Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council, Professor Richard Henry Friend, shared that this year's award received many excellent nominations, including one from Vietnam.
Professor Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council - Photo: VinFuture
On the eve of the VinFuture 2024 award ceremony, Professor Richard Henry Friend shared with the press after 4 years of working with the award.
Answering questions about VinFuture
Describing the first year of the VinFuture Prize as an experiment, Professor Friend assessed that compared to that time, the number of nominations for 2024 has increased a lot, while the quality is always good. This year, Vietnam also has one nomination, a very modest number compared to nearly 1,500 nominations from around the world.
Explaining further why VinFuture is a Vietnamese award but there are very few nominations from Vietnam, Mr. Friend said that VinFuture is a global award.
"We also hope that wherever people mention this award program in the world, it will be considered a prestigious award. We even want VinFuture to become the most prestigious award in the world," he shared.
The world’s leading physicist also said that over the past 4 years, he has received a lot of positive feedback about the VinFuture Prize. Every time he goes somewhere and mentions VinFuture, what he hears about the prize has a common denominator: this is a prestigious and respected prize.
The VinFuture Prize, he said, is unlike some other science awards.
Because for VinFuture, it is an attempt to connect developments in scientific research that no one has anticipated or predicted with the impacts we want to see and create in real life.
"That makes it quite difficult for us to choose the worthy nominees. But on the other hand, it also makes this prize more attractive and appealing," the world's leading physicist shared.
In the award council, the members all try to make sure that when a nomination is awarded the VinFuture Prize, it will immediately be applied and exploited as thoroughly as possible in real life.
Reiterating the scope of the VinFuture Prize, Mr. Friend affirmed that the prize committee will look “everywhere, everywhere” so that the winning discoveries and nominations will create surprise and amazement for everyone.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh awarded the 2021 VinFuture Prize worth 3 million USD to three scientists: Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman and Pietter Rutter Cullis for their mRNA vaccine research technology - Photo: NAM TRAN
VinFuture - a bridge for Vietnamese scientists to reach out
Looking to the future, Professor Friend firmly asserts that Vietnam will certainly become a country with advanced science in the near future and this will be reflected in the next VinFuture seasons.
Through science and technology weeks such as the VinFuture Prize, Vietnamese scientists have more and more contact with scientists around the world. Interestingly, more and more Vietnamese scientists are returning to their home country thanks to the favorable conditions created in their homeland.
“Through VinFuture, we have brought scientists who have the ability to make things happen to Vietnam and this is where the dialogue takes place. This brings opportunities for young scientists in Vietnam,” Professor Friend shared.
In addition to scientists who came for the VinFuture Prize, many other scientists have also come to Vietnam when they realized that this is an emerging country with a lot of potential and are looking to expand in the world.
"Maybe they have had very regular contacts, connections and experience sharing with Vietnamese scientists. That is a very positive thing," he added.
To create a breakthrough in the era of the Vietnamese nation's rise, according to Professor Friend, the most important capital is young people - the future generation of the country - who are well-trained.
“Therefore, we need to set a vision of what is possible and encourage young people to pursue a career in science not just for the sake of pure research but with a view to applying it to life,” he added.
VinFuture is the "most prestigious award after the Nobel Prize"
Professor Valery Feign - Photo: VinFuture
On the evening of December 6, the VinFuture Awards Ceremony 2024 - the highlight of the global scientific community - will officially take place at the Hoan Kiem Theater (Hanoi). This will be an important moment to honor breakthrough inventions and technologies, selected from nearly 1,500 research projects nominated by more than 9,000 partners from more than 80 countries and territories around the world.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the 2024 VinFuture Award ceremony, Professor Valery Feigin - Director of the National Institute of Stroke and Applied Neuroscience, Auckland University of Technology (New Zealand) - said that this was his first time coming to Vietnam and that first time was also through the VinFuture Award.
"The VinFuture Prize is one of the two most prestigious prizes in the world, along with the Nobel Prize. It is not surprising that some of the winners later became Nobel Prize winners," said Valery Feigin.
Most recently, the three winners of the 2023 Special Prize, including Professor Daniel Joshua Drucker (Canada), Professor Joel Francis Habener and Associate Professor Svetlana Mojsov (USA), were voted into the 2024 Time magazine (USA) list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chu-tich-hoi-dong-giai-vinfuture-2024-nguoi-chien-thang-nam-nay-se-khien-moi-nguoi-kinh-ngac-20241205103144392.htm
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