Prof. Jean Trần Thanh Vân, Vietnamese French physicist, President of Rencontres du Vietnam, Director of ICISE welcomes participants at the VSOA 10 on Monday.

GIA LAI – Around 30 scientists, early-career researchers and students from nine countries including Việt Nam, Brazil, Croatia, India, France, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand are gathering in central Gia Lai Province for the 10th Vietnam School on Astrophysics (VSOA 10).

Taking place from July 27 to August 1, VSOA 10 features lectures delivered by distinguished experts in the field, including Prof. Leander Thiele, Dr. Otavio Alves, Dr. Anamaria Hell, and Dr. Nguyễn Nhật Minh, all from the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), Japan.

Dr. Nguyễn Nhật Minh, the first Vietnamese recipient of the 2024 Buchalter Cosmology Prize, awarded by the American Astronomical Society, chairs VSOA 10.

This marks the first time that Dr. Minh has chaired a VSOA, serving as the Head of the Astrophysics and Cosmology Group at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Education (IFIRSE), a subsidiary of the ICISE, since July 2026. Previously, he made history as the first Vietnamese recipient of the 2024 Buchalter Cosmology Prize, awarded by the American Astronomical Society.

Held annually since 2013, the VSOA is an initiative of Rencontres du Vietnam and the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Education (ICISE). The school is dedicated to training, nurturing, and inspiring the next generation of young scientists to pursue careers in astronomy and astrophysics, thereby bolstering the development of Vietnam’s high-quality scientific workforce.

Over the past decade, the programme has evolved into a vital academic forum, providing students with access to cutting-edge knowledge and modern research methodologies. Simultaneously, it fosters an environment for networking and academic exchange, bridging the gap between domestic scientists and the international research community.

The VSOA10 programme focuses on modern cosmology—the scientific study of the Universe’s evolution, from the initial conditions following the Big Bang to the formation of the large-scale structures observed today. Participants will also explore how cosmological parameters and information are inferred from observational datasets of ever-increasing precision.

Dr. Anamaria Hell, Project Researcher at Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU), the University of Tokyo, is lecturing at VSOA 10. Photos ICISE

Cosmology is currently entering the era of Big Data. Measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), galaxy clustering, weak gravitational lensing, and various other probes of the Universe's large-scale structure are testing the Standard Cosmological Model with unprecedented precision.

The programme is designed to combine intensive lectures with discussion sessions, covering a broad range of topics: from the theoretical foundations of cosmology, perturbation theory, and structure formation to numerical simulations, observational measurements, and data analysis using likelihood maximisation and modern simulation-based inference techniques. Through this curriculum, students are provided with a comprehensive academic roadmap, transitioning from fundamental physical principles to advanced methods for analysing and interpreting modern cosmological data. VNS