DUO-SINGAPORE EXCHANGE FELLOWSHIP AWARD presented by Professor Brian Lee Director, International Relations Office Nanyang Technological University Singapore Annex E

BACKGROUND DUO ASEM Fellowship Fund was endorsed by the Leaders at ASEM III Summit in Seoul in October Aims to promote student and academic exchanges between Asia and Europe. Singapore Government pledged US$ 1 million over 5 years to fund DUO- Singapore exchanges.

ABOUT DUO-SINGAPORE EXCHANGE FELLOWSHIP AWARD Aims to promote student exchanges between European and Asian ASEM member countries. Awarded by the Singapore Government to Singapore and ASEAN students studying in the three universities in Singapore namely Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU).

Students from European ASEM countries, currently studying in an institution where there is an exchange agreement with NTU/NUS/SMU on tuition fee waiver. No bond is imposed. A National Selection Committee has been set up to administer the selection process and disburse the financial awards to successful candidates. DUO-Singapore National Selection Committee comprises officials from Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and representatives from the 3 Singapore universities.

TERMS OF AWARD Tenable for one semester of up to four (4) months of study Each recipient will be awarded a maximum of 4,000 Euros (used to be 6000 Euros for AY2002/03). Recipients need not pay any tuition fees to the host university but continue to pay the normal fees to home university.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE Singaporean students from NTU/NUS/SMU. Students from other ASEAN ASEM member countries studying at NTU/NUS/SMU and who are not prevented by terms of their scholarship from going on exchange programmes. Students from European ASEM countries, currently studying in an institution where there is an exchange agreement with NTU/NUS/SMU on tuition fee waiver. Students have to be on a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate course.

DUO AWARDS IN AY US$200,000 has been set aside to fund 18 pairs of exchanges for AY2002/03. Each recipient will receive an award of up to 6000 Euros. Each Singapore university would recommend 6 pairs of award. More than 180 applications were received from both Singapore and European universities.

SUCCESSFUL DUO PAIRS BY COUNTRY AY2002/03 CountryNTUNUSSMU Denmark001 Finland001 France014 Germany020 Netherlands210 Sweden210 UK210 Total666

DUO IN AY Due to an overwhelming response to DUO- Singapore, there is a need to give out more awards. Since one semester is equivalent to about 4 months of study, based on DUO principle of awarding 1000 Euros per month for student exchange, the award was thus reduced to 4000 Euros. 27 DUO pairs were created for AY2003/04. Based on the student population in each university, NTU is given 10 pairs, NUS 12 pairs and SMU 5 pairs. More than 300 applications were received.

SUCCESSFUL DUO PAIRS BY COUNTRY AY2003/04 CountryNTUNUSSMU Austria100 Belgium001 Denmark001 Finland001 France110 Germany121 Netherlands110 Sweden430 UK251 Total10125

CHALLENGES Difficulty in forming university pairs. High cost of living in European ASEM countries. Significant language barrier persists. Complexities in matching course modules for allowable credit transfer.