Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính (right) and Minister of Science and Technology Huỳnh Thành Đạt (left) present the Tạ Quang Bửu Award to Dr Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Hiếu

HÀ NỘI — Dr Nguyễn Thị Kim Thanh has become the first female scientist to receive the prestigious Tạ Quang Bửu Award in the field of physics.

Thanh, 46, works for the Institute of Physics under the Việt Nam Academy of Science and Technology.

Her award-winning work, 'Thermoelectric transmission in a three-channel Kondo charge circuit,' was published in Physical Review Letters (PRL), one of the world’s leading scientific journals in physics, and is important for the development of quantum computing technology.

Professor Mikhail Kiselev, co-author of the paper, called Thanh’s scientific work “an elegant masterpiece of modern physics”.

Thanh said: “This is the first time a specific theory of the three-channel Kondo effect has been developed and generalised, opening up the possibility of studying the existence of parafermions (antiparticles and particles obeying the clock rule and related to the ZM symmetry of the system) or Majorana (a case of parafermions with M=2), providing a detailed description of the physical picture of circuit elements in quantum computer manufacturing technology."

“The successful cooperation in carrying out the project with excellent international experts shows that teamwork between domestic and foreign scientists has no borders, contributing to science in general -- and Vietnamese science -- being honoured in the international scientific community,” she said proudly.

A humanistic perspective

Thanh said that her achievements were a journey of constant effort along with a passion for physics.

"The first stroke of luck was that my parents created the best conditions to encourage me to study and research. The second was having great teachers to guide me. In 2007, I received a postdoc scholarship at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics. There, I had the opportunity to research with Russian Professor Mikhail Kiselev, an outstanding physicist on the Kondo effect."

Since then, the collaboration between Thanh and her mentor has lead to remarkable achievements.

In 2019, Thanh and Kiselev completed the paper and submitted it for publication in PRL.

After significant effort, especially responding to the reviewers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the article was accepted for publication in the journal, a dream for any modern physicist.

This work also earned Thanh the prestigious Tạ Quang Bửu Award.

Thanh said she feels grateful because Kiselev is not only a mentor, colleague and strict critic in research but also a close friend in life.

In her speech receiving the Tạ Quang Bửu Award, Thanh said: “I will dedicate the award as a spiritual gift to my father, who nurtured my love for physics. The award has given me more motivation to continue my love for physics, for ideas, models and calculations.”

“I look forward to having more meaningful and important research results in the future. This love has been nurtured mainly by the National Fund for Science and Technology Development since I returned to work in Việt Nam and the valuable support of centres for theoretical physics,” she said.

Thanh also sent a message to young people: "Dare to live for your passion, for your love, and then love will be responded to in the most worthy way."

The Tạ Quang Bửu Award is an award organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), aiming to encourage and honour scientists with outstanding achievements in scientific research in the field of natural sciences and engineering, promoting the integration and development of Việt Nam’s science and technology.

It has become one of the most prestigious science awards in Việt Nam, highly valued by the scientific community in the country and abroad.

Last year, the MoST started accepting applications for the award from November 2023 until January 2024.

The MoST received 97 applications, including 76 in natural sciences and engineering and 21 in social sciences and humanities.

Major General Professor Trần Xuân Nam, Chairman of the Award Council, said that the number of nominations for the 2024 award doubled compared to previous years.

The nominations were all high quality research, so the Award Council discussed carefully to select the most outstanding and deserving work, the chairman said.

Over the past 10 years, the MoST has awarded prizes to 18 scientists who are authors of outstanding scientific works, as well as four young scientists.

They serve as examples for Vietnamese scientists, especially young ones, inspiring them to conduct cutting-edge scientific research, contributing to the advancement of science and technology. — VNS