Following their trip to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq(interner Link), DFG representatives travelled on to Jordan and Egypt in September and October to attend selected events and meetings. The aim of these visits was to inform researchers and partner institutions about funding opportunities for international collaboration and to deepen research collaboration with the MENA region.

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From 17 to 19 September, the DFG participated in the conference “Sustainable Science Development: Transforming Industries and Society(externer Link)” in Jordan, organised by the Jordanian Club of Humboldt Fellows and Jadara University. The event brought together Humboldt alumni from the MENA region as well as international researchers from a range of disciplines. The DFG presented its funding opportunities for international research projects and gained insights into the interests and needs of the region’s research communities. In the course of the stay, the DFG also held talks with Jordan’s Higher Council for Science and Technology(externer Link) (HCST) to explore ways of further strengthening cooperation with Jordanian research institutions in the future. 

In Egypt the DFG took part in an Egyptian-German Matchmaking Event in Cairo from 6 to 9 October, meeting Egyptian researchers with a direct interest in collaborating with German colleagues. The event was organised by the liaison offices of Freie Universität (FU Berlin)(externer Link), Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)(externer Link) and the Center for Near and Middle East Studies at the University of Marburg(externer Link) in collaboration with DAAD Cairo(externer Link) and its network programme COSIMENA(externer Link). The meeting between researchers working in the fields of water, health and urban development provided an excellent opportunity to inform participants about targeted DFG funding options to support future collaboration. The trip concluded with talks with the Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF)(externer Link) and a visit to the German University Cairo (GUC)(externer Link), thereby helping to further intensify German-Egyptian exchange at the institutional level. 

For the DFG, these visits to the region were significant not only in terms of their bilateral dimension: they also provided an opportunity to underscore Germany’s openness to cooperation with Arab countries, explore additional regional avenues for collaboration, and inform partners about the DFG’s programmes supporting refugee researchers(interner Link).