It intends to contribute to establishing the notion of competition within the higher education system and identifying suitable framework conditions, instruments and benchmarks for performance and competition. The Donors Association promotes programmes and projects serving international networking in science and the humanities and among their institutions. Here, the emphasis is at once on multilateral and bilateral solutions to the creation of links between Germany and its partner countries. The Donors Association develops, tests and supports concepts and model ventures aimed at identifying and promoting academic talent and enhancing the quality and competence of academic new blood for higher education and research and industry. Both in terms of concepts and funding, the Donors Association supports new organisational forms of disciplines, the development of new areas in research and teaching and the testing of new promotion procedures.
Special emphasis is on interdisciplinary research.
The Donors Association promotes scientific journalism, organises lectures and debates and helps improve the transfer of scientific results to industry. As a location of science organisations and a venue for forum events, the Science Centre Bonn contributes to dialogue between higher education and research, industry, politics and society. Promoting science and the humanities via the foundations The 270 foundations working in the overall framework of the Donors Association develop their promotion initiatives in accordance with the goals they pursue. Promotion offered by the foundations is directed at all disciplines, and they make use of all promotion instruments ranging from the award of stipends through the promotion of institutions to the funding of individual research projects. Foundations often participate in the promotion programme of the Donors Association.