Press Release of 19 January 2009

For the first time, the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) is part of the Global “Go-To Think Tanks” rankings and trends report. The German Development Institute is one of the leading Think Tanks in the world and among the top 50 non-U.S. Think Tanks worldwide. Of 5,465 institutions identified globally for inclusion in the study, 407 Think Tanks made it into the final list.

Decisive for the good ranking of the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) is, in the words of DIE-Director Dirk Messner, “the institute’s strategy which combines (1) growth, (2) internationalisation, (3) excellence in research, consulting, and training, and (4) future-oriented issues. This has made an impact nationally and internationally, and led to the subsequent inclusion in the global 'Go-To Think Tanks' list. We are particularly proud that the DIE ranks among the top 10 'International Development Think Tanks' as well as the top 10 'Environment Think Tanks'.”

Global "Go-To Think Tanks” is a report that identifies the leading public policy research organisations in the world. The 'Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program', which is part of the International Relations Program at the University of Pennsylvania, grew out of never ending requests from journalists, scholars and government officials who wanted a list of the leading Think Tanks in a particular country or region of the world. The report summarises the findings and identifies what might be called the “go-to Think Tanks” in every region of the world. Institutions were nominated by a panel of over 50 experts from around the world. The participants in this project agreed to submit their lists of high performance Think Tanks and then rank the combined list so that the top Think Tanks might be identified.