In a statement, the President of UOD, Dr. Dawood Sulaiman Atrushi, said that the visit of the delegation of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to Germany and Belgium in Europe, with a productive and full of achievements.

The delegation from 24 to 29 October 2023, visited the German Academic Exchange Board of DAAD in Germany and several academic institutions in different cities in Germany and Belgium., which consisted of the Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education, and the Director General of the delegation and cultural relations in the ministry and the presidents of UOD, Salahaddin University, Sulaimani Polytechnic University and Duhok Polytechnic University.

The delegation visited several governmental and academic institutions in Germany, including Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bonn, Cologne and Aachen. One of the objectives of the visit was to emphasize the continued support of the German Board for Academic Exchange (DAAD) to the universities of the Kurdistan Region and to carry out more coordination on joint projects between the universities of the Kurdistan Region and the German Board for Academic Exchange.

The President of UOD said that future plans have been made in the field of various projects and activities and said: "We must work for the internationalization of universities in the Kurdistan Region, so that we can develop at the global level Bin". The president of UOD said that the Ministry of Higher Education has formulated policies to increase understanding, communication and internationalization of universities in the Kurdistan Region.

On the other hand, Dr. Dawood Atrushi said that there will be many opportunities for administrative and academic staff, undergraduate and higher education students to go abroad for academic and scientific benefits, the purpose of this visit is to get more familiar with DAAD to expand its cooperation with Kurdistan Regional Universities.

During the visit, the Kurdistan Regional Government delegation visited the Higher Academic Accreditation Office in Bonn and discussed how to assist this office to the Kurdistan Region. In this regard, Dr. "The National Trust Office has been established in the Kurdistan Region and is supervised by the Prime Minister," he said.

The President of UOD said that “University of Duhok is an active university and carries out many projects and programs with the support of European parties. We asked for their support and membership in their groups. This process is not easy, but it was a good step at the political level. It is worth mentioning that University of Duhok has been constantly mentioned in Germany and Belgium as active and caring in the fields of cooperation and projects. This will cause us, as UOD, to look for more opportunities for the University to see a stronger development.” Then the President of UOD asked the staff of the University to give more priority to the existing material and spiritual opportunities for greater work for the new academic year. Because UOD has agreements of understanding with local and international parties and considered it important to benefit from them.

On the other hand, the President of UOD said that a number of projects have been carried out and many of them were initiated by the university staff and some of them were started by the Office of International Relations. "We will conduct an awareness campaign to identify the opportunities available from the European Union and Erasmus, especially in Germany," he said, and suggested that graduates of University of Duhok and other universities in the region who want to continue their studies If you want to attend courses, trainings and study programs abroad, visit the websites of these academic institutions and there you will find hundreds of opportunities to go to these countries, whether to obtain professional or academic certificates.

Finally, the President of UOD, on behalf of University of Duhok thanked DAAD for its continuous support to the University, which has been supporting DAAD for more than 20 years, and three scientific departments of the university work in cooperation with this organization. He also thanked the European Commission for their continued assistance and financial support to University of Duhok through the Erasmus program with all its people, which has organized dozens of projects and this assistance has helped the University to reach international levels.