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At the University of Leipzig there is a long tradition in educating and training scholars in African, Arab, Indian, Japanese, Romance and Chinese studies. In addition, there is particular strength in the international master’s programmes offered at the University of Leipzig. Both master’s degree programmes, Erasmus Mundus Master’s Course “Global Studies – A European Perspective” and International Master’s Programme “Small and Enterprise Promotions and Training” (SEPT), (with more than 180 students) were awarded by the DAAD and the Stifterverband für Deutsche Wissenschaft as two of the “Top 10 International Master’s Degree Programmes.”

The master’s and PhD programmes at the University of Leipzig has spearheaded transnational education with links to universities in Africa – such as the project of the International Postgraduate Committee (IGRK) concerning new spatial planning and policies within a German–South African comparison at the University of Stellenbosch – and Asia, with the SEPT field office in Hanoi. Together, the IGRK and the University of Stellenbosch function as a place of learning for the establishment of a broader network of PhD programmes relating to the Erasmus Mundus Master’s Course “Global Studies,” which has already integrated from 2009 onwards several universities in Africa, Asia, North America as well as Western and Eastern Europe.