2023 DUO-Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels Fellowship Programme

1. General Description

DUO-Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels Fellowship Programme was established in 2014 with the aim of promoting exchanges of professors between Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels and 22 Asian countries* on a balanced and permanent basis. In this respect, DUO-Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels requires that a PAIR (two persons) of professors be exchanged in the framework of a cooperative project.

*The list of 22 Asian Partner Countries are: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

1.1 Who is this grant for and What are the Eligibility criteria?

The applicants must meet all eligibility requirements:

l Applications should be submitted by a pair of academic or scientific staff from higher education institutions, one from the FWB and one from Asia ;

l Candidates must be remunerated by their respective institutions and it must be their main occupation (full or part-time (50%)) ;

l The Wallonia-Brussels and Asian HEIs must be recognized/accredited by the competent authorities in the field of higher education ;

l The Asian institution must be located in one of the following countries : Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam ;

l The Wallonia-Brussels and Asian HEIs must signed a cooperation agreement or must have expressed the intention to sign one in the two following years ;

l The call is open to all disciplines. The two members of the duo do not have to belong to the same disciplines ;

l The citizenship of the professors is not a criterion for eligibility ;

The following groups are not entitled for a fellowship:

l Students and PhD students,

l Professors emeritus and honorary,

l Teaching assistants.

Exemptions are possible for the colleges of arts. The selection committee will assess on a case-by-case basis.

The exchange must necessarily take place between the two same institutions, but does not need to take place in the same time span, nor between two identical departments.

1.2 What are the Financial Terms of this Grant?

1.2.1. Amount of the Grant

The total amount of the 2023-2024 ASEM-DUO Belgium/Wallonia-Brussels Fellowship Programme is 50,000€. The amount of the grant awarded to the pair of professors is a fixed amount of 5,000€ to be shared between the two professors according to a distribution key agreed in the agreement (e.g. €2,500 per person).

1.2.2. Conditions of Use of the Grant

l The grant is intended to cover international travel expenses and per diem capped at the amount of the grant ;

l The exchange is done by pairs: the beneficiary from the Wallonia-Brussels HEI is hosted by the Asian institution, and vice-versa ;

l Mobilities shall start no earlier than August 1st, 2023 and shall end no later than August 31st, 2024 ;

l The total duration of each person's stay is fixed at a minimum of 21 days and a maximum of 60 days (including travel days). This period may be divided into two stays;

» A summary of the project (10 lines),

» The actions/research carried out during the visit and the results obtained,

» The course of the visit,

» The impact of your visit on your institution,

» The contribution of the ASEM-DUO programme to this particular project,

» Positive points and improvements to be made to the ASEM-DUO programme.

1.3 How to submit an application?

1.3.1 Documents to enclose

l The 2023/24 application form duly completed by both candidates (available on the ARES website and on the ASEM-DUO website). The form must be typewritten and in PDF format. Authenticated electronic signatures of PDF documents are allowed ;

l A copy of the academic cooperation agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the FWB institution and the Asian institutions or, in the absence of an MoU, a declaration of intent, i.e. a letter co-signed (or two separate letters signed) by the authorities of the two institutions, or their representatives, mentioning the intention of both parties to sign an inter-institutional agreement within the next two years;

l The passport copies or the national identity card of the two applicants;

l A CV of no more than 5 pages for each applicant, emphasizing work experience relevant to the ASEM-DUO programme.

1.3.2 Submitting the application

l The application must be submitted as one single document in PDF format to ARES by the FWB institution applying, via the contact person indicated in the application form (e.g. the international relations officer) at the following e-mail address: alexia.vercruysse@ares-ac.be ;

l If the candidate is not able to send the application file by email, then it will have to be sent by mail to the following address:

Académie de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur — ARES
Direction des relations internationales
Alexia VERCRUYSSE
Rue Royale 180 – 1000 Bruxelles (Belgique)

l Applications must be submitted between February 1 and March 30, 2023. No application will be accepted before February 1, 2023 or after March 30, 2023 ;

l An applicant can submit several files, with different partners. In this case, a maximum of one file per applicant could be selected, as to know, the one obtaining the highest score from the jury ;

l A duo may apply a maximum of twice for the same project and may receive ASEM-DUO FWB funding a maximum of once for the same project ;

l An acknowledgement of receipt is sent to the applicants within 3 days after the reception of the application. Without any response after that time, please contact international@ares-ac.be.

1.4 Selection

1.4.1 Selection criteria

ARES selects beneficiaries of the ASEM-DUO Wallonia Brussels Fellowship Programme based on the following criteria:

l The scientific, academic or artistic quality of the submitted project ;

l The original character of the project ;

l The scientific, academic or artistic quality of the applicants (e.g. publications, publications with the partner institution, research or artistic project, exhibitions, work experience, competitions, academic background, etc.) ;

l The expected impact of the grant on the work and professional career of the applicant ;

l The expected impact of the grant on the applicant’s institution ;

l The explanation for the duration of the trip ;

l The quality of bilateral relations between the Wallonia-Brussels institution and the Asian partner ;

l The relevance of financial support for the applicants ;

l The complementarity of the projects submitted between the members of the duo (if the projects are different).

1.4.2 Jury and Selection Procedure

l The administrative eligibility of applications is examined by the International Relations Department (DRI) of ARES. Admissible applications are presented to a jury responsible for analysing and evaluating them with a view to selecting the beneficiaries. This jury is composed of 6 university representatives, one from each university of the FWB, 2 representatives of university colleges and 1 representative of art colleges.

l Admissible applications are evaluated by the selection panel on the basis of a score from 0 to 5 per criterion (0 being the least satisfactory and 5 the most satisfactory). On the basis of the scores obtained and the available budget, the jury proceeds to the ranking and selection of the applicants.

l Finally, the candidates will be informed of the results of the selection and will be invited to sign a tripartite agreement binding themselves and ARES.

1.5 Visa

The visa application must be introduced by the recipient to the local Belgian diplomatic post. As per his request, he/she will receive a certificate from ARES attesting the granting of a fellowship in order to facilitate any administrative procedure.

Beneficiaries are invited to consult the list of third countries whose nationals are subject to the visa requirement on the website of the Immigration Office in order to find out whether a short-stay visa is required or their entry into Belgium.

1.6 Provisional Calendar

2. Contacts AND FAQ

If you have any questions, please refer to Frequently Asked Questions section available on the following link of the ARES website:

https://www.ares-ac.be/en/relations-internationales/asem-duo-grant

For any information related to this announcement, please contact:

Académie de Recherche et d’Enseignement Supérieur - ARES

Direction des relations internationales

Rue Royale 180 - 1000 Bruxelles

T: +32-2-225-45-71

E: international@ares-ac.be