2019 DUO SWEDEN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

1. General Description

DUO-Sweden Fellowship Program was established in 2010 with the aim of promoting exchanges of people between Sweden and 21 Asian countries* on a balanced basis. In this respect, DUO-Sweden requires that a PAIR (two persons) of students be exchanged in an academic cooperative arrangement.

Definitions of students are as below:

• Students: undergraduate and graduate students who are currently enrolled in universities

   

  N.B.: All applicants shall maintain their “student status” at the time of application until the time they are engaged in the exchange, and the scholarship is only available for those who will study fulltime during their exchange period.

1. 1 Eligibility

Due to this unique nature of this program, in order to be eligible, the following are required:

Your exchange fulfills all three requirements below:

• An educational institution in Sweden (home institution) and an educational institution in Asia (host institution) have established an academic cooperative arrangement/inter-institutional agreement; and
• The Swedish home institution has selected an EU national student enrolled at the home institution to send to the Asian host institution, and such selection has been accepted by the Asian host institution; and
• The same Asian host institution has selected an Asian student enrolled at the host institution to send to the Swedish home institution, and such selection has been accepted by the same Swedish home institution.

1.2 The Duration and the Amount of the DUO-Sweden Fellowships

DUO-Sweden 2019/2020 is for exchange projects, which will start from August 2019 and end before September 2020 to avoid duplication of implementation period of exchange projects selected by DUO-Sweden in the ensuing years. The selection of DUO-Sweden 2019/2020 is made ONLY once a year. In this respect, those who are planning to exchange in Spring Semester of 2020 (January-August 2020) shall apply for DUO-Sweden 2019/2020.

The duration of fellowship is limited to one semester (or 4 months, whichever comes earlier). The amount of the fellowships is standardized as follows:

• 3,500 Euros for Asian student and 3,500 Euros for Swedish students in a pair, in high income country. For Middle and Low income countries the Asian student get 4,000 Euros and the Swedish student get 3,000 Euros.

The duration of exchange should be at least one semester and the scholarship is only available for those studying fulltime (minimum 24 ECTS/16 weeks). Exchange of less than one semester is NOT allowed. If a semester is longer than 4 months in the visiting institution, fellowship will be given for 4 months. (A definition of fulltime study in Sweden is 30 ECTS credits per semester, which is in general 20 weeks.)

In the event that a student exchange lasts for a fewer number of weeks than granted, then the scholarship will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis and repayment of the funds provided will be required.

2. Application Procedure

2.1 Who Applies?

The educational institution in Sweden applies on behalf of both institutions and people who are to participate in the exchange. Asian institutions in partnership with Sweden institutions shall cooperate fully with Swedish 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 educational institutions to file an application for this program.

2.2 Application Period

Applications will be accepted from April 15 through May 23, 2019 local Swedish time. Applications sent or posted after May 23, 2019 will not be accepted.

2.3 Application Material for Submission

1. Filling out an Online Application Form ONLY

2. A Copy of Cooperation Agreement (or Memorandum Of Understanding for cooperation) between paired institutions OR declaration of intention to set up new cooperation agreement, signed by Head of Swedish Higher Education Institution by uploading to the website with scanned files

3. A copy of Passport of paired applicants by uploading to the website with scanned files

4. A copy of Transcript of paired applicants by uploading to the website with scanned files (should include the grades until fall semester 2018)

※ Asian student’s total credit should be converted into ECTS upon applicants’ school grading system. 

If courses listed on the application differ from the actual courses, Contact Persons or Persons of Exchange are responsible to inform the Secretariat for approval; if this procedure is not taken beforehand, fellowship award to both students is subject to cancellation and consequently refund.

An Online application form for DUO-Sweden can be found on the ASEM-DUO website at http://www.asemduo.org

1. Click JOIN US button and find the Name of Home Institution to get an ID.

   ※ If you don’t find the name of your institution, please contact the secretariat to add your institution to the list.

2. Enter your password with the minimum information of the contact person in Home University.

3. Home institution should fill out the whole application including the information of Host Institution. Application From in PDF format can be downloaded from the ASEM-DUO website (http://www.asemduo.org) at the banner of Forms.

4. Once completed, please make it sure to submit your application by clicking “submit” button. 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.

   The rest of the documents (Cooperation Agreement, Passport Copy, and Transcript) can be uploaded in the last step of the application process.

    

2.4 How and When is Selection Made

A Swedish Selection Committee, organized by the Swedish Council for Higher Education (UHR), will make the selection after the application deadline. The decision will be announced in June 2019. Selection criteria are at the discretion of the Swedish Selection Committee. 

The notification will be displayed on website, www.asemduo.org and the Secretariat will directly notify Contact Persons/Awardees in writing. Hard copies of notification and Letter of Acceptance (forms are also available at www.asemduo.org) will be forwarded to both home and host institutions. Contact Persons may download forms of Letter of Acceptance, if they so wish. 

