The ASEM DUO-Belgium/Flanders Scholarship Programme was established in 2011 with the aim of promoting exchanges of students between Belgium/Flanders and 4 Asian countries (China, India, South Korea, and Vietnam) on a balanced and permanent basis. In this respect, DUO-Belgium/Flanders requires that a PAIR (two persons) of students will be exchanged in the framework of a cooperative project.
Definition of ‘student’:
1. Undergraduate (bachelor) and graduate (master) students who are currently enrolled in universities or university colleges in Flanders or one of the four Asian countries.
2. The nationality of the student is not a criterion.
N.B.: All applicants should maintain their “student status” from the time of application until the end of their exchange period.
Course level: Undergraduate and graduate student exchange
Fields of study:
Project proposals for the exchange of students in all disciplines will be accepted. However, priority shall be given to the following disciplines:
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
- Political and social sciences
- Economy
- Communication Sciences
Scholarship period: At least one (1) semester or four (4) months. The exchange must happen between August 2020 and September 2021.
Institution and country: Participating universities in Flanders, Belgium and in China, India, South Korea, and Vietnam
Sponsor: ASEM-DUO and participating universities
Scholarship inclusions:
- Full tuition fee waivers
- €650/month (with a maximum of €2.600) for Flemish students and €800/month (with a maximum of €3.200) for Asian students
- €1.100 for BOTH the Flemish student and the Asian student for the purpose of travel costs
- An extra €200/month (with a maximum of €800) will be awarded to Flemish students that belong to the underrepresented groups in higher education:
- Students who are entitled to a Flemish study grant.
- Students with a disability, recognized by VAPH.
- Working students in a work program. The student must be an employee or must be looking for a job, and the study program must be aligned with the work program proposed by the employment service. Moreover, the student cannot have obtained a Master’s degree or a second cycle diploma yet.
Eligibility criteria for the ASEM DUO-Belgium/Flanders Scholarship Programme:
Due to the unique nature of this program, in order to be eligible, the exchange project needs to fulfill all five requirements below:
- A higher education institution in Belgium/Flanders (home institution) and an educational institution in Asia (host institution) have established an academic cooperative agreement or have the intention to set up a new cooperation agreement.
- The Flemish higher education institution, as well as the Asian partner, cannot ask tuition fees to the students for the exchanges.
- The Flemish home institution has selected a Flemish student enrolled at the home institution to send to the Asian host institution, and such selection has been accepted by the Asian host institution. A Flemish student is defined as a student from any nationality, subscribed to a Flemish Higher Education Institution.
- The same Asian host institution has selected an Asian student enrolled at the host institution to send to the Flemish home institution, and such selection has been accepted by the same Flemish home institution.
- If the Flemish student has already started the exchange or the Asian student has already stayed in Belgium/Flanders before the application period for DUO-Belgium/Flanders 2020, the application is not acceptable.
Interested students must fulfill the following criteria:
- Must be a citizen or resident or student of higher education institutions in Flanders Belgium, and China, India, South Korea, and Vietnam
- Must be undergraduate (bachelor) and graduate (master) students who are currently enrolled in universities or university colleges in Flanders or one of the four Asian countries
Application period: 23 December 2019 to 6 April 2020 GMT+1
How to apply for the ASEM DUO-Belgium/Flanders Scholarship Programme:
The higher education institution in Belgium/Flanders applies on behalf of both institutions and persons who are to participate in the exchange. Asian institutions shall cooperate fully with Flemish institutions in supplying precise information of Asian applicants. Individuals wishing to take part in exchanges are advised to contact the relevant offices (e.g. International Relations Offices) of the higher education institution to file an application for this program.
An online application form for DUO-Belgium/Flanders can be found on the ASEM-DUO website.
- Enter your ID and password on the LOGIN page to fill out an online application.
- The home institutions should fill out the whole application including the information of Host Institution. Application Form in PDF format can be downloaded from the ASEM-DUO website at the banner of Forms.
- The rest of the required documents (copy of cooperation agreement or memorandum of understanding for cooperation between paired institutions or declaration of intention to set up a new cooperation agreement, signed by Head of Flemish Higher Education Institution, a copy of the passports of paired applicants, a copy of the transcripts of the paired applicant, a motivation letter with a personal and academic motivation (max. 2 pages A4) of each of the paired applicants, and a recommendation letter of paired applicants-optional) can be uploaded in the last step of the application process.
- Once completed, please make sure to submit your application by clicking the “submit” button. The home Institution should get a confirmation email from the secretariat within 3 days after completion of submission. If you don’t get a confirmation email, please contact admin2@asemduo.org promptly.
A Flemish Selection Committee, comprising Flemish experts and if possible representatives from Asian countries, will make the selection after the application deadline. The decision will be announced by May 6, 2020.
The notification will be displayed on the ASEM-DUO website and the Secretariat will directly notify Contact Persons/Awardees in writing. Hard copies of notification and Letter of Acceptance (forms are also available at the banner of Forms) will be forwarded to both home and host institutions.
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