Dr. Thomas Scheidtweiler (born in 1964) is the head of the Africa, Middle East, and Latin America division in the Sponsorship and Network Department of the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. Annually, the Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to pursue research in Germany. It maintains a network of some 24,000 Humboldtians from all disciplines in 130 countries worldwide – including 44 Nobel Prize winners. Dr. Scheidtweiler holds a Ph.D in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Bonn. He has been working in international (scientific) cooperation for 20 years. He served as Coordinator of the International Policy Dialogue on Research for Sustainability (BRICS countries) at the International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research from 2007 to 2008. He also served as Head of the Africa Department of the Catholic Academic Exchange Service, where he managed long-term postgraduate fellowships (1995-2007). In 1994-1995, he served as Coordinator of the postgraduate program 'Agricultural Science and Resource Management in the Tropics and Sub-tropics' (ARTS) at the University of Bonn. From 1990-1994, Dr. Scheidtweiler served as Director of the Agricultural Program ‘Shinyanga’ in Tanzania. Since 1998, he has trained German experts and diplomats for long-term assignments in Africa. He conducts this training on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Agency for International Cooperation). Dr. Scheidtweiler has served twice as a European Union and UN election observer in Africa.
