International cooperations (MoU)
In addition to the partnerships within the Erasmus program, the Faculty of Humanities maintains numerous partnerships with universities outside Europe.
Would you like to formalize cooperation with an international university? Do you have a partner university in mind or would you like to know if Universität Hamburg already has an agreement with a particular university. The Strategy and University Partnerships Unit in Dept. 5 can advise you on the possibilities of concluding cooperation agreements with international universities.
Except for strategic university partnerships, cooperation agreements are concluded at faculty level. Within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), you and your partner define the intention and framework conditions of the cooperation. Faculty agreements are signed by the Dean of the Faculty after a content and legal review coordinated by the Strategy and University Partnerships Unit.
How do I conclude a MoU between UHH-GW and an international research institution?
I am in contact with a foreign university that is interested in cooperating with UHH. I discuss my plans within the department and with the department spokesperson in order to find out about any existing collaborations.
I contact Dept. 5: International Affairs (Antje Katzschner for GW; also Gero Hemker and Eva Leptien) and ask about any existing collaborations with the specific university. I also inform the GW faculty about my project at internationales.gw"AT"uni-hamburg.de.
I will check whether there are funding opportunities for my desired cooperation: The DAAD offers individual and institutional funding to establish and promote cooperation between German and foreign universities: DAAD project funding database (in German only).
I am using the standard contract (docx) for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in English provided by UHH.
I check whether the MoU contains the content I intended. These are e.g:
- Implementation of joint research projects
- Exchange of scientists, exchange of students
- Exchange of publications
- Implementation of joint teaching programs
- Holding joint conferences, etc.
I will check whether I need a student agreement (Agreement for the Exchange of Students, standard contract (docx)) in addition to the MoU, in which specific numbers of exchange students are agreed. If you have any questions, please contact Antje Katzschner in Dept. 5.
I only change the standard MoU, e.g. alterations to wording and content, in consultation with Dept. 5, as such changes have legal relevance and must be checked accordingly.
If the international partner institution uses its own standard contract, I will have this checked against the standard contract by Dept. 5. Changes to the wording and content must then be checked retrospectively and corrected if necessary.
I will send the (adapted) MoU to my contact person at the foreign university with a request for signature. The MoU must then be signed by the Dean of the Faculty GW and sent to Dept. 5.
The dean can also sign first and afterwards the foreign university. In this case, please also send a copy of the MoU signed by both parties to internationales.gw"AT"uni-hamburg.de or by post to the Dean's Office for database entry.
If an existing cooperation agreement is to be extended, amended or terminated, please contact Antje Katzschner in Dept. 5 and the faculty at internationales.gw"AT"uni-hamburg.de.