Cooperation between German and Iranian universities was the focus of a two-day seminar in Tehran. At the event, which was organised by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) in cooperation with the Allameh Tabataba‘i University and with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) - Information Centre Tehran, 20 university leaders from Iran and Germany as well as around 60 academics and heads of international offices from both countries exchanged information and views on the implementation of internationalisation strategies and the expansion of existing cooperation structures. The main topic was cooperation in the humanities and social sciences; however, the Deputy Iranian Minister of Science stressed in his opening speech that there was great interest to cooperate in all academic disciplines. Cooperation projects by the universities of Gießen, Hanover and Worms served as examples of good practice.
“German universities are key partners of the Iranian universities in international cooperation,” HRK Vice-President Prof Dr Karim Khakzar said. “The large and renowned Iranian universities in particular, such as the University of Tehran, have well-established infrastructure for their internationalisation. This means that cooperation with Iranian universities offers great potential,” Khakzar said.
As part of the DIES Programme (Dialogue on Innovative Higher Education Strategies) sponsored jointly by the DAAD and HRK, the seminar supports the growing interest on the part of German universities in academic cooperation with universities in Iran. Last year, the HRK invited representatives of interested German universities to a coordination meeting on university cooperation with Iran. There are now 62 agreements between German and Iranian universities.
