HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam has earned three awards in the latest round of the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER), an international programme that funds scientists and engineers in developing countries who partner with US government-funded researchers to address global development challenges. 

Vietnamese researchers have earned 20 awards under this programme since 2011, including these three new grants.

Recently, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced more than US$5.8 million for 26 new worldwide research projects to discover, test, and scale breakthrough solutions for critical challenges in international development through the PEER programme, funded by USAID and implemented by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The awards range in value from $54,000 to $300,000. Three researchers in Việt Nam received awards under this latest round

Nguyễn Thị Kim Oanh of Asian Institute of Technology Center, Việt Nam (AITVN) and AIT, Thailand, will use microbes to remove toxic pollutants from contaminated soils in Việt Nam to protect the health of the community and the environment. 

Đặng Thương Huyền of the Hồ Chí Minh City University of Technology will help convert agricultural waste into a tool for removing pollutants from soil in Việt Nam.

Nguyễn Khởi Nghĩa of Cần Thơ University will research cost-effective methods for removing pollutants by analysing soil and testing techniques for stimulating the growth of microorganisms to degrade pollutants. 

Since its establishment in 2011, the PEER programme has helped to build the scientific and research capacity of researchers and research institutions worldwide.

Currently in its ninth cycle, the PEER programme has enabled more than 300 local researchers in more than 50 countries to find evidence-based solutions to development challenges across regions and sectors. — VNS