Solutions and policies to improve the quality of doctoral training, linked to the needs of scientific research and research groups

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Van Phuc chaired the workshop.

VNU Vice President Nguyen Hoang Hai attended and delivered the opening speech. The conference was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology and more than 40 higher education institutions across the country.

Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister Nguyen Van Phuc shared: After the Law on Amendments and Supplements to a Number of Articles of the Law on Higher Education came into effect (Law No. 34) and Decree No. 99/2019/ND-CP of the Government guiding the implementation of this Law, autonomy has been granted to higher education institutions. Emphasizing the theme of the workshop is to improve the quality of doctoral training, linked to the needs of scientific research and research groups, the Deputy Minister said that the Ministry is developing a decree and accompanying circulars related to scientific and technological activities and enrollment and training management in higher education institutions.

Vice President of VNU Nguyen Hoang Hai delivered the opening speech at the conference.

Vice President of VNU Nguyen Hoang Hai said that for a research-oriented university to survive and develop, scientific research and doctoral training are vital factors, so VNU coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Training to organize this workshop to listen to the experience sharing of higher education institutions and scientists, and to raise outstanding issues to be resolved in the coming time.

The opinions of scientists at the workshop will be the basis for the Ministry of Education and Training to study and include in the decree and guiding circulars.

Professor, Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc proposed to amend the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training in the direction of setting high requirements for students and instructors, at the same time having policies and regimes to encourage staff and postgraduates to actively participate in scientific research; increasing the scale and quality of postgraduates.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of the Organizing Committee and Head of the Scientific Committee of the Conference, presented a report to introduce and evaluate the current status of doctoral training and the current status of strong research groups at higher education institutions. According to the research survey of Prof. Nguyen Dinh Duc, the quality of doctoral training in recent years has been strongly improved, with important changes in quality; many PhD students have had research results published in prestigious ISI journals and many PhD students have excellent research results, not inferior to PhD students trained full-time abroad. According to Prof. Duc, in recent years, many universities have recognized the importance and have paid attention to investing in building strong research groups. These research groups are the cells of training and research activities in universities. Through strong research groups to attract, train, nurture talents and promote research to reach international standards and levels, promote international publications and thereby enhance the position, prestige and ranking of schools, research groups are also an environment for personalized training, implementing innovation and start-up activities in the context of digital transformation revolution. PhD students are an important source of science and technology human resources in universities. Professor Duc also proposed many comprehensive and fundamental solutions to promote and improve the quality of doctoral training, associated with strong research groups in universities in the coming time. Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc also emphasized that Vietnamese universities with the tradition of respecting teachers and learning, the establishment of strong research groups is also considered a good environment, a suitable model for teachers, scientists, colleagues and students to bond, cooperate in research and sustainable innovation.

The delegates unanimously appreciated the achievements that higher education has received from the policy of building research groups and linking training, especially doctoral training with scientific research and research groups. The workshop also agreed to identify the key words to ensure the quality of doctoral training meets international standards.

One is: PhD training must be full-time at the training facility;

Monday, we must consider PhD students as a force for scientific and technological research in higher education institutions, so we need to have scholarship policies and financial support such as living expenses so that PhD students can focus on their research.

TuesdayAs a PhD student, you need a research environment. Only with a research group can you reach international standards.

Wednesday,The research group is the cell of training and scientific research activities, a model that connects postgraduate training with research.

In addition, the State and universities need to attract talents, attract leading professors from prestigious universities at home and abroad to work; attract many young researchers, many PhD students to participate - they are the key human resources to implement the ideas of the research team leader. For the research team to be effective and successful, there needs to be a satisfactory and long-term investment mechanism. In addition, research teams must access modern research directions in the world, associated with new factors of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution such as factorssmartandinnovation, these are the development trends of research groups in the next decade.

