Discovery Year

The Discovery Year (DY) is an experiential learning programme required for UBD undergraduate students to undertake typically in the third year (5th and 6th semesters) of their candidature. The programme aims to expand students’ skills and knowledge outside of the UBD campus, whether community-based or internationally, and give them exposure to real-world, experience-based learning opportunities.

Students are expected to be engaged in two semesters of DY activities. Each completed DY semester carries 16 modular credits (MCs), which will contribute towards the total credits required for graduation. All faculty requirements must be fulfilled before students can proceed with their DY.

DY Activities

Students can select any of the following options in combination:

  • Study Abroad Programme (SAP) – enables UBD students to study abroad and attain international experience at partner institutions

  • Internship – offers first-hand work experience, whether with local organisations or partners and networks abroad, related to a student’s field of study or career interest.

  • Community Outreach Programme (COP) – allows students to engage and connect with either a non-profit domestic or an international community, and establish a meaningful presence within the community

  • Incubation – provides a platform for students to develop entrepreneurial skills and be more innovative

Placement Selection Criteria

The DY programme involves a process of selection in which students are usually nominated to a placement based on the following:

  1. cGPA – taken into consideration is the student’s cGPA over the first 3 semesters.

  2. Host quota – placement availability may be limited for some hosts.

  3. Student’s background – the selection process varies for different institutions, organisations and agencies. Some hosts may only accept those with a certain academic background or major, depending on which host department or faculty is available to accept the students.

Students may also look for their own placements for any of the DY activities. However, approval needs to be first obtained from the faculty’s DY committee (respective programme DY advisor for local placements, DYC for abroad placements) before students can embark on the activity.

For incubation, there is no minimum requirement for eligibility to participate in the programme.

The final DY placement will be at the discretion of the faculty’s DY committtee, UBD’s administration team and/or host university or organisation.

FOS DY Committee

DY coordinator (DYC) – serves as the point of contact for abroad DY matters and oversees the overall DY matters for the faculty.

DY advisor (DYA) – assists the DYC in handling local-related DY matters. Each programme has been assigned at least one DYA.

Current (Aug 2024 – July 2025) DY committee:

Workflow

The FOS DYC normally gives a briefing at least one semester before students are to start their DY semester. An updated list of partner institutions will also be released for those intending to choose abroad placements.

Students will be required to fill in a DY form, usually through a link provided by the DYC, after the briefing. They are to prepare earlier a scanned copy of their passport (the first two pages of the passport, passport must have at least two years validity) and transcript (showing cGPA over 3 semesters), as well as their curriculum vitae (CV). The soft copies of these documents are required to be uploaded onto the online DY form.

Local placement workflow

This applies to local-based internship and COP placements, and incubation.

Abroad placement workflow

This applies to SAP, as well as abroad internship and COP placements.

Module registration in GIS

Prior to starting the DY semester, students are required to register for one of the DY modules in GIS:

  • DS-3001 – for SAP

  • DW-3001 – for Internship (local or abroad)

  • DC-3001 – for COP (local or abroad)

  • DI-3001 – for Incubation

Students will not be able to declare their DY activity in GIS if they fail to register for the DY module for the semester.

Assessment

SAP

As per course/ programme offered at respective host institutions.

The modules taken during SAP will be considered on a Pass/Fail basis. The grades of the modules taken during SAP are not counted towards cGPA. Only the MCs of passed modules are transferred.

SAP students need to make sure that they have registered for enough modules and credits for mapping to UBD MCs. They are to seek advice from the DYC or DYA regarding the courses they intend to take at their host university.

Internship and COP

Host supervisor’s assessment (40%), written report (30%) and oral presentation or interview (30%).

Failure to pass one of these three components means a failure for that DY activity and will need to be compensated by taking 16 MCs of breadth modules.

Students doing internship and COP abroad are to send a soft copy of their DY report is to their DYA for assessment, as well as the DYC.

Incubation

Assessment is composed of Individual assessment (40%), which may include start-up progress, teamwork, discipline and video report, and Group innovation project assessment (60%), which may include project progress and participation at IncuFest, and peer assessment.

Local Placements

Students intending to do internship or COP locally may use the list provided as a guide for possible DY placements choices. They may also approach any government or private agencies outside the list to inquire and request for internship placement, but must first seek approval from their respective DYA.

I. DY Funding

For Brunei Government (via Ministry of Education) Scholarship students wishing to do DY abroad, the funding categories are as follows:

i. Co-funding level 1

  • eligible for those with cGPA of 3.80 and above

  • entitled to monthly subsistence allowance and travel-related allowance (once only). Allowance rates are country-specific

  • can choose to go to any partner university or organisation abroad

ii. Co-funding level 2

  • eligible for those with cGPA of 2.50 to 3.79
  • entitled to monthly subsistence allowance. Allowance rates are country-specific
  • limited to Asia placements

Students with cGPA below 2.50 will have to self-fund their DY abroad. However, they will still get their monthly UBD allowance. Allowed placements are limited to the Asia region only.

