The resilient breakthrough of Vietnamese science seen from the VinFuture Prize

According to the VinFuture Foundation, with the message “Resilient Breakthrough”, VinFuture 2024 honors groundbreaking and far-reaching research and inventions that help humanity overcome difficulties and reach new heights. As usual, this year’s VinFuture Award system consists of 4 categories. Of which, the main award worth more than 76 billion VND (equivalent to 3 million USD) is one of the largest annual awards ever globally. Three special awards worth nearly 13 billion VND (equivalent to 500,000 USD) each are for female scientists, scientists from developing countries and scientists researching new fields. Thus, the fund has paid nearly 115 billion VND for the award alone.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the VinFuture 2024 award ceremony on the evening of December 6.

Since its inception, VinFuture has hoped to create the most prestigious science and technology award in the world. Therefore, the works nominated for the award must first of all be excellent. And the works awarded must obviously be “the best of the best”. Professor Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Award Council, said: “The works selected for the award must be developments in scientific research that no one has anticipated, no one can predict with the impacts that we want to create in real life”.

With this goal, the public does not expect any work by Vietnamese scientists to win the award, because the current state of our science is low compared to the world. Last year, the work of Professor Vo Tong Xuan was awarded the prize in the category of Scientists from developing countries, which is just a rare case. Meanwhile, the conditions for scientific research in Vietnam are currently very difficult, and funding for scientific research is very low. In public opinion, many people think that VinFuture gives large rewards to top talents (who have an ideal scientific environment), while the benefit for Vietnamese science when billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong spends hundreds of billions of dong to award the VinFuture Prize can be summed up in a few words: "inspirational".

Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong and his wife Pham Thu Huong attended the VinFuture 2024 award ceremony on the evening of December 6.

However, many scientists, including leaders of universities and research institutes, believe that if we only look at the VinFuture Award ceremony, we cannot fully evaluate the effectiveness of the activities that the VinFuture Foundation brings to Vietnamese science. Before and after the award ceremony, from December 4 to 7, many seminars and scientific activities were held, not only at Vingroup's main conference center but also at 9 universities in Hanoi. Previously, since April, the VinFuture Foundation has coordinated with domestic universities and research institutes to organize the InnovaConnect 2024 series of networking activities.

It cannot be denied that the most important value that the VinFuture Foundation has created is to inspire young scientists, especially talented students, to pursue scientific research, when the world's leading scientists come to Vietnam. However, Associate Professor Vu Hai Quan, Director of Ho Chi Minh City National University, emphasized that another very important impact is that the foundation has connected Vietnamese science with the world, helping Vietnamese scientists access the latest research results. Associate Professor Vu Hai Quan analyzed: "The VinFuture Foundation has organized conferences at universities, inviting leading scientists from around the world to present. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese scientists to access the latest research directions in the most interested fields today: new energy, new materials, artificial intelligence (AI), medicine, etc. Moreover, when world scientists come to Vietnam, they will be exposed to Vietnamese scientists and students, and will understand Vietnamese science and technology. Thanks to that, in the future they will have activities to help Vietnamese science and technology".

Associate Professor Ngo Van Minh, University of Transport, also emphasized: “The large-scale scientific networking activities organized by VinFuture Foundation are creating an unprecedented wave of excitement for lecturers and students of the school. Inviting the world’s leading professors, including experts in developing international innovation indexes, to share about artificial intelligence – a field that is “making waves” globally – is not easy.”

Professor Vu Hoang Linh, Principal of the University of Science - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said before the award ceremony that the school welcomed Professor Yann LeCun (USA, one of the five main winners of the VinFuture 2024 prize) to give a lecture. The number of participants (online and in person) was very large, with almost all the leading experts in information technology (IT) in the country, including scientists from universities and research institutes, and leaders of Vietnamese technology corporations. “Professor LeCun is truly a big name, a scientist with great influence. Normally, to invite people like Professor LeCun (or other scientists who came to Hanoi to attend the recent VinFuture week) to Vietnam to talk and give lectures, no university or research institute, including the Ministry of Education and Training or the Ministry of Science and Technology, can do it,” Professor Linh commented.

