trier, Luxembourg (European Court of Justice, 

city), Strasbourg (European Parliament, European Court 

of Human Rights, city with Christmas market), and 

Germany’s former capital, Bonn (visiting the DAAD). For 

more information, please visit 

http://ic.daad.de/sydney/encounter%20europe.htm 

back 

RISE 2012 – Results 

In addition to the first round, the second round of the 

new DAAD RISE research internship programme has 

been a resounding success: 241 German bachelor 

students (2011: 247) were selected for internship 

positions in 28 countries across the world (2011: 22). 

Even though numbers were slightly lower than for the 

first round, with a total of 557 internship offers (2011: 

643) for which 373 applications were received (2011: 

408). Australia ranked 3rd after the USA and Canada, 

with 150 applications received for 86 offers. In the end, 

43 students were successful in gaining a scholarship for 

Australia. 

Most of the students, of which 120 were female and 121 

male, are studying biology or physics, with engineering, 

earth sciences and chemistry featuring as well. 

The next RISE round will start later this years, and offers 

can be placed online from October 8 to November 25. 

More information will be available from July or August 

onwards. 

Former DAAD Secretary General Dr. Christian 

Bode key note speaker at the AC21 

International Forum in Adelaide 

Recently retired but 

still more than active 

DAAD Secretary 

General Dr. Christian 

Bode, who was our 

guest down under at 

the Australia-wide DAAD Alumni Conference at Sydney 

University in 2010, will follow the invitations of University 

of Adelaide's Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor 

James McWha, and of also recently retired Pro Vice- 

Chancellor (International) Professor John Taplin to be a 

keynote speaker at the AC21 International Forum. The 

title of his talk will be "(Higher)Education in times of 

Globalisation - the universities' responsability". You’ll 

find an abstract on our DAAD Sydney website. 

Academic Consortium 21 is a consortium of 20 

universities, including Freiburg, Strasbourg, Nagoya, 

Peking, SJTU, Chulalongkorn, Adelaide, Sydney. Every 

two years there is an AC21 International Forum. This 

year, it is being held from 12-14 June, hosted by the 

University of Adelaide (see 

http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ac21conference/). The 

theme of this year's conference is "Maximising the 

Benefits of Internationalisation". A spokesperson for the 

university is anticipating an attendance of about 100-200 

people. 

When inviting Dr. Bode, Prof. Taplin was so thoughtful to 

add that he trusts Christian Bode should be able to see



the Holland/Germany match on TV on 13 June over here 

- an always important match rekindling decades of 

intense soccer rivalry. 

Dr Bode will also meet DAAD alumni and DAAD-AAvHF 

research ambassadors I Adelaide. 

DAAD Vice President Mukherjee to visit 

Australia in September 

The Group of Eight universities together with the 

German Embassy and the ANU Centre for European 

Studies are organising a talk by Professor Joybrato 

Mukherjee, Vice-President of the DAAD and President of 

the University of Gießen. The talk, entitled From 

egalitarian to elite and back: Recent policy shifts in 

higher education in Germany will be held at the ANU 

Centre for European Studies, 1 Liversidge Street (Bldg. 

67C) in Canberra on Tuesday, 11 September, 12pm- 

1.30pm. Please RSVP to europe@anu.edu.au by Friday 

31 August 2012. 

Professor Mukherjee was elected President of the 

Justus Liebig University (JLU) in Gießen, Germany, in 

December 2010. In January 2012 he took on the role of 

Vice-President of the DAAD. At 39, Professor Mukherjee 

is Germany’s youngest university 

president. 

Professor Mukherjee’s research 

interests include computer 

supported corpus linguistics and 

English syntax. He is a member 

of the International Graduate 

Centre for the Study of Culture 

and the Centre for Media and 

Interactivity and participates in a 

variety of international research 

projects and collaborations. 

He will discuss the significant change in the traditional 

egalitarian approach to funding for higher education in 

Germany made in 2006: The “Excellence Initiative”, a 

competitive process based on peer review by 

international experts, has resulted in a relatively small 

number of institutions being singled out to receive large 

grants. The aims of this policy include the improvement 

of the global attractiveness and rankings of the 

“excellent” universities, a sustainable structural change 

in universities, the creation of thousands of high quality 

jobs, developing the specialists, experts and executives 

of tomorrow and improving the contribution of 

universities to innovation in business and industry. 

At the same time there has been a significant 

government emphasis on increasing access to higher 

education for those who have been under-represented at 

universities in the past. According to recent OECD data, 

Germany still has a relatively low proportion of university 

graduates (29%) compared to Australia with almost 

40%. Is Germany aiming for an elite system or an 

egalitarian one and can both be achieved simultaneously 

with the right policies in place? 

The Canberra event is co-hosted by the Embassy of the 

Federal Republic of Germany as part of its Science 

Circle lecture series. The Science Circle is a joint 

initiative of the German embassy in Canberra and the 

Australian embassy in Berlin to promote mutual 

understanding of each country's research landscape, 

encourage discussion and through that provide a base 

for future collaboration. 

The Group of Eight universities have a long standing 

agreement with the DAAD. From 2007 to 2012 the two 

organisations have provided over A$ 5 million to 

research exchange between our two countries. 

The ANU Centre for European Studies is an initiative 

involving four ANU Colleges (Arts and Social Sciences, 

Law, Business and Economics and Asia and the Pacific). 

