Carsten Walbiner holds a PhD in Oriental studies from Leipzig University. Through long years of working at DAAD headquarters and other institutions in Germany, Lebanon and Palestine he has gained a great experience in the field of academic cooperation between European and Arab partners. During the last five years he directed on behalf of the DAAD the HOPES(-LEB) project, an EU-funded initiative which aimed/aims at improving the situation of refugees of post-secondary age from Syria and young people in the host communities affected by the high influx of Syrian refugees, by addressing their higher education needs.