Professor Yann LeCun, one of the five main winners of the VinFuture Prize 2024 with students from the University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, on December 5.

Professor Yann LeCun gives a public lecture at the University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, on December 5.

Therefore, according to Professor Vu Hoang Linh, the value that the VinFuture Foundation brings to Vietnamese science is to create political attention for Vietnamese science and technology. Over the past 4 years, every year there have been high-ranking leaders (President or Prime Minister), along with many other leaders in the Government, attending the award ceremony. This year in particular, there was also the event where General Secretary To Lam met and interacted with world scientists attending the VinFuture week. “These events have a great impact on politicians, policy makers, scientific leaders, scientists, those who research, develop and apply technology…”, said Professor Vu Hoang Linh.

Some other impacts that, according to Professor Vu Hoang Linh, are difficult to measure: “This is also an opportunity to enhance Vietnam’s position, to introduce Vietnamese science to the world. Our level of scientific development may be far behind that of developed countries, but we have shown that we are very receptive, very eager to cooperate and develop. Or simply, for example, later on, among the professors who have come to Vietnam to receive the documents of Vietnamese PhD students, they will clearly say ‘oh’, unlike with PhD students coming from a country where they have no information at all.”

Professor Vu Hoang Linh emphasized: “We must create a space for the world’s leading scientists to come to Vietnam to talk to each other. Then there is our opportunity. How to seize the opportunity depends largely on the Vietnamese Government, on universities, research institutes, and on domestic scientists.”

In fact, some scientists and some training and research institutions have seized the opportunities that the VinFuture Foundation has brought. Thanks to the connection of the VinFuture Foundation, Professor Kenneth Mei Leung, Principal of the School of Energy and Environment, City University in Hong Kong (China); and Associate Professor Tu Binh Minh, University of Science (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), have cooperated in researching and monitoring water pollutants in estuaries under the Global Estuary Monitoring (GEM) program. In phase 1, scientists of the program monitored and collected water samples from about 150 estuaries around the world to monitor pharmaceutical waste. Vietnam is one of the main partners of the program. It is expected that in 2025, scientists from Hong Kong and Vietnam will jointly publish a highly impactful article based on the results of this global study.

Scientists discuss in the hallway of a panel discussion during VinFuture Week 2024.

Professor Leung also represented the School of Energy and Environment to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Natural Sciences. The expansion of the GEM program in the Ha Tinh estuary is one of many collaborative activities mentioned in this memorandum, especially funded by the VinFuture Foundation. This expert believes that the activities of the VinFuture Foundation in general, including InnovaConnect and the VinFuture Prize, are great efforts in promoting scientific development and deeper international cooperation.

Similarly, through the promotion of the connection of the VinFuture Foundation, the Institute of Hydraulics and Water Resources, Technical University of Munich (Germany), signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Water Resources, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) with the School of Materials, Hanoi University of Science and Technology... Associate Professor Le Hai Trung, Head of the Mangroves Living Lab, University of Water Resources, said: "The VinFuture Foundation acts as an intermediary platform, connecting institutes and schools to increase the exchange of ideas, share technology, as well as areas of research interest between the parties; thereby finding opportunities to research together, and especially supporting cooperation, exchange, and training of the new generation".

BKHN: Staff, lecturers, and students of Hanoi University of Science and Technology with two of the world's leading scientists in green technology at a scientific discovery event in November 2023, an event sponsored and connected by VinFuture Foundation.

Associate Professor Mai Duy Ton, Director of the Stroke Center, Bach Mai Hospital, also shared that the current rate of new strokes in Vietnam is the highest in the world, with over 200,000 stroke cases/year. At the same time, the mortality rate of stroke in Vietnam is also high, especially the rate of disability due to stroke. Vietnamese scientists want to propose to the Ministry of Health to have a national program on prevention, control and management of stroke patients. The recent visit of many of the world's leading stroke experts to Vietnam to participate in a discussion on this topic during VinFuture Week 2024 is a valuable opportunity, creating favorable conditions for the Ministry of Health to consult with experts to find solutions.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/but-pha-kien-cuong-cua-khoa-hoc-viet-nhin-tu-giai-thuong-vinfuture-185241214203909141.htm