Celebrating Alumni and German–Egyptian Collaboration in 2025
This special anniversary edition gave platform to DAAD supported cooperations represented by alumni the fields of medicine and pharmacy and highlighted the long-standing collaboration between Egypt and Germany in health sciences. The conference came in the framework of a series of high-level visits to Cairo during DAAD’s 100-year jubilee, underscoring the ongoing impact of German Egyptian academic partnerships.
Dr Michael Harms, Deputy Secretary General of DAAD, inaugurated the event reflecting he reflected on the growth and impact of Egyptian German cooperation over the years. He was pleased to be greeting many old comrades and alumni whom he worked with closely during his time as former director of the DAAD office in Cairo over 15 years ago. He also moderated a panel on “Sustainable Cooperation in Medical Research and Health Sciences between Egypt and Germany.” Alumni and Partners in the relevant fields talked about bilateral success stories and what each partners benefits from their cooperation as well as the potential future opportunities of exchange.
In conclusion of the event Dr. Wiebke Bachmann mentioned that the DAAD Regional Office Cairo is currently exploring establishing trilateral academic exchange in the fields of medicine with their Japanese partners. This comes as a result of her vision to build on and expand the scope of the German-Egyptian cooperation. Prof. Dr med. Joachim Thiery Dean of the Faculty for Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel had confirmed that vision by announcing his department’s plans to open a liaison office at the premises of the DAAD in 2026.
Ahead of the conference, Director Dr. Wiebke Bachmann and Deputy Fatma Soliman arranged a meeting in the frame of Dr Harms’ visit to meet with H.E. Prof. Dr Mohamed Ayman Ashour, Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The DAAD management team convened with their Egyptian counterparts to review ongoing projects and explored future frameworks for Egyptian–German collaboration in higher education and research. Discussions focused on co-financed funding programs, postgraduate research, and capacity-building initiatives, underlining the long-term value of DAAD partnerships for Egypt and its alumni community.
