The University of Cologne understands the significance of establishing a global presence to enhance its academic and research endeavors. Its regional representation offices and coordination offices, as well as the university’s support of several German Centers for Research and Innovation (DWIH), are essential for connecting the University of Cologne with crucial aceademic markets and providing knowledge about these regions to researchers at UoC. All of these facilities help to bridge cultural and structural gaps and make collaborations between the University of Cologne and research institutions in the respective regions successful and sustainable on various levels.

Communication between the overseas offices and UoC's headquarters has been crucial for the offices' success. Each regional representation or coordination office, as well as each DWIH, is assigned a so-called regional coordinator, that is, a contact person at UoC's International Office, who helps navigate the regional offices’ general planning, provides them with impulses from UoC, and grants access to information on funding opportunities, e.g., by DAAD or DFG. Regional office heads are invited to UoC for annual meetings with each other and with the regional coordinators in Cologne. These meetings provide a forum to establish and monitor development goals and offer opportunities for directors to engage in person with important stakeholders from both the university administration and academia.<

The regional representation offices help the university to demonstrate its presence in the respective regions. They create links with these countries by facilitating mutual contacts. They organize official visits by university leaders and scholars in both directions, assist in organizing on-site summer schools for UoC students, and represent the university at educational fairs and conferences. They participate in roundtable discussions in Cologne to provide targeted knowledge about these regions to researchers at UoC. Furthermore, they actively engage in recruiting undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students, as well as academic staff. By positioning itself in key research regions like North America, India, and China, UoC can tap into emerging research opportunities and build valuable connections. Additionally, the university's representation offices also function as points of contact for representatives from politics and administration from Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia.

As part of its transfer strategy to the region, UoC also offers its expertise in international university cooperation to several German university networks by operating coordination offices abroad for these networks. For China, these tasks are performed by the office in Beijing.

The University of Cologne is Associate Supporter of the Following German Centers for Research and Innovation: