Description of the Initiative
This programme promotes balanced mobility between Asia and Europe through paired (one-to-one) exchange of higher education students and academics. The ASEM-DUO Fellowship Programme was approved in 2000 by the 3rd ASEM Summit and commenced in 2001. The programme entered the 6th phase (2026- 2030) as approved in the 9th Asia-Europe Meeting of Ministers for Education (ASEMME9) held in Malta in 2024.
Almost 5,o00 students and academics have been supported by this fellowship programme.
More information can be found here.
Programmes
- DUO-Belgium/Wallonia
DUO/Wallonia-Brussels has been established at the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in order to promote “paired exchanges” between professors from Wallonia-Brussels HEIs and Asian ones.
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- DUO-Korea
DUO-Korea Fellowship Programme was established in 2001 with the aim of promoting exchanges of people between Korea and 30 European countries on a balanced and permanent basis. In this respect, DUO-Korea requires that a PAIR (two persons) of students be exchanged in the framework of a cooperative project.
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- DUO-CIMEA/Italy
DUO-CIMEA/Italy Fellowship Programme was established in 2025 with the aim of promoting exchange of professors, researchers and PhD students between Italian institutions and entities affiliated to CIMEA in 20 Asian ASEM countries on a balanced and permanent basis.
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- DUO-Singapore
The DUO-Singapore Fellowship Programme is awarded by the Singapore government to promote academic exchanges between full-time undergraduate students who are Singapore or ASEAN citizens and students from universities in European ASEM member countries.
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- DUO-Sweden
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. DUO-Sweden requires that a PAIR (two persons) of students be exchanged in an academic cooperative arrangement.
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- DUO-Thailand
DUO-Thailand Fellowship Programme aims to enhance a balanced mobility of students between Thailand and 30 ASEM member states in Europe by supporting paired-based and two-way exchanges.
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Aims and objectives
- Promote balanced exchanges of students, teachers and professors between Asia and Europe
- Contribute to setting up regular-basis exchange programmes between Asian and European tertiary institutions
- Establish deeper understanding between both regions
ASEM Partners and Stakeholders involved
The ASEM-DUO Fellowship programme is coordinated by the ASEM-DUO Secretariat with headquarters in Seoul, Korea. The programmes are currently implemented by six contributing members: Belgium/Wallonia, Korea, Italy/CIMEA, Singapore, Sweden and Thailand.