Sustainable development needs impetus from all areas of society. Only then can development practices adjust to the world's ever-changing demands. Alongside international cooperation, academia has a special role to play in sustainable development, simply because there are hardly any academic subjects that are not linked to international cooperation issues.

This is the reason why the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (formerly GTZ) jointly created 'Between Lecture Hall and Project' with political scientist, Dr Regine Schönenberg in 2001. The aims at young university students and promotes knowledge-sharing between them and specialists in international cooperation.

Once a year, the team of Between Lecture Hall and Project Work contacts around 30 lecturers from selected universities in Germany to incorporate the initiative into their courses. In collaboration with their professor and the GIZ project team, the students elaborate and work on a research question related to an actual development project. The results of their work are presented in a short film. The ten best participants are given the chance to present their work and results during the finale in front of a high-ranked jury. The best three win a paid internship in a GIZ project.

One thing about HuP: it doesn't merely exist on paper. It’s not just about writing another term paper. On the one hand, the students are given the opportunity to practically apply what they have learned in their courses, and on the other hand, GIZ staff can benefit from current research findings and lecture/study methods in their work. HuP is a competition; the winners will be those who are able to turn their knowledge and new insights into practical solutions at work.