The expansion was announced at an event at the White House on January 30 to celebrate the success of the inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows who enrolled on the scholarship in 2021. 

People-to-people exchange in science and technology was a cornerstone of the Quad summit that year.

The fellowship provides STEM students with a one-time $40,000 award to put towards masters or doctoral degrees at approved US universities. Often students will secure additional funding through their university or department. 

Students from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are invited to apply for the second application cycle, to start as a Quad Fellow for the 2024/25 academic year. 

“The Quad Fellowship is pleased to extend support to students from the ASEAN countries thereby demonstrating the Quad countries commitment to deliver concrete benefits for the Indo-Pacific region,” said Jonah Kokodyniak, IIE SVP. 

As of January 2024, the Quad Fellowship is being delivered by IIE, the international higher education non-profit chaired by Allan Goodman, which also runs the US Department of State’s prestigious Fulbright program. 

“IIE has empowered people to cross borders and disciplines to solve problems together for 105 years. We are honoured to administer the Quad Fellowship and look forward to supporting its continued success—and positive global impacts,” said Goodman, CEO of IIE.

The inaugural cohort comprised 100 fellows, 25 from each of the founding Quad countries, drawing from 69 different undergraduate institutions across the globe. 

Current Quad Fellows attend more than 45 public and private institutions across the US. 

“The goal of the fellowship for cohort two is to select a balanced number of Fellows across the four countries of Australia, India, Japan, and US as well as from the ASEAN countries,” said Kokodyniak. 

The expansion aims to further broaden the geographic scope of the fellowship and foster ties among the next generation of scientists and technologists in the Indo-Pacific region.