Germany helps Vietnam advance internalization in higher education

At a two-day workshop starting today [November 26] in central city of Danang, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Regional Office Hanoi will help Vietnamese universities address their challenges and find optimal solutions to the internationalization.

Germany's education expertise is expected to fuel the internalization in Vietnam's higher education

In collaboration with Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST), the workshop titled “Internationalization of Higher Education – Strategies and Practices in Germany and Vietnam” is aimed to discuss some important questions in this process.

(1) Why do universities in Vietnam and Germany internationalize, what are their needs for internationalization?

(2) How to develop and implement an internationalization strategy?
(3) How can internationalization at home support the development of a university?
(4) What governance structure is needed to support the internationalization of a university?

Discussions and documents at the workshop are expected to help answer the above questions as most of German universities have their own internationalization strategy.

The assistance by DAAD, the world´s largest organization for academic exchange, and HUST, the largest and leading technical university in Vietnam, will largely enable Vietnamese universities to find their own ways in the most effective manner as international integration is seen as one of the driving forces and guiding principles in the higher education reform process.

For the fact internationalization should follow a strategic concept with clear objectives to enhance education and research of a university using all dimensions of internationalization, the organizers argued that internationalization is much more than international mobility and not limited to the exchange of students and staff.

DAAD, since the establishment of its regional office in Hanoi in 2003, has supported the academic cooperation between Vietnam and Germany by funding scholarship programs, international university collaborations, exchange of scientists, study programs, or alumni activities.

Over the past years, more than EUR60 million (US$71.5 million) from the German federal government has been invested into the bilateral academic cooperation.

In addition, a few hundred Vietnamese students and scientists studied and did research in Germany with the support of the DAAD. More than 160 bilateral university programs and the increasing number of Vietnamese students studying at German universities has proved the successful support. Currently, more than 7.000 Vietnamese are studying in Germany, most of them with great success.

DAAD will also in the future foster the positive development of scientific collaboration between Vietnam and Germany with its funding programs and with offering support in the process of reforming the Vietnamese higher education system.

HUST is the largest and leading technical university in Vietnam, with more than 32,000 full-time students. It’s placed in top 301–400 universities for engineering and technology subjects in the World University Rankings 2020.

HUST attracts high-quality students as 80% of HUST students are in the top 13% nationwide.

The university has various international academic programs partnered with high-quality corporate and academic institutions in Japan, France, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. HUST has multidisciplinary research institutes and centers.