The successes in education-training and science-technology cooperation between Vietnam and Ireland are a solid premise for the development of bilateral relations in other areas where the two countries have great potential such as renewable energy, agriculture and innovation.
This is the opinion of Associate Professor (PSG), Dr. Tran Le Nam, School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD), in an interview with VNA reporters in Europe ahead of the State visit of General Secretary and President To Lam to Ireland, in which educational and training cooperation is a key content.
According to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam, although establishing diplomatic relations quite late compared to other European countries in 1996, Vietnam and Ireland have achieved many important cooperation achievements in the fields of education-training and science-technology.
Every year, the Irish Government offers 30 full scholarships (including tuition fees, living expenses, travel, and visas) to Vietnamese students studying at Ireland’s leading universities. To date, nearly 300 students have received these scholarships to pursue master’s degrees in a variety of fields, from economics and finance to natural sciences, medicine, engineering, and education.
In partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ireland also supports Vietnam with a number of postgraduate scholarships as part of its national poverty reduction programme.
Ireland recently launched a programme that provides eligible PhD candidates from the Embassy of Ireland’s university partners in Vietnam with the opportunity to study for one year at Irish universities as part of their PhD programme.
In particular, since 2015, the bilateral education exchange programme has supported partnerships between 15 Vietnamese universities and 8 Irish universities in a variety of fields.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam said that bilateral cooperation in the field of science and technology has also achieved remarkable successes. In 2010, the Irish Aid program supported the establishment of the Ireland-Vietnam Bloodborne Virus Initiative (IVVI) based on cooperation between the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology of Vietnam and UCD.
Recently, Vietnam and Ireland have prioritized cooperation in the fields of agricultural economics, food safety and nutrition, environment and climate change, and innovation, through joint projects between Vietnamese and Irish partners funded by the Irish Government.
The Irish Research Council and Irish Aid have funded a project to address air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and related health issues in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Irish Government is also funding a joint project between the Technical University of Dublin (TU Dublin) and Hue University (HU) to establish the Ireland-Vietnam Food Technology and Biotechnology Research and Innovation Centre (FABRIC) as a platform for research in core areas such as food safety, functional foods and nutritional and medicinal products.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam assessed that the cooperation programs on education-training and science-technology have had extremely positive and effective impacts. Vietnamese staff and students returning from courses have applied their learning experiences in Ireland to projects in Vietnam. Many training and research programs help students equip themselves with the skills and abilities to build and develop business ideas right in Vietnam.
With education and training cooperation being a focus of General Secretary and President To Lam’s visit to Ireland, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam said that upgrading bilateral relations in this field will open up opportunities for deeper cooperation, while helping the two countries improve the quality of education, research and human resource development.
Specifically, the two sides will have more favorable conditions to continue cooperation in research and student exchange, while promoting the implementation of Vietnam's Project 89 at Irish universities, promoting Ireland as a destination for Vietnamese researchers.
According to him, Vietnam can take this opportunity to propose that the Irish Government seek new scholarship programs to replace the Irish Development Experience Sharing Programme (IDEAS) which ended in 2021.
Vietnamese and Irish universities also have opportunities to enhance academic exchanges, research and knowledge sharing, such as expanding student exchange programmes, not only limited to traditional fields such as business administration, but also including science and technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and biotechnology. Vietnamese students can access advanced research facilities in Ireland, while lecturers from both countries can collaborate on multinational research.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam said that upgrading relations in the field of education and training will also create conditions for universities and research institutes of both countries to cooperate more closely in high-tech research projects.
For example, Vietnam can learn from Ireland's leading research centres, such as UCD Nova, which provides support for scientists and academics to commercialise innovative ideas.
According to him, research projects on renewable energy, climate change and pharmaceuticals could be priority areas, helping Vietnamese research institutes learn from and access advanced Irish technology. At the same time, Irish scientists will also have the opportunity to study and solve specific problems in Vietnam such as the impact of climate change on agriculture or the spread of tropical diseases.
As a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals in the UK and Ireland, representing Ireland, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam said that the Vietnamese intellectual community in Ireland can play an important role as a bridge in expanding the cooperation network between scientists and experts of the two countries, helping to promote the development of science and technology, while helping Vietnamese researchers access new methods, technologies and ideas from the international community.
The Association of Vietnamese Intellectuals in Ireland can organize scientific forums or seminars for experts from both countries to exchange knowledge and experience, as well as help training and research institutions in Vietnam connect with suitable partners in Ireland to carry out bilateral research programs.
Sharing about the activities of the Vietnam Intellectuals Association in Ireland to promote scientific research cooperation between the two countries, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam said that the association's members have diverse expertise in the fields of research and technology, most of whom work at leading universities in Ireland and multinational corporations such as Microsoft, Google, IBM, Qualcomm, Pfizer, etc.
He emphasized that members of the association teaching at Irish universities maintain cooperation with Vietnamese universities as well as cooperate with Vietnamese partners to participate in Irish Government research projects for Vietnam, including the cooperation program on training human resources for cyber security and digital investigation between UCD and Le Quy Don University with the participation of Associate Professor Le Khac Nhien An, Director of the Master's Program in Cyber Security and Digital Crime Investigation at UCD; the cooperation project between UCD and Can Tho University on using AI to enhance conservation and management of mangrove forests in Vietnam funded by the Irish Science Fund with the participation of Dr. Le Quan at UCD; research cooperation programs on cyber security, AI and telecommunications with strong research groups in Vietnam at Ho Chi Minh City National University, the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications, Le Quy Don University, University of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, etc.
The association also cooperates with Vietnamese universities to organize international conferences on digital transformation, cyber security and AI, creating a forum to gather and connect domestic and international scientists to discuss and share new issues in the fields of information technology and applications. This cooperation also aims to promote the development of science, technology, training in information technology and digital transformation in Vietnam, including the conference Information Technology and Applications in various fields - CITA 2024 in Vietnam with the participation of Associate Professor Le Khac Nhien An.
Through its relationships with colleagues in Vietnam, the chapter also recruits many Vietnamese students to study for doctoral and post-doctoral degrees in research projects in Ireland, and helps connect universities in the two countries through the signing of memorandums of understanding in the fields of semiconductors, information technology, AI, medical devices and biotechnology.
Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, majoring in electrical engineering, and studied for a master's and doctorate in radio engineering at Kyung Hee University, Korea.
Prior to teaching at UCD, he was a lecturer in the Department of Electronics at Maynooth University, Ireland. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Le Nam won the Science Foundation Ireland Career Development Award in 2018; co-recipient of the Best Paper Award at IEEE GLOBECOM (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-IEEE Global Communications Conference) in 2021 and the Best Experimental Paper Award for Students at IEEE PIMRC (IEEE International Symposium on Personal Indoor and Mobile Wireless Communications) in 2020./.
(Vietnam+)
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/thuc-day-tiem-nang-hop-tac-viet-nam-ireland-trong-cac-linh-vuc-giao-duc-khcn-post980313.vnp
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