Cambodian academic institutions’ insufficient research capacity has been stalling the advancement of the nation’s much-needed environmental planning and management. Drawing on the project “Multi-Sector Involvement for Research Capacity Development in Cambodia”, which promoted small-scale research activities at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2009–2011, in this brief we suggest that research capacity development in Cambodia needs to take a multi-sector approach that builds on:

• the recognition of the influence of non-governmental organizations on research;
• the link between research and public policy; and
• inter-university networking.

The brief concludes by exploring the potential application of this approach to research capacity development in LDCs in a broader context.