Professor Mukherjee is also invited to give his talk on 

shifts in the German higher education landscape at the 

University of Melbourne. All alumni are invited to listen 

to and meet him afterwards at our alumni reception, on 

24 September from 5-7pm. We will send out an 

invitation with the location. Together with our DAAD and 

AAvHF research ambassadors we also will organise an 

information talk for graduates and researchers about 

opportunities for research collaboration with Germany 

and on our mentoring program for graduates, PhD 

candidates and young postdocs from 3 to 4pm followed 

by networking with refreshments (Kaffee und Kuchen) 

from 4 to 5pm, in the wonderful Griffin Gallery. 

Please also keep an eye on our website, Facebook 

page, Twitter feed or our next newsletter for more 

details! 

back 

Numbers of Australian students enrolled in 

German Studies 

If you have been following the statistics in recent years, 

you might have got the impression that learning and 

studying German is in a continuous decline. In many 

countries this is true, often because the interest in 

German waned in the years after the fall of the Berlin 

wall and because German has become just one of a 

bigger group of competing languages. 

In addition, German as a language taught in secondary 

schools experienced a certain downturn in Australia. 

However, things are different at the university level! A 

quick survey I undertook recently indicated a total of 

2,923 students of German enrolled at one of 16 

Australian universities (1st semester 2012). This means 

that numbers are actually pretty stable (cf. recent StaDaf 

resp. Netzwerk Deutsch surveys or University of 

Melbourne’s Dr. Leo Kretzenbacher's overview in GFL 

2/2011).



All Go8 universities as well as MQU, UTAS, USQ, UTS, 

UNE and Newcastle University (the latter using their own 

tutors and UNE resources otherwise) offer German 

Studies or at least a German program. A similar program 

at JCU, however, was cancelled and is currently being 

phased out. There are some other universities 

participating at the existing German programs via cross 

enrolments. RMIT uses a different model, offering the 

first 2 stages of a beginners' language course taught by 

Goethe-Institut tutors. 

Improvements for foreigners moving to and for 

Germans returning to Germany 

There have been some recent improvements for 

foreigners wanting to study or work in Germany as well 

as for German academics interested in returning to their 

home country. Please see the following four articles for 

more information! 

Rückkehrförderung für deutsche 

WissenschaftlerInnen 

Seit Mitte 2009 kann der DAAD aus Mitteln des 

Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung deutsche 

WissenschaftlerInnen im Ausland bei der beruflichen 

Wiedereingliederung in Deutschland unterstützen. 

Bewerbungsberechtigt sind deutsche DoktorandInnen 

einer ausländischen Hochschule in der Endphase ihrer 

Promotion (voraussichtlicher Abschluss der Promotion 

innerhalb der nächsten 12 Monate), PostdoktorandInnen 

und erfahrene WissenschaftlerInnen im Ausland, die 

nach einer Mobilitätsphase ihre wissenschaftliche 

Karriere in Deutschland fortsetzen möchten. Darüber 

hinaus sollen deutsche WissenschaftlerInnen, die im 

Ausland promoviert haben, in ihrem Bemühen 

unterstützt werden, Kontakte und wissenschaftliche Kooperationen 

mit deutschen Hochschulen einzugehen. 

Hierbei werden zwei voneinander unabhängige Fördermaßnahmen 

angeboten: Fahrtkostenzuschüsse für 

Vorstellungsgespräche oder Fachvorträge in Deutschland 

sowie bis zu sechsmonatige Stipendien. 

Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie unter 

www.daad.de/rueckgewinnung und bei Renata Dujmović 

(dujmovic@daad.de). 

Anerkennungsgesetz tritt am 1. April in Kraft – 

Start von Informationsportal und Hotline 

Friedrich Hubert Esser (Präsident des Bundesinstituts 

für Berufsbildung, BIBB), Bundesbildungsministerin 

Annette Schavan und 

Manfred Schmidt (Präsident des Bundesamts 

für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF) 

© Bundesregierung/Steffen Kugler 

Viele Deutsche und 

nach Deutschland 

Zugewanderte haben 

im Ausland berufliche 

Qualifikationen 

und Abschlüsse erworben, 

die auf dem 

deutschen Arbeitsmarkt 

dringend 

gebraucht werden. Bisher konnten sie diese 

Qualifikationen in Deutschland aber oft nicht optimal 

verwerten, weil Bewertungsverfahren und Bewertungsmaßstäbe 

fehlten oder die Regelun-gen zur Anerkennung 

von im Ausland erworbe-nen Abschlüssen und 

Qualifikationen unzureichend und wenig einheitlich war. 

Um diese Situation zu verbessern, trat am 1. April 2012 

das so genannte Anerkennungsgesetz in Kraft. Das 

Gesetz schafft erstmals einen Rechtsanspruch auf ein 

Verfahren zur Anerkennung ausländischer Berufsqualifikationen 

– und zwar für alle, unabhängig vom 

Herkunftsland, und innerhalb von drei Monaten nach 

Einreichen der erforderlichen Papiere. „Durch dieses 

Gesetz darf beispielsweise ein hochqualifizierter Arzt 

aus dem Ausland endlich auch als Arzt arbeiten – und 

muss nicht mehr länger Taxi fahren“, sagte Bundesbildungsministerin 

Annette Schavan. „Für mich ist das eine 

Frage der Gerechtigkeit und des Respekts vor der 

Qualifikation eines Menschen“. Zugleich sei die 

Anerkennung im Ausland erworbener 

Berufsqualifikationen ein Baustein bei der Behebung des 

Fachkräftemangels. 

Zum neuen Gesetz gibt es ein Informationsportal und 

eine Telefon-Hotline. Hier kann man erfahren, welche 

Papiere eingereicht werden müssen und wohin man sich 

konkret wenden muss. Das Portal wird vom Bundesinstitut 

für Berufsbildung (BIBB) im Auftrag des 

Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) 

betrieben. 

