The seminar was co-organized by the Center for Science and Development Newspaper - Tia Sang and the National Foundation for Technology Innovation (Nafosted) on May 13, 2024 in Hanoi, attracting the participation of more than 30 prestigious research groups from basic research to applied research and public and non-public applied research, in many different fields.
The seminar was attended by a number of scientists from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU.
Deputy Minister Tran Hong Thai said that in recent years, the Party and State have always considered science, technology and innovation (S&I) as an important driving force for the country's development, with important keywords such as "development based on S&I", "green economy", "digital economy and circular economy" being frequently mentioned in the Party and Government's directives. In parallel, in the past 10 years, the country's S&T sector has made strong progress. The rate of works published in prestigious international journals (international articles) has increased by about 20%, with an average of about 18,000 international articles published each year in Vietnam, demonstrating the country's growing potential and research capacity, ranking among the leading countries in Southeast Asia in research.
Recognizing the importance of excellent research groups, in national science and technology programs, the Ministry of Science and Technology does not prioritize investment and funding for research that only aims for international publication, but focuses on improving the research capacity of talented young scientists. An illustrative example is that the proportion of young scientists participating in Nafosted Fund projects is currently over 50%, and the Ministry of Science and Technology is aiming for this rate to reach over 70%. In addition, the Ministry also focuses on building the necessary foundations for excellent research groups such as investing in long-term research, avoiding dispersion, and paying attention to the interdisciplinary nature of research fields.
The Deputy Minister said that some strategic research directions that the Ministry of Science and Technology will prioritize in the coming time are nuclear energy, the application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes; semiconductor technology; biotechnology; social sciences and humanities; medicine; agriculture. In each field, for each development stage, the Ministry of Science and Technology will set specific goals and accompany excellent research groups to achieve these goals.
This seminar contributed to expressing the message of the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology in promoting excellent research groups - this is a long-term connection, maintaining stability so that research facilities have the conditions to exist and develop in the future.
Deputy Minister Tran Hong Thai speaks at the seminar
At the Seminar, scientists presented the formation and development of a number of strong research groups as well as discussed the development of research groups in the field of social sciences and humanities. Opinions suggested that it is necessary to have a national program for developing excellent research groups. From the problems encountered in practice, the research groups proposed a number of recommendations related to financial mechanisms for funding scientific research, supporting applied research facilities, commercialization, and patent protection at home and abroad.
Scientists discuss at the seminar
Representative of the organizing unit, Dr. Pham Dinh Nguyen, Director of Nafosted Fund, acknowledged the opinions of scientists at the Seminar to serve the process of building and adjusting the Fund's policies, on that basis, he will report to the leaders of the Ministry of Science and Technology to propose and advise on appropriate policies and strategies to support excellent research groups in the future.
