DAAD reaffirms its support to CATIE's Graduate School

• CATIE's Director General is working with DAAD on new funding proposals for graduate students.

Dr. Luis Ernesto Pocasangre, Director General of CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center), visited Mexico City to evaluate and consolidate the collaboration provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to the Center's Graduate School. In dialogue with the DAAD representative for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Christopher Hansert, several proposals were generated to optimize the application process and ensure support for new students in different disciplines offered at CATIE.

The DAAD, established in 1925, is the world's largest academic exchange service and in its 100 years of existence has supported the studies of more than 3 million people, including those who have received a scholarship to study at CATIE.

“The cooperation with DAAD is very important, as they have supported the CATIE Graduate School for decades and we are sure that they will continue to support us in the future,” commented Dr. L. E. Pocasangre, who was recently recognized as change agent by DAAD in the context of its centenary.

As part of his visit to the DAAD, CATIE's Director General was also part of the international panel that evaluated the applications from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean for the scholarships for master's degrees in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in Germany, offered by this exchange service.

The panel was chaired by the DAAD representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as Alexandra Treder and Silvia Stiefermann from DAAD Mexico. Representing German universities were Alexander Ditter from the University of Bayreuth (Bavaria) and Francisco Morales from the Technical University of Berlin.

In addition, representatives from important universities in the region took part: Julieta Rojo, from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Carolina Peña, from the Universidad de Veracruz (Mexico); Enrique Quiroga, from the Universidad de Puebla (Mexico); and Jorge López, from the Universidad de San Carlos (Guatemala); as well as the Director General of CATIE.

For Dr. L. E. Pocasangre, “it is important to participate in this STEM scholarship selection event, as it positions CATIE as a regional science and technology center”.

Finally, during Dr. L. E. Pocasangre's tour, the visit of Kai Sicks, Secretary General of the DAAD, to the CATIE campus in September 2025 was confirmed.