The Author: Jakob Rupert Friederichsen conducted his Ph.D. research in Vietnam as part of The Uplands Program (Sonderforschungsbereich 308) ‘Research into sustainable land use and rural development in mountainous regions of Southeast Asia’, and graduated from the University of Hohenheim in 2008. He has taught development geography at the University of Sheffield and environmental management at Manchester Metropolitan University.

• Contents: Twenty years of Vietnamese reforms and transition (doi moi) – Development and national integration of Vietnam’s northern uplands – Vietnamese research institutions – Types of researchers’ discourses on participatory research in Vietnam – The scope for participation in the practice of agricultural research in Vietnam’s northern uplands – Collaboration between local state organizations and an international research project.