TRUONG DAI HOC NONG LAM - THANH PHO HO CHI MINH

Their core work

Nong Lam University – Ho Chi Minh City is one of Vietnam's leading agricultural universities, specialising in sustainable food production, aquaculture, and agri-food systems in Southeast Asia. In international research networks they serve as a regional knowledge anchor, contributing on-the-ground expertise in tropical farming, fisheries, and food security challenges specific to the Mekong Delta and broader SE Asian context. Their academic work spans hands-on capacity building and training programmes as well as analytical work on agri-food supply chains connecting local producers to global markets. They bring a practical, development-oriented perspective that European or East Asian consortium partners rarely have internally.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (EURASTIP, 2017–2019), the university's focus was on aquaculture, multi-stakeholder processes, and hands-on capacity building — essentially deploying their agricultural faculty through an MSCA researcher exchange to share practical expertise. By their second project (GOLF, 2018–2023), the framing shifted away from species- or practice-specific work toward systemic questions about how global and local agri-food supply chains can be made more sustainable. The trajectory suggests a deliberate move from technical agricultural science toward food systems thinking and policy-relevant supply chain research.

They appear to be repositioning from a technical agricultural training partner toward a food systems and supply chain research actor, which would make them relevant to consortia addressing food value chains, traceability, or sustainable sourcing in Southeast Asia.

How they like to work

Nong Lam University has not led any H2020 project — they participate exclusively as partner or third party, a pattern consistent with a non-European institution being brought in for regional expertise rather than administrative leadership. Despite the modest project count, they have engaged with 23 unique partners across 9 countries, indicating they slot into large international consortia rather than tight bilateral collaborations. For a future partner, this means they are experienced in operating within complex, multi-country project structures, but should not be expected to take on coordinator or WP-lead responsibilities.

Their 23 consortium partners spread across 9 countries reflects engagement in genuinely international projects with European and Asian nodes. The EC-Asia framing of GOLF suggests their network deliberately bridges European research institutions with Southeast and East Asian counterparts.

What sets them apart

Nong Lam University is one of very few Vietnamese higher-education institutions with verified H2020 participation, which makes them a rare and credible entry point into Vietnamese agricultural research for European consortia. Their location in Ho Chi Minh City places them at the centre of Vietnam's most commercially active agricultural and aquaculture region — the Mekong Delta supply chain — giving them ground-truth access that no European desk study can replicate. For any consortium addressing food sustainability, aquaculture governance, or agri-food supply chains in Southeast Asia, they represent a geographically irreplaceable partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EURASTIP
  The only project that generated EC funding for the university (EUR 121,420 via MSCA-RISE), directly involving researcher mobility and placing aquaculture sustainability at the centre of a multi-stakeholder international cooperation framework.
• GOLF
  A long-running (2018–2023) EC-Asia research network on agri-food supply chains — notable for its EC-Asia scope and the university's role as a Southeast Asian anchor in a project connecting global and local food system research.