A national science and technology first prize project is similar to a foreign product?

It is a science and technology project called "Smart waste sorting system integrating artificial intelligence and sound sensors" by a group of students from Nguyen Sieu High School (Hung Yen). This is also one of 12 projects awarded first prize by the Ministry of Education and Training on March 24, at the closing ceremony and award ceremony of the National Science and Technology Competition for the 2024-2025 school year.

The information was posted on several forums on scientific integrity, providing images and comparisons showing that the project is very similar to the product of Samuel Alexander, a foreign expert published on the Hackaday.dio community, an online platform for technology lovers in the past.

Similarities are pointed out as: both use sound to classify waste; use machine learning models to train and identify waste types through sound analysis... The most noticeable thing is the images and charts on the poster.

At least 3 of the photos in the Nguyen Sieu High School student poster are from Samuel Alexander's post on the Hackaday.dio community.

The Scientific Integrity group on social media posted a series of images claiming that the project that won the first prize in the science and technology research competition resembled a foreign product.

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

Speaking to Thanh Nien reporters, a representative of the Ministry of Education and Training said that they have received information about the incident and are urgently investigating. "Honesty in the competition is a top priority, so if any violations are discovered, the competition organizers will strictly handle them according to the competition regulations and other regulations of the industry," he said.

According to a representative of the contest jury, during the judging process, there were measures to prevent dishonesty but they may not have been fully controlled. However, this is an open contest, so post-contest inspection is also a task of the organizing committee. Receiving public feedback is also a very important information channel in this task.

From 212 projects participating in the National Science and Technology Research Competition for middle and high school students in the 2024-2025 school year, in 20 fields from 74 units out of 62/63 provinces and cities participating in the competition, the jury selected 120 topics to award prizes, including 12 first prizes, 36 second prizes, 36 third prizes and 36 fourth prizes. From the first prize-winning topics, the Ministry of Education and Training will select topics to participate in the 2025 International Science and Technology Competition scheduled to be held in May 2025 in the US.

At the award ceremony, the organizing committee of this year's competition assessed: "The winning topics have common points in terms of scientific content, creativity, high novelty, and suitability for students' ages. This is a very special point. The topics all have high practical applicability to solve urgent problems in life, in science, technology and the environment, and at the same time present international trends in science and technology development; have results that can be measured by data, have effective evidence, have a scientific, clear, coherent presentation, and good interpretation...

More than a competition, this is a journey to help students practice critical thinking, problem-solving skills, systematic scientific research ability and the spirit of overcoming difficulties, indispensable factors in the technology era... The important thing is that students dare to think, dare to do and have taken the first steps on the path of young scientists...".

No cheating, no piracy

According to Article 4 of Circular 06/2024, promulgating the regulations for the national science and technology research competition for middle and high school students, the Minister of Education and Training stipulates: "Ensure honesty in scientific research; no cheating, illegal copying, forgery; no use or presentation of other people's research content and results as one's own research results".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-du-an-giai-nhat-khoa-hoc-ky-thuat-quoc-gia-giong-san-pham-nuoc-ngoai-185250325140941732.htm