Germany: Foundations Supporting Talents

Abstract

Germany has an extensive network for the support of talented children and students, mainly organized in extracurricular and individualized support programs. In higher education, this works mostly through grant programs that are at least partly financed by private foundations. In recent years, both companies and students themselves have started to form online communities and organizations focusing on providing opportunities to excellent students. Another important development is the `Excellence Initiative' for research, which started in 2005. At the time it was subject to much debate, but the program has brought the concept of excellence to the university system, generated a great deal of attention, stimulated research and led to a culture change in the universities, which now focus more on competition.