2.5 Fellowship Grants

The DUO-Sweden Fellowship will be paid directly by the Secretariat to the bank accounts of selected students who participate in the exchange program. There are no restrictions in using the fellowship. It can finance the tuition, and living or travel expenses.

3. Instruction for Application Form

3.1 Language of Application

You should write your application in English.

3.2 Structure of the Application Form

3.2.1 Page 1 – Home Institution

The first box of ID number and Date of submission is for the use of the secretariat only. Please, start from filling out information of Home Institution.

• Address means a full detailed one which is not only for domestic post but also for overseas post. Do not write the post-office box number and City Name must be written.
• CONTACT PERSON means a regular staff of Swedish university or institution which arranges exchange project and is willing to communicate with the Secretariat in such events as verifying application details, transferring fellowship, monitoring exchanges and providing further information on the status of the exchange.
• PERSON OF EXCHANGE shall be any Swedish (or EU national) student who will participate in the exchange.
• ECTS means a whole ECTS that a Swedish student has earned since he/she entered the Swedish university or institution.
• Click the box for Grade and find how many years (1-6) a Swedish student has accomplished so far (including the spring semester 2019) at Home Institution. Master/Ph. D course student must click Graduate under numbers.

N.B.: For each pair of an exchange, the exchange period of Swedish and Asian students need not necessarily coincide, and the field of exchange need not be the same.

3.2.2 Page 2 – Host Institution

In this page, provide information of host institution involved in the exchange project. The host institution shall be resided in 21 Asian countries.

• Address means a full detailed one which is not only for domestic post but also for overseas post. Do not write the post-office box number and City Name must be written.

• CONTACT PERSON means a regular staff of Asian university or institution which arranges the exchange and is willing to communicate with the Secretariat in such events as verifying application details, transferring fellowship, monitoring exchanges and providing further information on the status of the exchange.
• PERSON OF EXCHANGE shall be Asian student who will participate in the exchange.
• ECTS means a whole ECTS which an Asian student has earned since he/she entered the Asian university or institution.
• Asian student’s total credit should be converted into ECTS upon applicant’s school grading system.(Total credit should include credits earned until fall semester 2018) 
• Click the box for Grade and find how many years (1-6) an Asian student has accomplished so far (including the spring semester 2019) at Host Institution. Master/Ph. D course student must click Graduate under numbers.
• Confirmation on Agreement with Host Institution (TO BE SIGNED BY CONTACT PERSON at the Swedish Home Institution): since the contact person in Swedish school is required to complete the application on behalf of two people who will participate in the exchange and the host institution (Asian school), he/she should confirm here by checking on “YES” that the contact person in the host institution also agrees with this submission of the application.

3.2.3 Page 3 – Description of Exchange Program

In this section, please describe the type, duration and purpose of exchange as instructed on the form.

• Type of exchange: please check appropriate boxes to specify whether students for exchange are in undergraduate or in graduate study.
• Duration of Exchange: As stipulated on the DUO-Sweden General Description, duration of DUO-Sweden Fellowship is standardized on a semester-basis. For students, 1 semester means 4 months.
• Purpose of Exchange: Please specify what the purpose of the exchange is. Also fill in how many credits (ECTS) that will be recognized by home or host institution.

N.B.: For each pair of an exchange, if the pair applies for Transfer for Credits, both students have to transfer their exchange credits to their originating institution after their exchange. If any of them will not transfer their exchange credits, those pair also needs to click for others and specify in detail.

3.2.4 Page 4. – Exchange Details

• Under this heading, Swedish and Asian students’ class schedules should be listed during their exchanges periods. Details shall be elaborated as they will determine selection of application. Also intensive language course by students is not honored in this program.

NB.: If courses listed on the application differ from the actual courses on the course certificate, Persons of Exchange or Contact Persons are responsible to inform the Secretariat for approval as soon as possible.

If this procedure is not taken beforehand, fellowship award to both students is subject to cancellation and consequently refund. Forms can be downloaded from our website, www.asemduo.org.

• Confirmation and recognition of the study period abroad TO BE SIGNED BY CONTACT PERSON at the Swedish Home Institution (see information 3.2.2).

3.2.5 Page 5 – Certification of Authenticity

After completing all relevant items in appropriate manner on the entire field of application, please write the date and the names of contact person of Home institution and the President or Director of institution in the section of Certification of Authenticity.

Submit the form to the Secretariat by clicking “submit” button. The original printed version with the signatures will be requested if your project has been selected.

A Copy of Cooperation Agreement (valid one), the Copies of Passport and Transcript of paired applicants should be attached. The preferred file formats of Cooperation Agreement and Passport for attachments are .jpg or .pdf.

※Save the attachment files as a Surname_Given name order (e.g. John_Smith).

3.3 After the submission: acknowledgement

The acknowledgement on the receipt of submission will be sent to the contact person in Swedish home institution by e-mail within 3 days after submission. If there is any application with incomplete or improper information, further information will be individually requested by the Secretariat.