Ergänzend zum Anerkennungsportal schaltet das 

Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge (BAMF) eine 

Telefon-Hotline frei, die für Interessierte aus dem In- und 

Ausland zugänglich ist. Anrufer erhalten hier in 

deutscher und englischer Sprache Auskunft über die 

einzelnen Schritte und Voraussetzungen der beruflichen 

Anerkennung. Die Hotline ist montags bis freitags von 9 

bis 15 Uhr unter der Nummer +49 (0)30-1815-1111 

erreichbar. 

Weitere Informationen: 

� http://www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de/html/en/32.php 

� http://www.bmbf.bund.de/de/15644.php 

� www.anerkennung-in-deutschland.de 

back 

Residency improvements for foreign students, 

graduates, scientists and researchers 

On 27 April 2012, Germany’s federal parliament 

(Bundestag) passed the Act Implementing the EU 

Directive on Entry and Residence of Highly Qualified 

Workers. The scope of this law exceeds EU targets and 

presents foreign students, scientists and researchers 

with new opportunities in Germany by making a number 

of important changes to residency rights in Germany. 

For example, it will allow foreign students casual work on 

120 instead of previously 90 days per year; after 

graduation, they will be allowed to stay in Germany for 

18 instead of 12 months to seek qualified employment.



They may work without time 

limits during this time and will 

no longer need to seek the 

approval of the German 

Federal Employment Agency 

(Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA). In addition, they will be 

eligible for permanent residency after only two years. 

For foreign academics seeking employment, a residency 

permit for up to 6 months will be introduced. Anyone with 

an employment contract as an academic or qualified 

professional with a minimum salary of around €44,800 

(or around €35,000 for certain occupations) may work in 

Germany for up to 4 years using the ''Blue Card''. Blue 

Card holders will already be eligible for permanent 

residency after 2 to 3 years. Family members of foreign 

skilled workers will also find it easier to take up 

employment, for example by no longer requiring BA 

approval. 

In addition to these changes, the maximum stay for 

students will be extended to 10 years for a course of 

studies including study preparation, with an additional 

five years for a PhD. 

The DAAD welcomes the new legislation which still 

requires the approval of the 2nd house of Germany’s 

federal parliament (Bundesrat). 

Info brochure on gainful employment in 

Germany available 

Many of our scholarship applicants as well as others 

interested in living in Germany are wondering about 

gainful employment in Germany: Will I be allowed to 

work? Are there any restrictions? Do I need a special 

type of visa? 

You will now find answers to these and other questions 

around working in Germany in a new DAAD leaflet, 

available from our website 

(http://ic.daad.de/sydney/faq.htm#10) – or simply email 

us at daad.australia@gmail.com. 

Discover the EU Centres at three Australian 

universities 

Did you know that three Australian universities feature 

"EU Centres" with talks, panel discussions and more, all 

open to the public and usually for free? Check out the 

links for more information! We also post many of their 

events on our Facebook page – "like" us if you don't 

want to miss out! 

European Union (EU) Centre at RMIT 

The European Union (EU) Centre at RMIT University 

was established in January 2010 to promote a better 

understanding of the EU and EU-Australia relations. The 

Centre provides a focal point for teaching, research and 

outreach activities with the EU, Australia and the Asia 

Pacific Region. It acts as an advocate for the EU in the 

region and facilitates the dissemination of information 

and knowledge from academia to industry and the 

community at large. The European Union Centre at 

RMIT is funded through a grant from the European 

Union and RMIT University. 

http://www.rmit.edu.au/eucentre 

ANU Centre for European Studies 

ANUCES is an initiative involving four ANU Colleges 

(Arts and Social Sciences, Law, Business and 

Economics and Asia and the Pacific). It focuses the 

talents of hundreds of researchers, teachers and 

students working on Europe on a single site. Its purpose 

is to create synergies, promote interdisciplinary dialogue, 

and generate collaborative research 

projects at home and abroad. 

The ANU Centre for European Studies 

takes over the role formerly played by 

the National Europe Centre. It is funded 

jointly by the ANU and the European 

Commission. 

http://ces.anu.edu.au/ 

Monash European and EU Centre 

The Monash European and EU Centre is a joint 

undertaking by the European Commission of the 

European Union (EU) and Monash University, led by the 

Faculties of Arts, Business and Economics and Law. It 

provides teaching, research and outreach on Europe 

and the EU. The Centre’s courses and units offer the 

opportunity to study in Europe and provide a portal to 

facilitate European and EU related activities across 

Monash University. 

http://www.monash.edu.au/europecentre/ 

back 

Deutsche Rechtsanwälte in Sydney 

Im März 2010 fand in 

den Räumen des 

Goethe-Instituts Sydney 

ein gemeinsamer Umtrunk 

des DAAD und der 

Deutsch-Australisch- 

Pazifischen Juristenvereinigung e.V. (DAPJV – 

http://www.dapjv.com) statt. Eines der 

Vorstandsmitglieder der DAPJV ist Michael Kobras, der 

Partner der Kanzlei Schweizer Kobras ist. Schweizer 

Kobras ist die einzige Kanzlei in Sydney mit 

Rechtsanwälten, die in Australien, Deutschland und der 

Schweiz zugelassen sind. 

