Chairman of VinFuture Council: 'Vietnamese scientists are on par with the world'

VinFuture has for the first time honored a Vietnamese scientist for popularizing high-yield rice varieties, bringing a better life to millions of people, according to the chairman of the award council.

After the award ceremony on the evening of December 20, Prof. Sir Richard Henry Friend, Chairman of the VinFuture Prize Council, had a talk with VnExpress . He assessed that the victory of the inventions honored at the VinFuture Prize 2023 was completely worthy and convincing. The award also shows the stature of Vietnamese scientists through breakthrough works, bringing a better life to millions of people.

Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend speaking at the award ceremony on December 20. Photo: VinFuture Foundation — Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend speaking at the award ceremony on December 20. Photo: *VinFuture Foundation*

- Why did VinFuture award the highest prize for the invention of clean energy production using solar cells and storage using lithium-ion batteries?

- The victory of this nomination is completely convincing. 2023 is recorded as the hottest year in the past 125,000 years. The United Nations also warned that the world has officially entered the "era of global warming". The fight against climate change has never been more urgent than it is now. Now is also a key time for climate action.

Fortunately, we are seeing tremendous progress in the production and use of clean energy, which is the key to reducing global emissions. About 10 years ago, I thought this idea was too expensive to implement. But things are changing very quickly.

We have reduced costs and improved efficiency in two important areas: clean energy production and storage. Solar panels are becoming a mainstream form of energy production. At the same time, lithium-ion batteries have become light enough and reliable enough to be integrated into every device, in every home, in 15 billion mobile devices, and in 26 million electric cars worldwide.

Breakthrough innovations in green energy production using solar cells and lithium-ion battery storage have helped accelerate the transition to renewable energy, mitigating global climate change. This also creates the foundation for a mobile, multi-connected world; opening up new opportunities for accessing clean energy at affordable costs. Through this, the project significantly contributes to equitable and sustainable development globally. That is why the nomination deserves the highest honor at VinFuture this year.

- Research on lithium-ion batteries won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Why does VinFuture honor an old work?

- The two winning projects are not the same. VinFuture places research in the larger picture. In many cases, the fundamental advances may have been discovered some time ago. But they only truly prove their importance and create breakthrough value when combined with other advances, in a special context.

To put this in perspective, the 2021 Grand Prize winner had two elements, mRNA and lipid nanoparticles; we need both to make an mRNA vaccine. In 2022, with the advent of global networking, we are not just celebrating software or protocols, but also recognizing the importance of infrastructure and the ability to transmit information over long distances and at very high densities.

Similarly, the VinFuture 2023 Main Prize does not award individual inventions in solar cells or lithium-ion batteries. VinFuture honors a combination of inventions that create a sustainable foundation for green energy.

Through the three Grand Prizes that have been awarded, we want to affirm the view that, although there are many initiatives in different fields, at different times, we always need more than one element to create a turning point change. That lens makes VinFuture very different from many other prizes.

Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend in his office. Photo: NVCC — Professor Sir Richard Henry Friend in his office. Photo: *NVCC*

- This year, for the first time, a Vietnamese scientist has been honored by VinFuture. What does this mean?

- The Special Prize for scientists from developing countries clearly demonstrates two of VinFuture's core values: "Fairness" and "Globality". This year's award-winning work meets these criteria excellently.

The field we have chosen is a very important part of the Green Revolution. The innovations in this work have dramatically increased agricultural productivity, lifting millions of people out of poverty. And more importantly, rice feeds billions of people on earth. Vietnam is now one of the three largest rice exporters in the world.

The turning point, turning Vietnam from a country with a lack of food into a rice granary of the world, has important contributions from pioneering scientists such as Prof. Gurdev Singh Khush and Prof. Vo Tong Xuan. One has great merit in developing superior rice varieties, the other has important contributions in popularizing them in the fields. Therefore, I think VinFuture's recognition is correct and appropriate. The award also shows that Vietnamese scientists can completely compete with the world's leading intellectuals.

- How do you evaluate the international reputation and global impact of VinFuture?

- I think VinFuture's reputation and impact on a global scale are very good. In the first season, we received 599 nominations, in the second season 970 nominations, and in season 3 the number increased sharply to 1,389, almost three times more than in the first season.

In addition, the number of VinFuture's nominating partners increased more than four times compared to the first season, from nearly 1,200 to more than 5,200. Notably, 1/5 of VinFuture's "companions" are scholars in the top 2% of the most cited researchers in the world. That shows the prestige and stature of VinFuture as well as the interest and warm reception from the world's scientific community.

- VinFuture sets out the mission of promoting science to serve humanity. How has this been realized over three seasons?

- By attracting thousands of quality nominations each season and gathering outstanding scientific minds to Vietnam to participate in events during the Science and Technology Week, VinFuture has truly become a "red address" for global researchers. The VinFuture Award Ceremony has also become an event that the international scientific community looks forward to every year-end.

Perhaps, one of the things that makes VinFuture attractive is the unique vision of its founders - honoring innovations that make the world a better place.

There is often pressure on global researchers to participate in a “hot” field. In fact, if we look at the scientific journeys of the VinFuture Prize winners, we can see that they did not necessarily need to be honored early. But they are all pioneers, brave enough to do things differently. In that way, VinFuture is making an important contribution to promoting and encouraging research and innovation for the good of humanity.

Nowadays, we tend to separate those who work in industry from those who just do research. This is a phenomenon that has only appeared in the last 50 years. I think that for everything to work well, both need to be connected. VinFuture's very different interdisciplinary lens has created a new wind, contributing to gradually changing the thinking of research globally.

Minh Tu

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