Sophie Maysonnave, Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Activities at the French Embassy in Việt Nam, speaks at the event. Photo courtesy of the organiser

HÀ NỘI — Vingroup Innovation Foundation (VINIF) announced on Tuesday it would provide nearly VNĐ90 billion (US$3.6 million) to 19 science and technology projects and five culture and history projects with practical value, potentially contributing to the country's long-term development. 

The total 24 science, technology, and cultural history projects receiving research grants from VINIF have high practical value and are carefully selected by a panel of Vietnamese and international experts.

Specifically, 19 science and technology projects were selected by the council from 150 applications in 15 fields such as biomedical, medical and pharmaceutical, physics, materials, environment, and information technology.

All funded projects adhere to the VINIF's five criteria, which include the topic's level of necessity, the author's research capacity, the implementing unit's physical facilities, creativity, scientific significance, socioeconomic impacts, the target's persuasiveness, and the scientific-technological value of products and services.

VINIF takes part in sponsoring five initiatives and nine events in the realm of culture and history, covering topics like ethnology and cultural heritage, cultural beliefs, music, history, and fine arts.

VINIF will also accompany the research teams in accessing scientific resources, connecting with a network of consultants, and accessing a large database from the Vingroup ecosystem. In particular, VINIF will consult with several application-oriented scientific initiatives for patent protection and introduce funding opportunities to help them continue to evolve into useful goods and solutions.

At the event, Professor Vũ Hà Văn, Scientific Director of VINIF and VinBigdata, said: "The goal of VINIF is to contribute to building a generation of innovative and integrated scientists and create a professional research environment for the country."

"Therefore, since 2019, VINIF has been constantly innovating and perfecting programmes and funding methods to match the reality of research and meet the world's highest scientific standards. Because of this, in the past two years, besides science and technology, VINIF has also gradually become a companion with the culture-history research community, encouraging holistic development and advancing Vietnamese values in the global context," he added. 

Sophie Maysonnave, Counselor for Cooperation and Cultural Activities at the French Embassy in Việt Nam, stressed the significance of promoting science, technology, and historical culture, which will aid in the development of the country's culture and economy. These grants have also facilitated interactions between researchers and cultural specialists from France and Việt Nam.

Vingroup is implementing the programme on a non-profit basis in order to generate momentum for positive and comprehensive changes in research culture, scientific environment, and community life. VNS