Sowohl Michael Kobras als auch Norbert Schweizer, der 

Gründer der Kanzlei, sind australische Fachanwälte für 

Wirtschaftsrecht („accredited specialist – business law“) 

und australische Notare („public notary“), wobei Norbert 

Schweizer über eine mehr als 30jährige Berufserfahrung 

auf den Gebieten des Wirtschafts- und Erbrechts



verfügt. Michael Kobras ist darüber hinaus staatlich 

zugelassener Einwanderungsberater („registered 

migration agent“). Er wurde bereits mehrmals von 

australischen Gerichten als Sachverständiger für 

deutsches Recht beauftragt. 

Beide Partner, die meisten der angestellten Anwälte und 

fast alle anderen Mitarbeiter sprechen sowohl Deutsch 

als auch Englisch, und die Kanzlei ist Vertrauensanwalt 

des deutschen Generalkonsulats Sydney, des österreichischen 

Generalkonsulats Sydney, der schweizerischen 

Botschaft Canberra und des schweizerischen 

Generalkonsulats Sydney. Neben zahlreichen Wirtschaftsunternehmen 

gehören zu den Mandanten auch 

das Goethe-Institut Sydney, die German International 

School Sydney und der deutsch-australische Hilfsverein. 

Die Kanzlei befindet sich im Geschäftsviertel im Herzen 

von Sydney und bietet sowohl Unternehmen als auch 

Privatpersonen eine umfassende Beratung in nahezu 

allen Bereichen des deutschen, australischen und 

schweizerischen Zivilrechts an. So ist die Kanzlei 

insbesondere deutschen, österreichischen und schweizerischen 

Unternehmen bei der Erschließung des 

australischen Marktes behilflich, sei es durch den 

Abschluss von Verträgen mit australischen Vertriebspartnern, 

die Eröffnung einer australischen Zweigniederlassung 

oder die Gründung einer australischen 

Tochtergesellschaft. 

Privatpersonen nehmen die Dienste der Kanzlei überwiegend 

im Erbrecht in Anspruch. Wenn sowohl in 

Australien als auch in Deutschland oder andernorts 

Vermögenswerte vorhanden sind, können Vorsorgevollmachten 

und letztwillige Verfügungen erstellt werden, 

die in allen beteiligten Ländern als rechtsgültig 

anerkannt werden. Nur so ist sichergestellt, dass im 

Falle einer ernsthaften Erkrankung und nach dem Tode 

alle persönlichen Wünsche zur Geltung kommen. Ferner 

unterstützt die Kanzlei Erben, Testamentsvollstrecker 

und Nachlasspfleger bei der Nachlassabwicklung. 

Daneben sind die Anwälte bei Schweizer Kobras beim 

Kauf oder Verkauf von Immobilien und beim Einzug von 

Forderungen bis hin zur Führung von Prozessen tätig. 

Der DAAD und der australische Alumniverband sind 

Schweizer Kobras sehr dankbar für die ehrenamtliche 

fundierte und sehr nette Unterstützung und Beratung bei 

der Formung des australischen DAAD-Alumniverbands. 

Für weitere Informationen wenden Sie sich bitte an: 

Schweizer Kobras 

Level 5 / 23-25 O'Connell Street, Sydney NSW 2000 

Telefon: +61 2 9223 9399, Telefax: +61 2 9223 4729 

http://www.schweizer.com.au – info@schweizer.com.au 

Alumni News – Events and Publications 

Alumnus Aidan Byrne new CEO of the ARC 

DAAD Alumnus Professor Aidan Byrne was recently 

appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer of the 

Australian Research Council (ARC). The ARC, a 

government organisation, provides advice to the 

Government on research matters and manages $879 

million of the Australian Government’s investment in 

high-quality research as well as the internationallyrecognised 

Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 

research evaluation exercise. 

“Professor Byrne’s appointment will ensure that 

Australia continues to be a leading example of an 

innovative and robust science and research system,” 

Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and 

Research, Senator Chris Evans, said. “Professor Byrne 

is a distinguished leader in research and research 

management at the Australian National University and 

has been for 20 years. He brings to the ARC a wealth of 

industry knowledge and expertise particularly in Nuclear 

Physics, Physical and Mathematical Sciences as well as 

Engineering.” 

Professor Byrne currently serves as Dean of Science at 

the ANU and as Director of the ANU College of Physical 

and Mathematical Science. He will commence as CEO 

on Monday, 23 July. ARC Executive General Manager 

Ms Leanne Harvey will continue to act as CEO until this 

time. 

Former CEO Professor Margaret Sheil left the ARC last 

month after almost five years. “I thank Professor Sheil 

for her tremendous stewardship of the ARC since 2007 

and wish her all the best in her new position as Provost 

of the University of Melbourne,” Senator Evans said. 

DAAD Australia welcomes this appointment and would 

like to extend their heartfelt congratulations to Professor 

Byrne who is a von Humboldt Fellow and alumnus of the 

Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme of the 

Go8 and DAAD. 

back 

Hirschfeld-Mack 

Professor 

Anna Haebich 

Since 2008, the Institute for English Philology at the FU 

Berlin has featured the Visiting Hirschfeld-Mack 

Professor programme, supported by the institute, the 

DAAD and the Australian embassy in Berlin. Renowned 

academics will be awarded a guest professorship to 

further academic exchange between Australia and 

Germany. It is named after Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack 

(born 1893 in Frankfurt, died 1965 in Sydney), a member 

of the Bauhaus movement, who was deported to 

Australia as an "enemy alien" in 1940. He later became 

the "Head of Art" at the renowned Geelong Grammar 

School, influencing post-war art and design in Australia. 

