Concerns about 'brain drain' of scientific resources

Yesterday (December 15), the 2023 Annual Scientific Conference took place at Hanoi National University. At the conference, delegates from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi National University, Ho Chi Minh City National University and the Ministry of Science and Technology exchanged and discussed solutions and gave comments on perfecting the law on science, technology and innovation.

Professor Vu Minh Giang (Science Council, Hanoi National University) spoke at the conference.

PROPOSAL FOR AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS TO REGULATIONS ON INVESTMENT AND FINANCE

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said that in order to implement the strategy for science and technology development and innovation until 2030, the two academies need to focus on building to become the foundation and pillars of Vietnam's science and technology, focusing on developing a number of science and technology organizations and fields to reach regional and world levels such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences and marine sciences... The two national universities are responsible for leading the university education system, achieving advanced levels, among the top in Asia, supporting the university system nationwide so that universities can truly become centers for scientific research, technology development, and a source of knowledge for science and technology and innovation activities.

Mr. Nguyen Nam Hai, Director of the Department of Planning and Finance (Ministry of Science and Technology), shared some proposals for the development of a law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Science and Technology to institutionalize the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, perfect the legal framework, and at the same time resolve shortcomings in the practical implementation of the Law on Science and Technology.

Accordingly, one of the proposed groups of contents to be amended and supplemented is the regulations on investment and finance for science and technology development and innovation, such as amending the regulations on average science and technology expenditures in a 5-year period not to be lower than 2% or more of the total state budget expenditures; and completing the regulations on the allocation, use, and management of funds for implementing science and technology tasks using the state budget. The allocation of funds must be timely, consistent with the progress of ordering and approving science and technology tasks by the state management agency for science and technology. The Ministry of Science and Technology also plans to propose to include in the law additional regulations on the arrangement of reserve funds to promptly implement science and technology tasks in sudden, urgent, and urgent situations.

LOSS OF HIGH-QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCES

According to Associate Professor Tran Tuan Anh, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, one of the current challenges in human resource development at the institute is the concern about the decline in high-quality human resources. The "brain drain" is a huge challenge in many key science and technology fields of the academy due to competition from the private sector, large companies and corporations in science and technology.

The academy’s scientific staff is basically maintained but uneven in all fields, mainly focusing on some key basic research fields and some member research institutes with strengths in basic research. The number of professors and associate professors in technology and application research fields tends to decrease.

The main reason is due to problems in the mechanism, policies, and human resource treatment in the public sector. On the other hand, recruitment to the payroll tends to decrease because the academy has to streamline its payroll according to regulations; the number of students graduating from natural science majors, especially basic science majors, is decreasing, the quality is generally uneven, and recruitment is difficult.

Associate Professor Ta Minh Tuan, Vice President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, said that the State needs to have a policy of assigning additional staff to scientific research institutions; assigning research institutions and institutes the autonomy to decide on the number of staff to serve the recruitment and use of scientific and technological researchers to ensure substance and efficiency. Pay attention to and consider not cutting down on career staff at scientific and technological research institutions and institutes, strategic and policy research. The assignment of annual staff quotas should be based on assessment criteria of qualities, capacities, products, and specific contributions in the process of performing public duties and tasks associated with the practical situation.

Associate Professor Tran Tuan Anh, Vice President of Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, speaking at the conference

P SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS TO BE SUBSTANTIAL

Associate Professor Ta Minh Tuan also proposed the need to innovate policies for basic research, research a system of policies to serve the country, and encourage the transfer of highly qualified human resources. First of all, it is necessary to innovate the management mechanism of the National Fund for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED), through which the State's investment resources for important basic research are currently implemented.

Associate Professor Tuan shared: "The biggest problem currently related to the fund's operations is the fund management mechanism. According to the provisions of the State Budget Law and Decree 19 issued in 2021 by the Government, NAFOSTED cannot operate under the fund's mechanism but must switch to the model of a public service unit with management operating expenses having to be transferred to the annual planning and budget allocation mechanism.

Meanwhile, research topics must be carried out regularly, and should not wait for approval and funding according to annual plans like administrative agencies. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a financial regulation for the fund that is suitable for the characteristics of scientific research, ensuring that the fund is operated according to the model of a research funding agency. Promote the mechanism of spending and post-financial audit, accept risks and delays in scientific research".

Professor Vu Minh Giang (Science Council, Hanoi National University) expressed his opinion on setting the following three principles in science and technology development: substance, aiming to meet international standards, for the development of Vietnam's own science and technology. In which, the substance factor is the "red thread" running through all three principles. "We are a country that is increasingly promoting the integration process, but we must find a way to make what we call international integration truly substantial. Many times it is just a formality, publishing this article, publishing that article is sometimes just a formality", Professor Giang said.

Mr. Nguyen Nam Hai, Director of the Department of Planning and Finance (Ministry of Science and Technology), shared some proposals for drafting a law to amend and supplement a number of articles of the Law on Science and Technology.

Professor Giang analyzed: "In the past 5 years, we have promoted international publication. I dare not discuss other fields, but only the field closest to me, and I see some problems. Firstly, our international publication has increased in quantity on a general level, but there is no new journal that meets international standards, except for a few journals already available at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi National University... That means we encourage our colleagues to spend money to try to publish articles abroad. They have the technology to put their journals in the ISI/Scoupus journal list. Is that meeting international standards or just a formality? It is time to reconsider international publication".

Purpose of the coordination program

According to Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology, the purpose of the 2021-2025 cooperation program between the Ministry of Science and Technology and 4 major scientific research agencies including 2 academies and 2 national universities is to provide policy advice, orientation for science and technology development, innovation and human resources to make recommendations to competent authorities for consideration; share information on achievements, typical research and training products, as well as exchange and discuss strategies, development plans and operational orientations, difficulties and problems of agencies to strengthen coordination and cooperation for mutual development; build a linkage model between the country's leading research and training agencies and units to promote common strength to jointly solve important national issues.

Over the past 2 years of implementation, the agencies have closely coordinated in the process of developing and implementing the National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation to 2030. At the same time, many national science and technology programs to 2030 were also consulted during the development process, thereby mobilizing the strength of a large number of scientists at the country's 4 leading research institutions.

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