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Sydney Vietnam Academic Network

Impacting lives through collaborative research and education
The Sydney Vietnam Academic Network brings together researchers and educators in Vietnam and Australia. We aim to improve the lives of people across Vietnam and beyond by generating and sharing new knowledge.

Australia and Vietnam share many challenges such as regional security, health security, COVID-19 response, agriculture modernisation, climate change, harnessing new technologies, ageing populations, environmental degradation, urban development and many others.

The University of Sydney has worked with partners in Vietnam for over two decades, across a wide range of disciplines.

Our vision is to be a leading multi-disciplinary network of researchers and educators, working together to develop the evidence required to improve the lives of individuals, societies, and the environments within which they live.

Nodes:

The Sydney Vietnam Academic Network's Academic Nodes support the breadth and depth of our research in Vietnam, focusing upon disciplinary strengths of the University of Sydney. These include: 

Our research priorities include:

  • Urban Transport Planning and Policy
  • Data Analytics for Business, Resources and Environment
  • Social Enterprises and health care
  • Leadership and women entrepreneurs
  • Applied research in the areas of transport, logistics and supply chains

Our partners include Vietnam National University, Vietnam-German University, Vietnam Institute for Advanced Studies in Mathematics, Vin University and the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research.

Contact Professor Minh Ngoc Tran at minh-ngoc.tran@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Sustainable production of safe, healthy food (agriculture and health, strategy for sustainable agriculture, supply chain sustainability)
  • One-health connections between agriculture (crops, fish and livestock), the environment and humans
  • Food policy and planning

Our partners include Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University of Economics, Southern Fruit Research Institute (SOFRI), Western Agricultural Science Institute (WASI) and World Agroforestry (ICRAF).

Contact Professor Daniel Tan at daniel.tan@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Tuberculosis, fungal pathogens and antimicrobial resistance
  • Food and water-borne pathogens
  • Pandemic infectious diseases, such as COVID-19
  • One Health

This Node is also connected with the Sydney Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Our partners include National Lung Hospital; National TB Programme; Hanoi Medical University; NIHE; Ministry of Health; University of Medicine and Pharmacy HCMC; National Hospital for Tropical Diseases; Danang Hospital for Women and Children; Hospital for Tropical Diseases HCMC; Vietnam National Children’s Hospital; University of Science and Technology of Hanoi; Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST); Hanoi University of Pharmacy.

Contact Dr Justin Beardsley at justin.beardsley@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Chronic lung diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Cancer screening and prevention
  • Eye disease
  • Air pollution
  • Tobacco control
  • Obesity and Diabetes

Our partners include Vietnam Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Hanoi Medical University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam National Cancer Hospital, Bach Mai Hospital, Hanoi Oncology Hospital, Hung Vuong Hospital.

Contact Dr Yun Trieu at phuong.trieu@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Neurodevelopmental conditions (cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder)
  • Adverse obstetric outcomes
  • Paediatric infectious diseases
  • Education and training in paediatric diagnosis and management
  • Mentoring in research methods

Our partners include the National Children's Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam and Hanoi Medical University.

Contact Professor Elizabeth Elliott at elizabeth.elliott@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Economics, including agricultural and environmental economics
  • Art Society, Culture and the Environment, private investment into environmental and agriculture research
  • Digital media, Cultural Industries and Media Policy
  • Human Ethics
  • Public policy
  • Languages
  • Visual Art and Design in Vietnam Curatorial Practice, Creativity and Innovation
  • Heritage and museum studies

Our partners include Vietnam National University of Agriculture (Faculty of Economics). Hue University (Faculty of Economics) UNESCO, Hanoi, Vietnam Institute of culture and arts studies (VICAS) and the Ministry of Culture, University of Architecture, HCMC, University of Culture and Heritage, HCMC, Museum of HCMC.

Contact Associate Professor Jane Gavan at jane.gavan@sydney.edu.au.

Our research priorities include:

  • Health education, including continuing professional development, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health disciplines.
  • Postgraduate education, including PhD and Masters programs
  • Research methods, including clinical trials and epidemiological research
  • Educational exchange

Contact Professor Lynette Mackenzie at lynette.mackenzie@sydney.edu.au.