Professor Anna Haebich, John Curtin Distinguished 

Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for



Human Rights Education, Curtin University, also serves 

as the Vice President of the Australian Academy of 

Humanities and visited Berlin in 2011 as part of the 

Hirschfeld Mack programme. She kindly agreed to share 

her experiences with us: 

In April 2011 I started a four month teaching semester as 

the Visiting Hirschfeld Mack Professor in the Anglistik 

Department at Freie Universität in Berlin. Previous 

lecturers were specialists in Australian literature and I 

was the first historian. With my background in Australian 

history, Indigenous studies and history in art and 

museums I was able to add new perspectives to 

students’ reading of Australian literature. The students 

weren’t the only ones learning! The experience was a 

huge learning curve for me: the formality of German 

universities, finding my way around Berlin, meeting new 

people and of course trying to speak auf Deutsch. In my 

spare time I travelled to conferences in Koeln and 

Brussels, did family research at Dachau and in Poland 

and developed research plans with German colleagues. 

The experience of working with students at Freie who 

come from all around the world was really inspiring and 

made me realise how different and intriguing your own 

history can be for others. 

back 

Mentoring, Research Ambassadors and Alumni 

Meetings on 31 March / 1 April 

The DAAD-AAvHF-Research 

Ambassadors and Mentoring 

Programme turned one in April – a 

good reason to look back and reflect 

as well as make plans for the future! 

In cooperation with the AAvHF 

(Australian Association of von 

Humboldt Fellows), a meeting of all 

mentors / mentees / DAAD 

Research Ambassadors was held on 

Saturday, 31 March 2012. This event 

aimed at three different groups of 

experts in German-Australian 

research exchange, namely DAAD alumni, AAvH fellows 

and German lecturers and professors at Australian 

universities. From these groups, we have recruited about 

50 "Research Ambassadors", with some of them acting 

as mentors as well. We also have a group of young, upand-coming 

scientists who are interested in a mentee 

opportunity. So far, we have matched up ten mentormentee 

pairings, with more to come! If you are 

interested, please email us: daad.australia@gmail.com! 

We will continue to match up mentees and mentors. 

Apart from getting mentors and mentees together and 

providing them with some background for their next 

steps, the event aimed at empowering and enabling all 

these individuals to act independently as Research 

Ambassadors, using their position to inform students and 

researchers in Australia about study exchange and 

opportunities for research collaborations in Germany. 

The DAAD is happy to announce that we can now 

provide some small funds to make it possible for our 

Research Ambassadors to organise small information 

gatherings at their university or research institution and 

e.g. pay for some finger food or cappuccinos. 

Two overseas guests enriched our 

event: Dr Ulla Toyka, head of our 

regional department at DAAD 

headquarters in Bonn, and Peter 

Kerrigan, deputy director of the 

DAAD’s New York office and director 

of marketing and development for the 

DAAD in North America. 

The exchange of experiences and 

ideas with the DAAD offices in New 

York, Toronto and San Francisco has been vivid for 

some time, because in some respects, 

Australia presents similar conditions to 

North America, such as a highly 

developed country with a corresponding 

education market as well as English as a 

native language. The DAAD in North 

America already has plenty of 

experience with the Research 

Ambassadors Program that was actually 

developed in New York, thanks to Peter 

Kerrigan. 

About 40 Research Ambassadors and speakers 

attended the meeting, among them A/Prof. Herman 

Beyersdorf, President of the Australian DAAD Alumni 

Association, as well as A/Prof. Kay Double, acting 

representative of the Australian Association of von 

Humboldt Fellows, AvH Ambassador to Australia and 

one of the main driving forces of the mentoring program. 

The intensive schedule was aimed at developing a joint 

programme for all Research Ambassadors and involved 

discussions about the North American program, 

Germany as a research destination, the 

internationalisation of the German university landscape 

including the excellence initiative and a comparison with 

Australia, as well as the principles and programmes of 

the DAAD and the AvH. 

Mentoring programme - results 

Attending mentors and mentees agreed on 

- the importance of face-to-face meetings, particularly at 

the beginning of the mentoring process; 

- the need for more events that bring people together to



exchange views and experiences; 

- the need for an annual meeting (alternating between 

Melbourne and Sydney, perhaps later expanding to 

other cities) and some teleconferences throughout the 

year to formalise the programme; 

- to inform newly awarded DAAD scholarship holders 

immediately about the scheme in order to recruit more 

mentees; 

- that providing an online list of the profiles of the 

mentors/mentees would be instrumental. This will also 

assist to see densities of people who could perhaps 

work together in a group. 

- that a person will need to run the website; 

- the need to expand the current management 

committee of Andreas and Kay. 

The following mentors, mentees and DAAD reps put up 

their hands: 

• Ana Beaumont, Macquarie University – (website) 

moderator; 

• Patsie Polly, UNSW – coordinator; 

• Claudia Möller, Macquarie University – coordinator; 

• Tina Stubenrauch, Melbourne – coordinator; 

• Trevor Finlayson, AAvHF secretary – will scan through 

the list of Humboldt members; 

• Kay Double – AAvHF, AvH; 

• Andreas Jäger and replacement Jörn Hausner – 

DAAD. 

Michael Abicht - die gute Seele 

des Goethe-Instituts 

Founding of RAMP.au 

After intense discussions of the 

mentoring programme in the 

framework of the research 

ambassadors’ scheme during 

the first part of the afternoon, 

RAMP.au was founded. The 

acronym stands for Research 

Ambassadors and Mentoring 

Programme Australia. An 

Initiative of DAAD and AAvHF. It 

was also decided that regional 

core groups should be started 

everywhere on the continent 

and offer ten smaller-scale local information events by 

the end of 2012. The intention is also to involve German 

OrtslektorInnen, non-permanent German lecturers and 

researchers in Australia as well as the offices of the 

DVCs (International and/or Research). Dr Toyka has 

already conducted initial talks and discussions on the 

issue during her visits to Adelaide and Melbourne. 

