Professor Hoai An became a professor at the age of 51, has 33 international publications, and leads a project applying AI to verify major mathematical theorems.
Professor Ta Thi Hoai An, originally from Nghe An province , was recognized as a professor by the State Council of Professors in early November. Since the first professorship appointments in 1956, she is the third female professor of Mathematics in Vietnam, following Professor Hoang Xuan Sinh (in 1980) and Professor Le Thi Thanh Nhan (in 2015).
Ms. An's father is a mathematics lecturer, and her mother is a doctor. Following family tradition, the 17-year-old student chose to pursue a degree in Mathematics Education at Vinh University.
"I came to mathematics and teaching naturally," she said.
Prof. Dr. Ta Thi Hoai An. Photo: Thanh Hang
Graduating as valedictorian in Mathematics, Ms. Hoai An became a probationary lecturer at Vinh University at the age of 21. She then went on to pursue a master's degree and defended her doctoral thesis in 2001 under the guidance of Professor Ha Huy Khoai, former Director of the Institute of Mathematics. For Ms. An, Professor Khoai was the first person to inspire her to pursue a career in scientific research.
At that time, there were only two female graduate students: Ms. An and Professor Nhan ( from Thai Nguyen ). They lived in a small room, barely big enough to fit a single bed, which served as both their sleeping and working space. Seeing how difficult things were for the two graduate students, Professor Khoai's wife, Ms. Dinh Thi Thu Cuc, allowed them to stay in a small house. This support was incredibly meaningful to Professor An and many other graduate students at the time; the house became affectionately known as "the house of the two women."
After defending her doctoral thesis, Ms. An received a scholarship to study at the National Taiwan Academy of Sciences as an intern under the mentorship of Professor Julie Wang. Inspired by Professor Julie, Ms. An decided to transition from lecturer to researcher.
"Although I loved my time teaching, the problems in mathematics fascinated me," Ms. An said. Wanting more time for research, Ms. An later transferred to work at the Institute of Mathematics.
From left to right, Professor Julie Wang, Professor Min Ru, and Professor Hoai An, at a conference in 2023. Photo: Provided by the subjects.
Ms. An's research process faced many obstacles because she and her husband spent over 10 years undergoing infertility treatment. During that time, she constantly had to go to the hospital for injections. The image of the woman with her books, sitting in a corner of the hallway, intently reading and taking notes, became special and familiar to the doctors and nurses at the hospital.
"The treatment period was very difficult. There were times when I couldn't hold back my tears, so I hid in a corner to cry, not letting anyone know," Mrs. An recalled. But being an optimistic person, she didn't want people to worry about her.
In 2009, she was recognized as an associate professor. That same year, she received a grant from the Humboldt Foundation (Germany), one of the most prestigious and competitive research grants in the world.
Two years later, she gave birth to the baby and devoted her time to caring for him. When the boy was 22 months old, she took him to Germany and France, accompanying him on his research journey and the defense of his doctoral dissertation. In the field of mathematics, Ms. An is the second woman in Vietnam to earn this degree.
Raising a young child alone, coupled with the demands of writing her doctoral dissertation, meant she only got about four hours of sleep each day, and her health suffered due to the high workload. One morning, she collapsed. Ms. An recounted that she only had time to call a colleague to take her to the emergency room. The doctor diagnosed her with exhaustion.
"Sometimes I wonder how I was able to overcome those obstacles so easily, perhaps it's because I learned resilience from my mother," Ms. An said. In addition, she received support from her family, especially her husband.
Ms. An and her son in Germany, 2014. Photo: Provided by the subject.
Over more than 30 years, Ms. Hoai An has completed 4 ministerial-level scientific research projects, published 33 scientific articles in prestigious international journals, and authored two books on mathematics. Her main research areas revolve primarily around number theory and complex analysis.
In addition to her direct research, she also runs Flyspect, a project that uses artificial intelligence to verify formulas published by mathematician Thomas Hales in 2002.
In his 300-page research paper containing 21,000 formulas, Thomas Hales claimed to have proven Kepler's Conjecture – a problem that had stood for over 400 years. However, after four years and 12 expert reviewers, the renowned mathematics journal Annals of Mathematics published a review stating that only 99% of Thomas's proof was correct. The American professor sought to connect with computer engineers and colleagues to verify the rest. Before meeting Ms. Hoai An, Thomas had spent nearly 10 years traveling through the US, Europe, and India, but without success.
The Flyspect project was launched in 2008 with a team of 20 people, including 10 doctoral and master's students at the Institute of Mathematics. Initially, Ms. An and her colleagues planned to complete Flyspect after 20 years. However, thanks to the efforts of the team members, including scientist Tran Nam Trung (who was promoted to Associate Professor in 2023) who managed the technical aspects, Associate Professor Hoang Le Truong in charge of formula coding, and the support and cooperation of the Institute of Mathematics and international research groups, the project was completed in 7 years. As a result, all the formulas in Thomas Hales' research were found to be correct.
"Our research group was mentioned in the special plenary report at the 2022 World Mathematical Congress. Many well-known newspapers and journals have mentioned the success of this project," Ms. An said, adding that data from the Flyspect project is used in artificial intelligence research at OpenAI and DeepMind. Most recently, OpenAI used it in building ChatGPT.
The success of Flyspect helped Professor Thomas continue to receive funding to develop the project. However, many team members moved abroad or were busy with other projects. To address the research staffing issue, the project was moved to Thang Long University, under an agreement between the Institute of Mathematics, Thang Long University and the University of Pittsburgh (USA).
Thang Long University provided office space and support for staff from the Institute of Mathematics to work at the university. In 2018, when the Applied Mathematics program was launched, the university sponsored tuition fees and a portion of living expenses for the first 20 students. Staff and researchers from the Institute of Mathematics play a role as full-time lecturers, responsible for training students and mentoring young lecturers from the university in the project. Besides Flyspect, the Institute and the university also collaborate on developing other research and training directions in the field of Mathematics.
"To date, the project continues. This is proof of the effectiveness of the cooperation model between institutes and universities both domestically and internationally," Ms. An said.
Ms. Hoai An presented her report at a conference of the University of Clermont Ferrand, France, in 2008. Photo: Provided by the subject.
Despite her many achievements, Professor Hoai An is concerned that women face many obstacles to career development due to their responsibilities in caring for their families.
Professor Le Tuan Hoa, Chairman of the Council of Professors in Mathematics and former Director of the Institute of Mathematics, also acknowledges this as one of the main reasons for the limited number of female scientists in the field of mathematics. Professor Hoa added that the field of mathematics highly respects women, but demonstrates this by evaluating them fairly compared to men. Therefore, applications are evaluated equally, and only those who meet the criteria are considered.
Becoming a professor of Mathematics at the age of 51, Ms. An said she received moral support from many women such as Professor Julie Wang, Professor Helene Esnault, Ms. Cuc, Ms. Loan... Throughout her work, studies, and research at Vinh University and the Institute of Mathematics, she also received help from many teachers and colleagues.
"I went through many difficulties, underwent long-term treatment, and was fortunate to overcome them. I hope my journey can inspire other women on their path to self-development," she said.
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