To mark the 60th anniversary of Can Tho University, a delegation from UNamur traveled to Vietnam in early April to strengthen long-standing scientific partnerships, explore new exchange opportunities, and present a cooperation scholarship for Can Tho students.
A delegation from UNamur accepted an invitation from Can Tho University (CTU) in southern Vietnam to participate in the university’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
Located in the Mekong Delta, the Can Tho region is a major hub for fish farming, a key resource for the Vietnamese economy. As an expert in aquaculture, Prof. Patrick Kestemont has been developing research projects focused on these issues for nearly 25 years. Several CTU faculty members and researchers, who are alumni of UNamur, completed their doctorates in his laboratory at the Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology (URBE). As such, he was among the distinguished guests at the anniversary celebration. He was accompanied by Stéphane Leyens, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Cooperation.
Beyond the anniversary ceremony, the delegation met with the Vice-Rector for International Relations as well as the leadership of the CTU’s International Relations Office. The goal: to identify concrete ways to strengthen student mobility and research collaborations between the two institutions. At UNamur, two members of URBE—Frédéric Silvestre and Alice Dennis—are also involved in ARES-CCI Research for Development Projects (PRD) carried out in partnership with CTU.
The visit to Can Tho also provided an opportunity to introduce a new “Southern Countries” scholarship: the Kestemont Cooperation Grant. Established thanks to a donation from Professor Patrick Kestemont, it will be awarded annually by UNamur starting in 2027. It will enable a CTU student to come to UNamur to pursue a 60-credit master’s degree or a one-year specialized master’s degree.
The mission continued in Hanoi with visits to the Vietnamese National University of Agriculture (VNUA) and the Vietnam National University—University of Science (VNU-UoS). These are two institutions with which Prof. Patrick Kestemont has maintained close collaborations for many years: notably through ARES-CCI Research for Development Projects (PRD) at VNU-UoS, as well as ARES-CCI Institutional Support (AI) at VNUA. Prof. Eli Thoré (URBE) is also a partner in the ARES-CCI project conducted with VNU-UoS.
In addition, Dr. Erika Lombard (ADRE) was also in Hanoi as part of the activities carried out under the Institutional Support program with VNUA. She thus joined the delegation during the visits, which provided an opportunity to discuss several avenues for future collaboration.
This mission is fully aligned with UNamur’s strategic plan, contributing to the strengthening of collaborations with higher education institutions in the Global South and to the University’s involvement in ARES-CCI programs. The long history of cooperation with Vietnamese partners, the ongoing projects, and the opportunities identified during these meetings give Vietnam a central role in UNamur’s internationalization and cooperation policy.
Photo 1
From left to right: Prof. Hua Thai Nhan, Director of the International Relations Department; Prof. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Secretary of the Communist Party at Can Tho University, College of Aquaculture and Fisheries; Stéphane Leyens, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Cooperation at UNamur; Patrick Kestemont, Professor Emeritus at UNamur; Prof. Le Van Lam, Vice-Rector for International Relations (Can Tho University).
Photo 2
From left to right: Prof. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, Secretary of the Can Tho University Communist Party, College of Aquaculture and Fisheries; Stéphane Leyens, Vice-Rector for International Relations and Cooperation at UNamur; Prof. Do Thi Thanh Huong, College of Aquaculture and Fisheries; Patrick Kestemont, Professor Emeritus at UNamur.