Coordinators 

Coordinator meetings and a public information talk are 

being planned in 

connection with 

Professor Mukherjee's 

visit to Melbourne on 

September 24. A larger 

meeting could be held following the AvH Symposium in 

October 2013 in Melbourne. 

Alumni Meeting 

The Sunday was 

reserved for the DAAD 

alumni, many of whom 

had participated on 

Saturday too. Board 

members, regional 

alumni representatives 

and interested 

members including Dr. 

Geoff See, Chrischona Schmidt, 

Alexander Daniel, Herman Beyersdorf 

Toyka sacrificed their early Sunday morning to attend 

the AGM of the Australian DAAD Alumni Association at 

9am. After reports from chair, secretary, treasurer and 

regional reps the association’s executive was elected for 

the period of the next 2 years. There were no further 

nominees than the current incumbents which shows the 

great satisfaction with their jobs. Re-elected are Herman 

Beyersdorf as Chair, Alexander Daniel as Deputy Chair, 

Geoff See as Secretary and Chrischona Schmidt as 

Treasurer. Elected as further executive members, also 

representing the different local alumni groups were: 

Mary Hurwood, Claudia Moeller, Erik Beyersdorf, Ric 

Lowe, Anna Haebich, Elke Stracke and Leah Gerber. I’m 

sure all alumni will join me in congratulating the 

executive committee and in thanking them for their great 

work building up the alumni association. 

There were more discussions, eg. on the desire to 

include professional activities in the associations 

meeting and activities, and reduce the academic 

emphasis, which was not appropriate for alumni who had 

moved into careers outside the education sector, on 

providing the possibility of a German-language 

environment for members, and the need for the 

association to advertise its activities either by publishing 

its own newsletter or through the DAAD newsletter. 

Please see the minutes of the 2012 AGM on the alumni 

sector of our DAAD Sydney website. 

After the old and then new president then welcomed the 

guests, Dr Toyka spoke about DAAD alumni networks 

in the Asia-Pacific region and in Germany, giving a lot 

of excellent advice to the rather new DAAD alumni 

formation. Drawing from years of experience especially 

in Japan (where the first alumni club was founded in 

1985), Dr Toyka emphasised that headquarters in Bonn 

are there to help and always open to suggestions, 

questions, plans etc. 

As there are many DAAD Alumni Clubs worldwide (North 

America 3, Central America 5, South America 38, Asia 

39, Europe 50), it's important to apply for funding as 

early as possible as budgets are limited. 

Dr Toyka also presented special alumni services such as 

the DAAD Magazine, which provides information on 

developments and trends in higher education, science



and research in Germany as well as information on the 

DAAD’s support activities and programmes. The 

magazine is free of charge for international alumni and 

current scholarship holders. There's also an Alumni 

Internet Platform offering information for alumni and 

scholarship holders, including further education, job 

information and other services. Alumni can also open 

their own email account and set up their own homepage. 

The DAAD Alumni Calendar offers information about 

events in Germany and worldwide, organised 

chronologically as well as by region. Please remember 

to put in your dates and give an outline of events as this 

calendar is where for example travelling alumni will look 

for contacts and events! 

If you're an alumnus/alumna and interested in being 

connected, check out the following: 

� Register yourself for the alumni forum and email 

account; 

� Update your personal details; 

� Inform other alumni about the activities of the 

DAAD; 

� Keep contact with DAAD lecturers or the DAAD 

office; 

� Inform yourself about events (alumni calendar); 

� Check the alumni portal Germany – 

www.alumniportal-deutschland.org; 

Later, Peter R Kerrigan spoke about DAAD alumni 

networks in North America. Even though there are 

differences between Australia, the United States and 

Canada, there are also similarities, so it makes sense to 

take a closer look. The DAAD alumni association in 

North America recently celebrated its 15th birthday. The 

network is set up as a non-profit organisation and 

accepts not only DAAD alumni, but all Germany alumni. 

It has 600 active members in their database. There's a 

newsletter, networking events, a website, a lot of social 

media activities, fundraisers etc. Despite the abundance 

of alumni associations in the US, the DAAD alumni are 

united by a sense of identity and of giving back. 

The main schemes in North America are the DAAD 

Young Ambassadors and the Research Ambassadors. 

The Young Ambassadors are newly returned 

undergraduate students, having been sponsored through 

different organisations, not only the DAAD, who are 

willing to market and represent Germany on campus. 

They have spent a semester or year abroad. They are 

phenomenal in outreach and have become the most 

active members of our alumni associations. The 

Research Ambassadors are people who are at the PhD 

level or above who have had at least a year of research 

experience in Germany and are also very active. 

Later that day, H.E. Hans-Dieter Steinbach, Consul- 

General of Germany, gave a talk about 60 Years of 

Australian-German Relations, explaining how different 

times were in 1952 

when Australia decided 

to re-establish relations with Germany. There were two 

German states at the time, and diplomatic relations with 

Australia were renewed nine months after the German 

Foreign Ministry was re-established. In the sixty years 

since 1952, Australia and Germany have come a long 

way, sharing a set of common values, joining in 

peacekeeping missions together, cooperating in disaster 

relief operations and trying to tackle globalisation issues. 

