Professor Châu Văn Minh, president of Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). VNA/VNS Photo

Professor Châu Văn Minh, President of Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), speaks to Vietnam News Agency about the academy’s outstanding scientific and technological research that caught public attention recently.

The VAST has affirmed the role and contribution of science, technology and innovation in building, protecting and developing the country. Could you tell us more about the academy's outstanding achievements in 2023?

In 2023, despite various challenges due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the efforts and high determination of all officials and employees, the academy has accomplished primary targets.

The VAST continued to perform well in scientific works with increasing number of works and improved quality.

In 2023, VAST’s scientists published more than 2,200 works in prestigious domestic and foreign journals, of which nearly 80 per cent were internationally published.

Scientists also published hundreds of works in other prestigious journals, conferences and seminars at home and abroad. The quality of the VAST’s studies continued to be maintained at a high level.

The number of publications in high-quality international journals reached 79 per cent of the total.

We also maintained an international publication rate of 1.9 works per PhD each year, the same rate as major scientific research organisations in developed countries.

The academy continued to maintain stable monitoring systems with hundreds of stations and conduct basic investigations.

Monitoring data through the station system combined with investigation data, field surveys on environmental, physical, chemical, seismic, biodiversity factors in Việt Nam’s territory and territorial waters have created an important set of background data, serving as a basis for consultation, planning and resource exploitation.

In 2023, the number of Intellectual Property Certificates of the Academy grew strongly.

We have been granted 76 invention patents and utility solution patents, including three international patents, an increase of more than 40 per cent compared to 2022.

The VAST has mastered many advanced technologies and successfully applied them into practice in localities across the country.

The VAST’s scientists are currently mentoring more than 500 graduate students in science and technology. In 2023, 55 doctoral students successfully defended their PhD theses and met the criterion that each doctoral student has at least one prestigious international publication.

In 2023, the VAST actively gave consultation and engaged in building the Party Central Committee’s resolutions, especially the 13th Party Central Committee’s Resolution 45 on continuing to build and promote the intellectuals’ role to meet the requirements of rapid and sustainable national development in the new period.

The VAST coordinated with the Ministry of Science and Technology to develop reports advising the Government and Prime Minister on unexpected, emerging and new issues.

In order to apply scientific and technological research into practice in fields that are of special concern to the public, what will the VAST do to complete the assigned tasks?

The VAST will continue to strive to complete tasks assigned by the Government and Prime Minister such as assessing DNA of martyrs' remains that lack information; earthquake and tsunami warnings for natural disaster prevention and control; operating Việt Nam's first and only earth observation satellite, (VNREDSat-1) ensuring satellite image sources for socio-economic development, national defence and security.

The VAST will prioritise technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; technologies serving green growth (hydrogen technology, new energy) or research on rare earths and new generation semiconductors to develop the semiconductor industry in Việt Nam.

In 2024, the academy will continue to develop new research orientations, striving to complete tasks and projects assigned.

To implement the VAST’s development strategy until 2030 and vision towards 2045, what solutions do the VAST continue to implement to improve the quality of basic and applied research as well as technology transfer and high-quality human resource training?

Improving quality in scientific research and human resource training is one of the key tasks of the academy.

The VAST will develop training courses and fostering programmes to attract, utilise and honour science and technology staff, especially good scientists with many outstanding works.

We will create a favourable scientific research environment to maximise the talents of scientists as well as form and develop excellent research groups into the nucleus.

The academy will strengthen cooperation with prestigious scientific and technological research organisations in developed countries; establish a number of joint laboratories for joint research with foreign advanced scientific organisations.

We also plan to attract Vietnamese experts and scientists abroad as well as foreign experts, scientists and technologists to participate in research and training. — VNS

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