On 10 November, the DAAD Executive Board confirmed the proposal for the appointment of Dr. Kai Sicks to succeed the previous Secretary-General, Dr. Dorothea Rüland. Looking back at a 30-year career in the organisation, Rüland contributed greatly to the internationalisation of German universities and to Germany's world-wide reputation as an excellent education and research location. 

Kai Sicks has been head of the Department of International Affairs at the University of Bonn since May 2017, where he is responsible, among other things, for expanding the internationalisation of the university in research, studies and administration. Before coming to the university, he was managing director of the Bonn Graduate Centre. He is expected to take office as the new DAAD Secretary-General in February 2021.