Established in 1997, International Research Training Groups (IRTGs) are programme variations on the Research Training Group offering research and training in association with a partner group in another country. The evaluation of this programme variation was undertaken by Anton Geyer, Florian Berger, Tobias Dudenbostel and Brigitte Tiefenthaler from the Technopolis Forschungs- und Beratungsgesellschaft. Using interviews with the participating individuals, curriculum vitae, proposal and funding data, data obtained from monitoring and bibliometric analyses, the study looked closely at the impact the IRTG programme variation has hitherto had on internationalisation. It looked at this information primarily from three different perspectives: from the point of view of doctoral researchers, participating researchers in the German group and its international counterpart and the university that submitted the proposal. The study also indicates the possible directions in which the IRTG programme variation could develop and the conclusions that can be drawn from the findings for internationalisation in other areas funded by the DFG. The most important results are summarised in a DFG Infobrief. A steering committee set up by the DFG has drawn up recommendations for the future development of the IRTG programme on the basis of this study.

The study was prepared by "Technopolis Forschungs- und Beratungsgesellschaft m.b.H." with involvement of "Universität Twente, Department of Science, Technology, and Policy Studies (STәPS)".