Groundwater around Hanoi will be sampled to assess the risks of arsenic contamination. (for illustration only. Photo: Laodong)

PANO - Vietnam earned three awards in a US Government program to fund scientific research in developing countries.

According to a press release on June 27th by the US Embassy in Hanoi, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), under the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) awards, has announced its second round of research collaboration grants.

Accordingly, the three winning research programs in Vietnam include “Conservation genetics for improved biodiversity and resource management in a changing Mekong Delta” project which will examine genetic adaptation of populations to the changing conditions of the Mekong Delta caused by increasing effects of damming, development, agriculture and climate change and whose research associates are Dang Thuy Binh from Nha Trang University and Kent E. Carpenter from Old Dominion University; “Technical development and field-testing of a self-contained, inexpensive wave energy converter device” project by Tho H. Nguyen of Tan Tao University and Brian Bingham of the University of Hawaii. This project will work to develop a field-deployable wave energy converter device to provide basic electrical needs for people living in underdeveloped and remote coastal communities in Vietnam. The project will focus on further developing the wave energy converter device to improve mechanical and electrical efficiency, reduce production costs and explore potential uses such as an ocean sensor platform; and “Evaluating the sustainability of groundwater resources: academic and scientific gaps” project which will sample groundwater around Hanoi to assess the risks of arsenic contamination. Young scientists will be trained and carry out the sampling and gather information needed to ensure the safety and sustainability of aquifers. The research associates are Pham T.K. Trang of Hanoi University of Science and Benjamin Carlos Bostick of Columbia University.

In 2013, USAID and the NSF have awarded 54 new research projects in 32 countries totaling nearly US $7.5 million to collaborate on areas such as agroforestry, groundwater purification, biodiversity, volcano risk reduction, and drought and climate change.

PEER Science awardees were selected from nearly 300 high-quality proposals and represent over US $76 million of leveraged NSF funding through collaborations with their US research partners.

The third call for PEER Science proposals is expected to be announced in early this September.

Chung Anh