There is a lot of exchange between Germany and 

Australia: Apart from tourism going both ways, more 

than 750 German companies have offices in Australia, 

creating more than 90,000 jobs. 350 university or 

research institute co-operations exist between Australian 

and German research units and universities. 

In addition, both governments have agreed to intensify 

their diplomatic relations and cooperation into a strategic 

partnership. 

In the afternoon, after a coffee with a perfect view from 

Bondi Icebergs, young DAAD alumni presented short 

talks about their recent experiences on collaborative 

projects on an "academic walk" on the beautiful Bondi- 

Bronte coastal trail. 

- Denise Yu, who is a Research 

Officer with UNSW’s 

Lowy Cancer Research 

Centre, started with: Biology 

of enzymes in ageing central 

nervous systems. 

- Claudia Möller, a Business 

Development Manager 

with the Logistics Development 

Team at Woolworths 

and PhD candidate 

at Macquarie University, 

followed on Driving 

Innovation: How to make 

environmental sustainability an active & integrated part 

of today's business practices. 

- Isabel Ender, a German 

DAAD scholarship holder researching 

on the JCU Minke 

Whale Project, ended the



walk along the sea fittingly with: Dwarf Minke Whales in 

the Great Barrier Reef: a unique research experience…). 

For me personally this was an unforgettable completion 

of my collaboration with the DAAD alumni in Australia! 

Thank you all so much! 

By the way, many thanks to Wellett Potter and Tina 

Stubenrauch for their notes of these 2 jam-packed days, 

and to Ulla, Peter and Wellett for some very nice photos! 

RAMP.au - Become a mentor or mentee! 

While we have a number of fantastic mentors available, 

we are still looking for more prospective mentees, so this 

is your chance to connect with someone in your field 

who can help you out with their experience and 

knowledge and give you pointers for your career. 

We are also looking for mentors, currently especially in 

the area of law – please email us if you are interested in 

mentoring a young, up-and-coming lawyer or law 

student! 

RAMP.au - Have you thought about becoming a 

Research Ambassador? 

If you are interested in passing on information on study 

and research in Germany and helping to draw the 

framework for a collaboration of someone in your 

department, school or faculty, please consider to 

become a DAAD-AAvHF research ambassador! 

If you are interested and would like to get more 

information, please give us a ring or drop us an email on 

daad.australia@gmail.com! 

We would ask you whom at your university we should 

officially inform about your position on this scheme. 

Usually this would involve the vice chancellor, the DVC 

research, your dean and HOS. When sending these 

official nominations we also would send you all 

necessary information brochures and useful links to 

obtain information at any time. 

Are you already a member of the alumni 

association? 

The Australian DAAD Alumni Association keeps 

growing, but it still needs more members! With a low 

membership fee of $30 per annum and a concessional 

fee of $20 for students, the unwaged and retirees, the 

association would like to appeal to you to join as a 

member. 

back 

DAAD Alumni Portal on social media 

The Alumniportal Deutschland is a free, editorially 

supported social online network connecting people from 

all over the 

world who 

have 

studied, 

researched, 

worked or completed a course of advanced training in 

Germany. The portal is also open to companies and 

organisations as well as to foundations and institutions 

of higher education. 

A unique combination of services with a connection to 

Germany and an online community opens up entirely 

new opportunities for maintaining contacts and networks. 

Career opportunities, language services and both on- 

and offline events complement the online community. 

You will find more information in the Alumniportal flyer. 

The DAAD Alumni Portal is now available across the 

social media – why not take a look? 

� Facebook: www.facebook.com/alumniportal 

� Twitter: www.twitter.com/alumni_de 

� Youtube: www.youtube.com/alumniportal 

� LinkedIn: 

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Alumniportal- 

Deutschland-4026393?gid=4026393&trk=hb_side_g 

� Google+: www.gplus.to/alumniportaldeutschland 

Our Regional Alumni Representatives 

Adelaide 

� Carolin Plewa, carolin.plewa@adelaide.edu.au 

� Donna Nicholls, donna.a.nicholls@gmail.com 

Armidale 

� Herman Beyersdorf, hbeyersd@une.edu.au 

back 

Brisbane 

� Mary Hurwood, mary.hurwood@qut.edu.au 

� Chrischona Schmidt chrischona.schmidt@anu.edu.au 

Canberra 

� Alexander Daniel, alexander.daniel@daad-alumni.de 

Newcastle 

� Geoff See, Geoffrey.See@newcastle.edu.au 

Northern Queensland 

� Bobby Kannan Mathan, bobby.mathan@jcu.edu.au 

Perth 

� Rebecca Meegan-Lowe, ricle@westnet.com.au 

� Enid Sedgwick, e.sedgwick@graduate.uwa.edu.au 

� Ric Lowe, r.k.lowe@curtin.edu.au 

Melbourne 

� Erik Beyersdorf, Erik.Beyersdorf@monash.edu 

� Leah Gerber, leah.gerber@monash.edu.au 

Sydney 

� Eva Heidhues, eva.heidhues@gmail.com 

� Sandy Mihaljevic, sandymihaljevic@googlemail.com 

� Claudia Möller, clamoeller@gmail.com 

By the way … 

All things German in Australia 

back 

This website has a collection of German services, shops 

and societies – just search by region or category!



http://www.deutsche-im-ausland.org/adressen-imausland/address/australienozeanien/australien.html#id_ 

34 

Humboldt Rankings reveal Germany’s prime 

locations for researchers from abroad 

The Humboldt Rankings, published on 20 April, reveal 

which German universities and research institutions are 

particularly popular with researchers from abroad. They 

are based on the number of research stays in Germany 

conducted by leading international academics and junior 

researchers as fellows or award winners of the 

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The five topranked 

institutions were Freie Universität Berlin (FU), 

followed by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU), the 

Universities of Munich and Bonn, and TU München 

(TUM). 