University representatives attending the workshop

The workshop had more than 20 presentations and dozens of comments from 40 leading universities and research institutes in Vietnam such as: University of Natural Sciences, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Economics, University of Education, University of Technology, VNU, Institute of Vietnamese Studies and Development Science, Institute of Information Technology, Institute of Education Quality Assurance, Faculty of Law - VNU, Ho Chi Minh City National University, Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Institute of Military Science and Technology - Ministry of National Defense, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, National Economics University, Foreign Trade University, Hanoi Medical University, Military Medical Academy, Hanoi University of Education, University of Construction, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, ... and representatives of the Office of Educational Science Program, professors and heads of some typical strong research groups.

The presentations raised current issues of the unit related to strong research groups, doctoral training as well as suggestions for perfecting the Doctoral Training Regulations, regulations on foreign languages, output standards, support policies, etc. Many opinions were oriented so that the Ministry of Education and Training had the basis and basis to adjust and perfect the draft Doctoral Training Regulations.

Sharing the factors for successful PhD training to connect strong research groups that delegates are interested in, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim, Head of the Asian Trade Research Group, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU, said: to promote the development of research groups, first of all, it is necessary to have the right research orientation to meet the requirements and link with the national development strategy, link with the common international concerns to meet long-term requirements.

Furthermore, to have a strong research team, human development is an extremely important factor. It is necessary to guide, nurture and attract students to participate in scientific research right from the second year. At the same time, we must train, guide and connect so that students can gradually participate in solving major research problems. Through that, we also bond between teachers and students, creating a bond and passion for the young research team to fully develop their ability to explore and research.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Tu, University of Economics, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, said that to successfully train PhDs and achieve international standards, the key factors are policies to attract foreign professors and full-time PhD students and the need to build research teams.

Dr. Nguyen Dac Trung, Deputy Head of Training Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology emphasized: “PhD students must truly be PhD students, consider this as their job, to put all their heart into it, and thereby receive results. Only then can the right motivation be created, motivating PhD students to complete their work well.”

Acknowledging the role of research groups in higher education institutions and doctoral training, Ms. Le Yen Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities and Natural Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, said that in the near future, the Ministry will promote the implementation of the Project on training and fostering scientific and technological human resources domestically and abroad using the state budget according to Decision No. 2395/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister.

Associate Professor Dr. Le Hieu Giang, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education, also said that establishing research groups is one of the university's solutions to attract graduate students. "Graduate students without research groups have no support. Our research group includes professors, associate professors, doctors, masters, bachelors and engineers."

According to Associate Professor Giang, through research groups, the school attracts many projects to study and solve practical problems. At the same time, with its autonomous mechanism, the budget allows the school to support graduate students in scientific research, reward ISI articles, etc.

At the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, Acting Head of the University Department, discussed issues related to the basic orientations for amending and perfecting the Doctoral Training Regulations this time.

According to Law No. 34, which came into effect, the authority has been delegated to higher education institutions. This is a means for universities to improve the quality of training, including doctoral training. Through research groups and the requirements of the Doctoral Training Regulations, the number of prestigious international publications in Vietnam has increased 3 times compared to 7 years ago. This is a strong development in scientific research and we have focused on international integration, the double effect of building research groups and improving the quality of doctoral training. Statistics show that the scientific research capacity of universities has developed quite strongly. For example, in ASEAN, Vietnam ranks number 1 in international publications in the field of Mathematics.

According to Associate Professor Thuy, the upcoming revision of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training needs to refer to the experiences of developed countries in the world. However, what has been and is being implemented well and is still suitable should continue to be inherited and promoted. What is still inadequate and is a barrier needs to be reviewed for revision and supplementation, in order to meet practical requirements and integrate with the world.

The leader of the Ministry of Education and Training said: The Ministry will have a plan to report and discuss with the Ministry of Finance to build a policy mechanism for PhD students. If PhD students have scholarships, they will focus more on scientific research. Through this workshop, based on the results of scientific research and from the practice of universities, the Ministry will study and absorb to complete legal documents, thereby contributing practically to the development of scientific research and improving the quality of doctoral training in higher education institutions.

According to VNU Media