Thematic Networks act as specialized areas of academic cooperation that are deemed significant enough for a new secretariat to be established to tackle it. Each thematic network is given relatively high autonomy to pursue their own areas of higher education in ASEAN, whether it is focused on innovation or economics. They also benefit from being part of the AUN, being able to access a platform of collaboration between the AUN Secretariat, member universities, and other thematic networks.
 

The AUN is currently comprised of 17 Thematic Network, each established gradually following various Board of Trustee Meetings. The following table is a brief overview of each one:
 

Thematic Network Est. Year

Host Institution

Description
AUN-QA 1998 AUN Secretariat Promoting quality assurance in higher education institutions and collaborating with both regional and international bodies to increase educational quality.
AUN-BE 1999 Universitas Gadjah Mada Facilitating collaboration among ASEAN universities to strengthen education, research, and industry relevance in business and economics.
AUN/SEED-Net 2001 AUN Secretariat Promoting human resource development in engineering for the sustainable socio-economic development of the ASEAN region.
AUNILO

2003

Joint-library hosts from University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, and De La Salle University Platform for academic resource sharing, information exchange, and networking among academic libraries within AUN Member Universities and academic communities in the ASEAN region through an online resource sharing system.
AUN-ACTS 2009 Universitas Indonesia Facilitating student and academic mobility in the ASEAN region.
AUN-HRE 2009

Mahidol University

Network of academic collaboration by AUN Member Universities to promote education and research in human rights in Southeast Asia.
AUN-USR&S 2011 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Facilitating social responsibility initiatives between higher education institutions and stakeholders to promote greater university-industry-community collaborations in ASEAN and Asia.
AUN-HPN

2014

Mahidol University

Regional network of academic collaboration between health experts, medical practitioners, and higher education institutions, focusing on the role of universities in promoting healthy lifestyles and environments.

AUN-AEC

2015 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia A platform to promote collaborative research between academic, industry, government agencies, and relevant organisations in support of policy-making focusing on ASEAN Economic Community related issues.

AUN-DPPnet

2016 Universiti Malaya Focusing on disability-focused policies and research in ASEAN to promote an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based environment for education and capacity building.

AUN-SAN

2016

Universiti Utara Malaysia

Platform to empower, develop student leadership, as well as addressing student affairs and governance through the Student Affairs body of AUN Member Universities.
AUN-SCUD 2017 Universitas Indonesia Platform for AUN institutional members to collaborate and share knowledge focused on sustainable city and urban development studies.
AUN-CA 2017 De La Salle University A network of cultural offices among AUN Member Universities aimed to promote creativity, culture and the arts among students in the ASEAN region.
AUN-ADERA 2018 National University of Singapore Platform for intellectual exchanges on the futures of architecture design education and research in Southeast Asia.
AUN-EEC

2018

Ateneo De Manila University

Focus on developing ecological mindsets and competencies in ASEAN students to empower their abilities to conserve and protect their local environments.
AUN-UIE 2018 Chulalongkorn University Strengthening and leveraging the innovative capacity of universities in the ASEAN region by offering them a common space for research, academic cooperation and a network-connection to higher learning institutions, government agencies, industry sectors, and business enterprises across the region.
AUN-TEPL 2019 Singapore Management University Fostering collaboration among ASEAN universities to improve students’ success through technology-enhanced personalised learning.