Invited editorial

摘要

Academic exchange between the United States and Germany has a history spanning the past 100 years. The very existence of DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service, is rooted in these transatlantic relations. In 1922, invited by their American peers, 13 German students traveled to North America. Three years later, along with the Institute of International Education (IIE), these pioneers founded the "Academic Exchange Service" in Heidelberg. Today, some 90 years later, DAAD is the world's largest organization for academic exchange. Every year, DAAD supports approximately 65,000 students and academics in more than 250 exchange programs covering all disciplines and practically all countries around the world. As DAAD helps to fund the exchange of 6,000 Germans to North America and 2,000 Americans and Canadians to Germany every year, the DAAD New York together with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation decided to host a major alumni meeting for their former grantees from the USA and Canada in New York City in October of 2010. The event was co-sponsored by the German Center for Research and Innovation New York.