News

Sydney Vietnam Engagement booklet

Celebrating Partnership with Vietnam

The University of Sydney Releases Vietnam Engagement Booklet

The Sydney Vietnam Academic Network successfully hosted the Sydney Vietnam Innovation Research Symposia 2024 as part of the official launch events for the University of Sydney Vietnam Institute in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam, on 18 June and 20 June. During the symposia, the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Emma Johnston AO, introduced the newly published ‘Sydney Vietnam Engagement’ booklet, celebrating our long-standing partnerships in Vietnam, to an audience of more than 100 government officials, university leaders, academics, and researchers from both Vietnam and Australia.

Sydney Vietnam Engagement highlights the University’s long-standing, multidisciplinary collaboration with Vietnamese partners in research, education and capacity building over the last few decades. Featuring 19 case studies, the booklet covers advancements in treating tuberculosis, diagnostic approaches for breast cancer, natural resource management, and innovations in agriculture and aquaculture. It also explores creativity and cultural exchange in museum conservation, digital media and jazz improvisation.

In recent decades thousands of Vietnamese students have graduated from undergraduate, postgraduate and higher degree research courses at the University of Sydney, with many returning to Vietnam to contribute significantly to its development. The University has also facilitated professional development programs for Vietnamese academics, practitioners and government officials, both in Vietnam and Sydney.

Professor Mark Scott AO, the University of Sydney’s Vice-Chancellor and President, offered his congratulations on the publication of this important booklet. In his preface, he noted: “Vietnam and Australia have worked side by side to drive social and economic progress in our two nations, in pursuit of peace, resilience and prosperity across the Asia Pacific, for half a century, since diplomatic relations were established.” “As Vice-Chancellor and President, I am very proud of the role the University of Sydney has played in this historic regional relationship. For more than three decades, our researchers and educators have collaborated with their peers in Vietnam on projects that have improved living and working conditions, created exciting new business opportunities, and delivered valuable guidance for policy making.” “In these pages, we have assembled evidence of the enormous impact produced by our collaborations to date. This is the foundation on which we are building a powerful, bilateral co-operation for the future – one that will deliver benefits to our citizens and to our neighbours across the region, for many years to come.”

The booklet, produced by the Sydney Vietnam Academic Network, was overseen by an Editorial Committee comprised of Professor Greg Fox, Professor Tiho Ancev, Professor Daniel Tan, and Ms Xing Jin, who also managed the booklet's development. Contributors to the booklet include a distinguished group of professors and researchers namely Professors Patrick Brennan, Ruth Zadoks, Philip Hirsch, Lynette Mackenzie, Anne Cusick, Andrew McLachlan, Associate Professors Justin Beardsley, Jane Gavan, Jeff Neilson, Minh-Ngoc Tran, and Dr Phuong Yun Trieu, Phoebe Williams, Sandra Alday, Jonathon Hutchinson, Francisca Samsing Pedrals, and Steve Barry.  

Professor Greg Fox, the Director of the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, said: “In this booklet, you will witness the power of research and educational partnerships to address challenges critical to Vietnam and the region. You will also see the incredible scope and diversity of the collaborations between our two countries. Our partnerships span from jazz and the creative arts to social entrepreneurship and child health. They also bring together expertise from multiple perspectives to tackle complex problems. Such multidisciplinary approaches are critical to addressing many of the challenges facing Southeast Asia in the 21st century. I highly recommend these insightful case studies and eagerly anticipate the expanding influence of our partnerships in Vietnam in the coming years.”

Editors Professor Tiho Ancev and Professor Daniel Tan remarked: “The depth, breadth, and volume of scholarly engagement between our colleagues and Vietnamese partners are immense, and this booklet captures only a selection of these successful partnerships.”

The Sydney Vietnam Engagement Editorial Committee extends its gratitude to the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre, the Faculty of Medicine and Health and Sydney Vietnam Institute for their support in the production of this booklet.

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