SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CTU has earned a good reputation for practical scientific research and the quick transfer of laboratory results to production fields. Scientific research programs executed by university staff are of different types: - Work requested by local communities as well as by NG0s which find local expertise much cheaper and better-informed than foreign personnel. Most of the research programs have been done on a volunteer basis, with the clients covering all local costs of the work. - National multi-disciplinary research programs financed by the central government. - Programs supported by international organizations such as FAO, IRRI, various NG0s or in collaboration with regional or foreign universities and research institutions (Annex 4). Costs are partially funded by foreign collaborators; the rest is drawn from the university's own fund. Most of the scientific research programs carried out by CTU are of local or national importance, but much attention has been paid to basic research, particularly in areas related to local conditions. For example, the research program VH-10, in collaboration with Dutch scientists, has provided not only international scientists with basic knowledge on acid sulfate soils of the world but has also provided farmers in the MD with scientific explanations of peculiar phenomena occurring in these soils. The study has helped farmers find ways to minimize the destruction of natural habitats while transforming acid sulfate soils, which cover more than 2 million ha of the MD, into farms for food production. The project has had a major impact on Vietnam's food production. Another example of a good balance between applied and basic research is the project VH-24, a joint research project between scientists of Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands and CTU, to develop rhizobial inoculants for soybean and peanut plants introduced to paddy soils in the MD. The inoculaiits developed by the project clearly have good effects on the fertility of soil. Scientists with this project, among other responsibilities, have been working on the genetic stability of rhizobia introduced into harsh environment ( soils with low-pH levels, heavily-texture.d clay, highly toxic aluminum, the cycle of flood and drought, etc.) providing muc@ basic information to rhizobiologists around the world. |