“The University of Social Sciences and Humanities is the pillar unit that creates the brand and identity of VNU.”

In December 2013, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Government's Decree on VNU. I believe that this is an important milestone in the development of VNU in general and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in particular. This event is even more meaningful in the context of the position and role of VNU being officially affirmed in the Law on Higher Education, creating the highest legal basis for VNU and its member units to have conditions for development, enhance autonomy, self-responsibility, and more clearly affirm the pioneering and pivotal role in the innovation of the country's education system. This is also an opportunity for VNU and its member units to review and re-evaluate the policy on the model and development direction over the past 20 years based on the results, achievements and remaining issues that need to be adjusted.

- In the past 20 years, what contributions has the University of Social Sciences and Humanities made to the multidisciplinary, multi-field development orientation and high-quality training of VNU, Professor?

In the initial development stage, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is proud to be one of the pillars creating the strength of basic science for VNU. Along with the expansion of the multidisciplinary and multi-field structure of VNU, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has made great strides in expanding its training majors, from traditional and strong majors such as Literature, History, Philosophy to pioneering the opening of many new and attractive majors to meet social needs such as Oriental Studies, International Studies, Tourism Studies, Office Administration, Journalism and Communication, Sociology, Social Work, Management Science, Vietnam Studies, Anthropology, Political Science, etc. Up to now, the University has trained 23 undergraduate majors, 30 master's majors and 29 doctoral majors. The majors and majors at the University are trained in an in-depth direction but on a broad and solid general knowledge foundation. It can be said that the majors of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities have their own identity in the multidisciplinary and multi-field system of VNU.

Implementing the high-quality training orientation, aiming at international integration of VNU, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is a pioneer and effectively implements important policies: converting to credit training method, building training programs according to output standards, innovating teaching and learning methods, building a number of international joint programs with prestigious foreign universities, focusing on building high-quality training programs and training programs that meet international standards, building dual degrees, dual majors, implementing training quality accreditation according to the standards of the Association of Southeast Asian Universities (AUN) ...

- In the development orientation of research universities, what are the outstanding contributions of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Professor?

With the goal of building the University of Social Sciences and Humanities into a research-oriented university, the University determines that research activities must be considered as important as teaching tasks.

In the past, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, formerly the University of Letters and Hanoi National University, had a team of scientists with brilliant names, the pride of the country's science and education. The names and legacies of those scientists contributed to enriching the tradition and pride of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The scientific staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities today is the next generation of excellence with large-scale, key, interdisciplinary research projects in many fields. In the past 5 years, the University has presided over the implementation of 15 State-level topics and Protocols - this is an unprecedented result in the history of the development of the University since the time of Hanoi National University in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities. These results, together with lectures, textbooks, monographs, references, scientific reports at domestic and international conferences, and scientific articles in scientific journals, have contributed to improving the quality of university and postgraduate training, while providing theoretical bases, scientific arguments and evidence, contributing to the formulation of Party and State policies on science, education, culture and society, rural development, and protection of national sovereignty in border areas and islands.

The school has a Policy Advisory Council consisting of many prestigious scientists inside and outside the school, many politicians, and senior leaders of the country participating such as: former Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh, former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan, former Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department - Prof. Dr. Phung Huu Phu, President of the Vietnam Historical Science Association Phan Huy Le... Over the years, the Council has made important proposals to the Party and State on the development of social sciences and humanities, the development of mountainous social culture, the implementation of projects to research islands and seas, and research on the history and culture of the southern region of the Fatherland.

On the basis of inheriting the achievements of many previous decades, in the past 20 years, the University has contributed many major awards in science and technology to the overall achievements of VNU, including 11 Ho Chi Minh Awards, 16 State Awards, and dozens of awards at VNU level.

- As one of the units contributing high index to VNU in terms of the rate of foreigners studying as well as building an international academic environment, what is the University's policy on this issue?

Social Sciences and Humanities are scientific disciplines related to the country, people, culture, and history. Knowledge of Social Sciences and Humanities plays a fundamental role in building and developing the country, preserving and promoting national identity, helping us position ourselves in the integration process. Nowadays, more and more foreigners are interested in Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language. The Department of Vietnamese Language and Vietnamese Studies is the first bridge to build cooperative relationships between VNU, Vietnam and other countries in the world.

Every year, the University receives and trains in various forms more than 600 foreign students to study and research Vietnamese language and culture. At the same time, the University organizes dozens of major international conferences to create opportunities for international academic exchange for staff, students and trainees. Up to now, the University has established official cooperative relations with more than 180 partners, including many of the world's leading universities; implementing dozens of annual research programs and projects on topics such as: Policy Management, Science and Technology, Religion, Social Work, Psychology... Based on the achievements and reputation of the University, in recent years, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU has been a destination for exchanges, connections, information and academic exchanges of Vietnamese and international businessmen, politicians, and leaders.

It can be said that these achievements come from the University's own strengths, are the result of a correct understanding of the importance and position of Social Sciences and Humanities, and are directly caused by the efforts to internationalize the training and research activities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities over the past many years.

- What difficulties does the school identify that need to be overcome to continue promoting its strengths and contributing to the development of VNU?

Difficulties are inevitable in the development process of each training institution. First of all, as a member of VNU, the University has a high degree of autonomy but there are still some limitations and shortcomings caused by the mechanism, especially the unclear management organization.

The second difficulty is in building the staff. Over the past two decades, the University has developed quite rapidly in both quality and quantity of staff, with 90% of lecturers having a Master's degree or higher, of which 48% have a PhD and an Associate Professor degree or higher. Although these figures are 2.5 times higher than the standards set by the Ministry of Education and Training for Vietnamese universities, compared to the standards of the University and VNU (70% of lecturers have a PhD by 2020), there is still a lot to strive for.

On the other hand, as a prestigious university with a leading position in the country, the total working area, lecture halls and library are only 1.4 hectares wide, not meeting the development needs, especially the need to build a modern learning material system to serve training and research. The school hopes that the Government, Party and State agencies, Hanoi City and VNU will pay attention to creating favorable conditions and investing appropriately in facilities for the school.

On its part, the University will continue to be more proactive and active in training, research and international cooperation activities, especially focusing on building effective cooperative relationships with universities and research institutes ranked highly in the world, thereby quickly internationalizing the quality of training and research, promoting integration with regional and world education and universities. At the same time, it is necessary to have more attention and investment from the State, the Ministry of Education and Training and VNU so that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities and other units that train and research in general social fields such as economics, law, education, etc. have the conditions to develop strongly, contributing to further enhancing the position, identity and strengths of VNU in the upcoming development journey.

Thank you, professor!