To avoid statistical distortions resulting from the varying 

sizes of the host institutions, the Humboldt Rankings 

relate the number of stays to the number of 

professorships at a university. Despite this weighting, the 

highest-rated universities of Berlin, Munich and Bonn are 

also amongst those registering the largest number of 

research stays overall. The success of host institutions 

that have been recognised as Excellence Universities is 

also notable; six of these are amongst the top ten. 

Humboldtians’ choices thus validate the large and 

successful universities as well as the appeal of major 

cities and smaller, attractive locations with a long 

tradition, such as Heidelberg (ranked 6th) and Freiburg 

(ranked 7th). 

In addition to the overall list, rankings were also drawn 

up for individual disciplines. In the humanities, the first 

three places went to FU and HU Berlin and the 

University of Freiburg. In the life sciences, FU Berlin 

came first ahead of the University of Potsdam and TU 

Kaiserslautern. In the natural sciences, the Universities 

of Regensburg, Munich and Bielefeld were ranked 

highest. The top 20 non-university research institutions, 

which for the first time were also compiled using the 

weighted system, were dominated by institutions in the 

Max Planck Society, led by the Fritz Haber Institute in 

Berlin and institutes in Heidelberg and Potsdam. 

News from Kooperation International 

Kooperation International is an initiative of the German 

Federal Ministry of Education and Research. You can 

subscribe to their newsletter here. 

International students in Australia 2011 

There were 474,249 international students studying on a 

student visa in Australia in 2011. A fall in international 

student numbers in all other sectors except in the HE 

sector contributed to a decrease of 9.5 per cent on 2010 

figures. The HE sector recorded a slight increase (0.1%). 

Nonetheless, the 2011 international student numbers 

were still at about the 2008 levels. 

More information 

ERASMUS feiert 25 Jahre 

mit Rekordzahlen 

Das ERASMUS-Programm 

der Europäischen Union 

feiert 2012 seinen 25. 

Geburtstag. Und pünktlich 

zum Jubiläum meldet der 

DAAD neue Rekordzahlen: 2010/11 haben mehr als 

25.000 Studierende aus Deutschland mit dem 

ERASMUS-Programm in 30 anderen europäischen 

Ländern einen Teil ihres Studiums absolviert. Dazu 

kommen über 5.000 Studierende, die mit ERASMUS ein 

Auslandspraktikum machen konnten. Mit insgesamt 

30.274 geförderten Studierenden (1.420 mehr als im 

Vorjahr) erreicht das Programm damit in Deutschland 

einen neuen Höchststand. 

Außerdem haben 3.000 deutsche Dozenten mit 

ERASMUS an einer ausländischen Hochschule unterrichtet 

und fast 700 Hochschulvertreter nahmen an einer 

Weiterbildungsmaßnahme im Ausland teil. ERASMUS 

ist das weltweit bekannteste Mobilitätsprogramm der 

Europäischen Union. Es ermöglicht Studierenden ein 

Auslandsstudium und Praktika von drei bis zwölf 

Monaten in bisher 31 Teilnahmeländern (27 EU-Länder 

sowie Island, Liechtenstein, Norwegen und Türkei); nun 

auch in Kroatien und in der Schweiz. 

Zum Jubiläum erscheinen zwei Publikationen des 

DAAD, die hier heruntergeladen werden können. 

Best Student Cities in the World 2012 

QS is proud to announce the first ever QS Best Student 

Cities ranking. Based on a complex set of measures 

taken from public information, surveys and data 

submitted as part of the QS World University Rankings, 

the results provide a new way of comparing the best 

cities around the world in which to be a student. 

Paris takes the top place, followed by London and 

Boston. Melbourne made 4th place, Sydney 6th, Berlin 

8th. 

09 June - 16 Sep 

in Kassel, 

Germany 

dOCUMENTA (13) 

just recently opened 

to the public in 

Museum Fridericianum, 2012, Foto: Nils 

Klinger © dOCUMENTA (13)



Kassel, Germany, on June 9, 2012. For 100 days, over 

150 artists from 55 countries and other participants from 

around the world will gather and present artworks, 

including sculpture, performance, installation, research, 

archiving and curatorial projects, painting, photography, 

film and video, text and audio works as well as other 

objects and experiments in the fields of art, politics, 

literature, philosophy, and science. 

LORE 

And last but not least we’d like to draw your attention to 

an Australian-German co-produced film, Lore. The longawaited 

follow-up to her exquisite Somersault, Australian 

director Cate Shortland's adaptation of the novel The 

Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert is a sensual and complex 

story that explores the tribulations faced by the young in 

the aftermath of World War II. The film premiered at the 

Sydney Film Festival (sorry that this newsletter didn’t 

come in time to announce that), but will be shown to a 

wider audience in Australia and Germany soon. 

Elisabeth Meister, our long-serving colleague at the 

DAAD Information Centre Sydney and author of major 

parts of this newsletter has wonderfully translated this 

opus. 

For further interest in excellent English-German-English 

translations: 

Elisabeth Meister 

Translation & Proofreading 

Ph 0413 470 354 

EMTranslations@gmail.com 

For further information, comments or to unsubscribe from this newsletter, please email us at daad.australia@gmail.com 

You can download previous issues from http://ic.daad.de/sydney/newsletter.htm 

Yours

Issue 25, June 2012 - DAAD

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