In­ter­na­tion­al Re­la­tions

The German Aerospace Center is the leading German institution for research in the fields of space, aeronautics, energy, transport, security and digitalisation. It cooperates with some of 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 International Relations team at DLR belongs to the Department of Corporate Development. DLR’s international activities in the fields of space, aeronautics, energy, transport, security and digitalisation are coordinated from here. The International Relations division advises and supports the DLR Executive Board, the German Space Agency at DLR, DLR’s research institutes as well as the Projektträger in all ongoing and future international activities. The team defines and implements the DLR internationalisation strategy in collaboration with DLR stakeholders. In addition, it works in close collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action by providing strategic advice, and supports German industry in relation to export activities. Furthermore, the International Relations team represents DLR in many international committees and organisations.

The International Relations team is the internal and external interface for international DLR activities. It acts as a facilitator and broker between DLR and international institutions and partner organisations in order to support world-leading research activities. The division also serves as a focal point for the external representation of DLR.

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 are also a part of the International Relations team.

The team focuses 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) as well as the internationalisation strategy.

The Department of Corporate Development is based in Cologne with offices in Paris, Tokyo, Brussels and Washington D.C., and seconded DLR staff in Europe and Australia.
For any further inquiries concerning DLR international activities, please contact international(at)dlr.de.

International Offices

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 for DLR’s research areas.