The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU) are inviting undergraduate students in ASEAN of all disciplines to apply for a full scholarship to study abroad for one semester in the period August-December 2017. Applications and all details at www.share-asean.eu.

"Student mobility is a not only a key element of our efforts to build a vibrant and peoplecentred ASEAN community, but also an important part of the academic and career development of the future leaders of ASEAN", said Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for the Socio-Cultural Community. Francisco Fontan, the EU Ambassador to ASEAN, said that, "I strongly encourage ASEAN students to apply for this life-changing opportunity. In Europe, the Erasmus+ programme has taught us in the past thirty years how important studying abroad is for individual careers as well as for building a regional community."

After the great success of the first two batches of the SHARE Scholarship, some 150 students are currently mobile in ASEAN. The scholarship provides fully funded, short-term (one semester) exchange of students from a network of 32 participating universities across the region. It is open to students who have completed at least two semesters of study and have been accepted to study at one of the participating universities. For this third batch, 125 scholarships are available for study in an ASEAN country. Additional 50 fully funded scholarships are available to spend one semester of study at one of the 8 participating universities in Europe. All details on participating universities, application modalities, requirements, and financial conditions can be found at www.share-asean.eu.

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Anh of Viet Nam National University was awarded a SHARE scholarship to study at University of the Philippines and had this to say, “A semester in the Philippines was such an eye-opening experience to me. Thanks to the scholarship, I had a great opportunity to learn about this country and others in the region, from which I could expand my knowledge significantly, develop my critical view of nations and have a more appropriate attitude in exploring and appreciating other cultures.”

The scholarship scheme is part of the work of the "EU Support to Higher Education in the ASEAN Region”, or SHARE, designed by ASEAN and EU to strengthen regional cooperation and enhance the quality, regional competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN Higher Education Institutions. Officially launched in May 2015, SHARE is a €10 million EU grant funded programme. In realising its vision of creation an ASEAN Higher Education Area, ASEAN is working with a consortium led by British Council and comprising the DAAD, EPNuffic, Campus France, ENQA and EUA until 2019. As part of its work, SHARE is providing some 500 scholarships for ASEAN university students to put the improved systems to the test, mainly by supporting student exchange and credit recognition within the ASEAN region.

For media inquiries, please contact:

SHARE Programme Management Office: Ms. Juliana Anastasia

Tel.: +62 (0) 21 515 5561, ext. 778, Email: juliana.anastasia@britishcouncil.or.id

ASEAN Secretariat: Ms. Abigail C. Lanceta

Tel.: +62 (0) 21 726 2991 ext. 418, Email: abigail.lanceta@asean.org

Delegation of the European Union to Indonesia: Ms. Destriani Nugroho

Tel.: +62 (0) 21 2554 6200, Email: destriani.nugroho@eeas.europa.eu