Two groups of Vietnamese scientists have won awards in the first round of a US government programme to fund scientific research in developing countries.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Science Foundation said the research projects that the two groups submitted were among 41 selected from 25 countries.

One of the projects, which includes a group of Vietnamese and Indonesian scientists as well as a US partner, examines air pollution and climate-change reactions in Southeast Asia.

The other project, whose research lead is a Vietnamese scientist from the National University in Hanoi, deals with how land-use decisions by small households in forested areas are affected by payments for ecosystem services.

The winning projects were selected by the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER), a programme working under USAID and NSF, from nearly 500 applications from 63 developing countries.

Each project will receive between $20,000 and $325,000 to conduct research.

VOV