In­ter­na­tion­al Re­la­tions

The German Aerospace Center is the leading German institution for research in the fields of aerospace, energy, transport, security, and digitalisation. It cooperates with the world’s leading research institutions and relevant organisations, including more than 400 international partners from more than 60 countries. Furthermore, DLR maintains research infrastructure in Antarctica, Canada and Spain, and hosts more than 430 international visiting scientists from almost 90 countries every year. DLR also welcomes a variety of high-ranking individuals from government agencies, industry, research partners, academia, and the civil society to visit its various facilities.

The Department of International Relations at DLR coordinates the international activities of DLR in the fields of space, aeronautics, energy, transport, security, and digitalisation. It advises and supports the Executive Board, the DLR Space Administration, DLR research institutes, as well as the Project Management Agency in all ongoing and future international activities. The department defines and implements the DLR internationalisation strategy in collaboration with DLR stakeholders. The Department works also in close collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy by providing strategic advice, and supports German industry in relation to export activities. Furthermore, the department represents DLR in many international committees and organisations.

The department is the internal and external interface for international DLR activities. It acts as facilitator and broker between DLR and international institutions and partner organisations in order to support world-leading research activities. It also serves as focal point for the external representation of the German Aerospace Center.

Concrete means of cooperation, such as a scholarship-programme (DLR-DAAD), a dedicated DLR funding Programme for international projects that supports these in their early development phase, and the coordination of international bilateral and multilateral agreements.

The department is structured in teams focusing on bi- and multilateral activities, relations with international organisations, links with the United Nations organisations and development cooperation including the UN sustainability goals (SDGs@DLR), and internationalisation strategy.

The department is based in Cologne with offices in Paris, Tokyo, Brussels and Washington D.C and seconded DLR staff in European and UN entities (Vienna and Bonn).

For any further inquiries concerning DLR international activities, please send an e-mail to vo-in(at)dlr.de.

International Offices

The DLR has several international offices based in Paris, Tokyo, Brussels and Washington D.C. Their main task is to enhance the cooperation with international key players as well as serving as an interface in the research fields of DLR.