The German Academic Exchange service (DAAD) has set up a new concept paper for its work with alumni, The DAAD Alumni Concept – Goals and Focuses. The DAAD regards its alumni as long-term partners. The former DAAD scholarship recipients comprise an enormous potential for a committed, active alumni network. Within their sphere of influence, the alumni are encouraged to pursue impactful cross-border projects, extend offers of cooperation by German universities and German foreign policy programmes to their respective regional counterparts and generate impulses themselves for international academic collaboration with Germany. 

The paper explores the goals and objectives of DAAD alumni work for future relevant activities and develops around four main concepts:

• build lifetime relationships with scholarship recipients at an early stage;
• intensify subject- and theme-based networking;
• support cross-border networking; and 
• make efficient use of the expertise and projects of the alumni network.

DAAD is also committed to working on an alumni data management system, on the current alumni definition and on improving alumni communication with a view of achieving productive alumni work. 

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