The direction of travel in international research collaboration is towards arrangements where the local partner holds the grant and sets the question.
For collaborators used to the opposite arrangement, this is a change in role rather than a reduction in it.
What is driving the shift
- Growing domestic funding and institutional capacity.
- A larger cohort of internationally trained researchers.
- Funder requirements around partnership equity.
- Recognition that borrowed capacity does not persist.
What it looks like in practice
- Vietnamese institutions as lead applicants on joint proposals.
- Foreign partners as co-investigators contributing specific expertise.
- Research questions set by local priorities.
- Local leadership on primary outputs.
What foreign partners still contribute
- Specific methodological expertise.
- Access to instrumentation not available locally.
- Connection to international networks and literature.
- Training and co-supervision.
- These remain valuable — the framing changes, not the contribution.
How to prepare
- Support your partner's independent applications, including ones you are not on.
- Be willing to be a co-investigator rather than a lead.
- Invest in their students, not only in the project.
- Build institutional relationships that survive individuals.
What will not change
- The value of long-term relationships.
- The importance of showing up in person.
- The need to settle authorship and data questions early.
- The fact that the second and third projects are where the value is.
One thing worth remembering
Be willing to be a co-investigator on your partner's grant.
It is the clearest signal that the partnership has developed rather than merely repeated — and in the direction things are moving, it is also the arrangement that will be available.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
Where is collaboration heading?
Towards arrangements where the local partner holds the grant and sets the question — a change in role for foreign collaborators rather than a reduction in it.
What is driving the shift?
Growing domestic funding and institutional capacity, a larger cohort of internationally trained researchers, funder requirements around equity, and recognition that borrowed capacity does not persist.
What do foreign partners still contribute?
Specific methodological expertise, access to instrumentation not available locally, connection to international networks and literature, and training with co-supervision.
How should you prepare?
Support your partner's independent applications including ones you are not on, be willing to be a co-investigator, invest in their students, and build institutional relationships.
What will not change?
The value of long-term relationships, the importance of showing up in person, the need to settle authorship and data questions early, and that the value sits in later projects.