DY abroad allowances are usually banked into a student’s account in lump sum sometime at the start of their DY.

If the cost of the flight ticket exceeds the travel allowance expected (for co-funding level 1 entitlement), students will need to top-up on their own. No reimbursement will be given.

For local non-MOE scholarship students and non-local students wanting to do DY semester abroad, any tuition fee / bench fee / course charges and other related expenses will be borne by the student.

The allowances listed in the table are subject to change. For the latest information on DY subsistence and travel allowance rates, students may refer to their student portal under Discovery Year.

II. Application Documents

Documents required for application to international institutions and organisations may include:

  • Application form – to be completed well before the deadline and to be submitted either to Global Engagement (GE) office through the DYC or sent directly to the host’s international office, depending on the instructions provided to the applicant by the host.

Some forms may require the home faculty dean’s signature. In such a case, please first send a courtesy email to the dean requesting for her signature for your application form.

Some forms may also ask for the signature of the home international office coordinator. This is referring to the DY Program Manager (DYPM) at GE office and not the faculty DYC. Please alert the DYC if such a signature is required.

  • Enrolment letter – can be requested from the FOS admin office (please email Ms Rosnizawaty at rosnizawaty.hamid@ubd.edu.bn) , and needs to have an official stamp. The document may also require an *apostille (an international certification), particularly for Korean universities. An apostille can be obtained from the Supreme Court (and not from the embassy of the host country). A few days may be needed before the document, signed and stamped by the Registrar of Brunei’s Supreme Court, is ready for collection from the court.

  • Proof of English language proficiency – If an applicant does not have an internationally-recognised English test result such as IELTS or TOEFL, some hosts may accept a letter from the home institution indicating that the medium of instruction at the institution is English and that the applicant has good English proficiency. Such a letter can be requested from the FOS admin office if required.

  • Proof of Japanese language proficiency – For students intending to apply to a Japanese university, you may be required to provide Japanese Language Proficiency Test N2 (or above) certificate. Those who cannot submit the certificate or any Japanese score may need to submit a letter issued by the student’s Japanese lecturer at UBD attesting the applicant’s sufficient language proficiency.

  • Transcript – Some hosts may ask for your latest transcript, which should include all the semesters you have completed.

  • Passport copy – Applicants need to make sure that their passport is valid for at least two years. A scanned copy of the first two pages (the details page and the signature page) of the passport is usually required.

  • Recommendation letter – can be obtained from either one of your lecturers, the faculty DYC, DYPM at GE office, or the dean - depending on the requirement of the host university.

  • Nomination letter – Some hosts may request for a nomination letter to be issued by the international office of the home university. The DYC can make a request to GE office for issuance of the letter by the DYPM.

  • Accommodation form – to be completed well before the deadline and submitted together with the application form.

  • Bank statement – Some hosts, particularly Korean and Japan universities, may require the currency (in BND) to be stated in your bank statement. If the statement is missing the currency, a *letter from the bank can be requested to include your account balance in BND.

For Korea-bound applicants, it is advisable to have at least USD 5k in your account.

For Japan-bound applicants, it is advisable to have at least USD 7k in your account.

Some hosts allow applicants to submit a bank statement in the parent’s name. If the applicant’s bank statement is under their parent’s name, the applicant must submit a family relationship certificate (for example birth certificate), and a copy of the parent's passport.

The applicant’s or parent’s name on the statement must match the name in the passport.

  • Scholarship letter or proof of financial support – This is not the letter issued to you when you first started your degree programme at UBD. The scholarship letter required is a financial support letter that can be requested from DYU (email: office.dyu@ubd.edu.bn) that shows the funding you will receive for your DY subsistence allowance.

  • Statement of purpose / Study plan / Personal statement – Certain host universities may require such a document, which is a statement that may include your reasons for choosing the country and specific university, how well you are suited to the course you want to study and a summary of your study plan, etc.

  • Medical report – may be required specifically by a host university as part of the application, if not during the visa application. Typically, a general medical assessment report is sufficient. However, some hosts do ask applicants to provide their *Hepatitis B result and/or *x-ray result.

  • Health / travel insurance – Some hosts, for example GWNU Korea, require applicants to provide a *copy of local health insurance and/or travel insurance certificate. A Travel Medical Insurance certificate can be purchased from insurance agencies like TBA. For guidelines on the specific insurance to get, please refer to the following document: insurance (last updated as of 30 March 2022). The latest insurance guidelines may also be viewed from the student portal under Discovery Year.

Please contact the DYC for samples of documents marked with *.

Some host institutions may request for the hard copies of the application documents to be sent to the host international office. Students are to submit their documents to the DYC to be forwarded to GE office, who will then courier the documents to the host institutions.