Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Dinh Duc: Doing science cannot be "made quick"!

Sunday - September 10, 2023 02:32

(According to Vietnam Education Newspaper) Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc: "Being a scientist means you cannot "make quick money", and even more so, you cannot chase after false fame. Being a scientist means you must be dedicated, passionate, and dare to accept losses and sacrifices."

Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Dinh Duc - Head of Training Department (Hanoi National University) was honored in the group of 10 thousand scientists with the most outstanding scientific citations and world influence in 2022.
Reporters of Vietnam Education Electronic Magazine had an interview with Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Dinh Duc to better understand the efforts and endeavors in scientific research of him and his colleagues.
Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc: In my opinion, to publish scientific publications that have a global impact, first of all, scientists must have good knowledge, qualifications, and research methods that are systematic and modern to be able to solve big, new problems in science; especially, they must choose an advanced, modern, and world-integrated research direction; boldly engage in researching problems that no one has solved or has not solved before; and the research results received by scientists must be of sufficient scope, have new discoveries, and contribute significantly to promoting the development of science and thus receive attention and citations from the international scientific community; and to maintain and promote the above factors, scientists must build a strong research team.
The scientists with high rankings whose names I know are all famous professors, leaders of strong research groups, and have worked or are working in large, prestigious universities in the world.

Giáo sư Nguyễn Đình Đức luôn nhiệt huyết truyền lại kiến thức cho học trò. Ảnh: NVCC ảnh 1

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc is always enthusiastic about passing on knowledge to his students. Photo: NVCC

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc:In 2020, there were 22, in 2021, there were 28, this year, there are 34 Vietnamese scientists working in the country whose names are on the list of 100,000 scientists. There has been a continuous increase over the years and this year there are 6 more people - more than 20% compared to last year. Among them are scientists ranked very highly, top 100 in the world in the field.
We can see in this ranking that there are domestic scientists whose rankings are not inferior to those of famous overseas Vietnamese professors working at major foreign universities, while the material conditions for research in the country are much more difficult and lacking.
In that context, the fact that more and more Vietnamese scientists are listed in the world rankings is a matter of pride, an extraordinary effort by scientists. This result affirms the growth of the intellectual class, of Vietnamese scientists recognized in the international scientific community. And it is also the result of fundamental and comprehensive innovation of Vietnamese higher education and science and technology, increasingly integrating strongly with the level and advanced research directions of the world.
For scientists who are also teachers like us, this recognition has a special significance: the teacher's success is the pride of his students, and will be an encouragement for young people to firmly follow the chosen path with confidence - with diligence and effort, they can reach the pinnacle of science.
Reporter: How do you evaluate the scientific research environment in our country today?
Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc:Our Party and State have identified science, technology and innovation as the driving force and foundation for socio-economic development. The experience of some countries such as Japan, South Korea, India and China shows that they have invested inscience and technologyvery strong, thanks to which it has taken advantage of and grasped the opportunities and developed remarkably in the 3.0 technology revolution. I think that the 4.0 technology revolution is a great opportunity for Vietnam to take off, and science and technology together with high-quality human resources are the magic wand for our nation to grasp the opportunities of this revolution to break through and rise up.

In recent times, science and technology activities in Vietnam have received increasing attention and favorable conditions from the Party and the State. The birth of the Law on Science and Technology, major science and technology programs, science and technology development funds, as well as policies to support scientists, strong research groups and most recently the revised Law on Higher Education has emphasized university autonomy, creating conditions for higher education institutions to maximize investment resources for science and technology, thanks to which, science and technology activities have made very proud breakthroughs. For example, Vietnam's international publications since 2020 have increased dramatically. If in 2011, Vietnam only had nearly 1,600 scientific publications in ISI journals, after 10 years, by 2020, this number had increased nearly 8 times, ranking 49th in the world and 3rd in the ASEAN region.
Our country's science and technology activities are also more practical. In the past, many research topics were finished and put away in a drawer, but now the requirement is to be closely linked to practice. Therefore, there have been many topics that have successfully solved the requirements of practice and businesses, such as some results in the fields of digital transformation, communications (5G), agriculture, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, etc. or in the field of medicine and health care - we have also had great successes in organ transplantation. These achievements show that Vietnam has research results that are not inferior to those of the world.
Policies on science and technology management are also increasingly innovated, reducing administrative procedures, increasing autonomy and partial contracting, thereby increasingly promoting the effectiveness of science and technology activities in research and training institutions.
However, besides the innovations, there are also limitations surrounding science and technology activities. The percentage of GDP invested in science and technology in Vietnam is still low. The implementation of the Party's policies is still slow and many issued policies have not been put into practice, and are even inconsistent and overlapping among ministries and sectors. Investment in research and implementation is still small and moderate. There is no attention and no proper investment in strong research groups to develop into international research groups. Policies on incentives, attraction and investment for talented scientists, especially support for young scientists, are still not satisfactory, and there are no breakthroughs in science and technology policies.
Therefore, in order for Vietnam's science and technology to develop dramatically in the coming time, to have more universities and more Vietnamese scientists ranked in prestigious rankings and to integrate strongly with the world, we need to focus on creating openness in policy mechanisms, investing in science and technology appropriately and long-term. Especially focus on investing in people, in leading scientists, investing in building and developing new advanced research directions, and especially investing in strong research groups - cells in research and implementation activities.

Giáo sư Nguyễn Đình Đức trình bày báo cáo mời tại phiên toàn thể tại Hội thảo quốc tế, Đại học Yonsei, Hàn Quốc (7/2017). Ảnh: NVCC ảnh 2

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc presented an invited report at the plenary session at the International Conference, Yonsei University, Korea (July 2017). Photo: NVCC

A strong research group is also a “home” - an environment to attract leading scientists and talents from home and abroad to work. The research group plays an extremely important role from research implementation to training, testing, connecting scientists with the State, businesses and is the cradle to promote the birth of new inventions, innovations and products, and is also an environment to promote startups.
Therefore, one of the solutions to develop potential, improve the quality of scientific and technological activities and improve the quality of human resources in the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution, so that science and technology can truly be the "magic wand" that brings Vietnam to parity with other countries in the world, is to focus on developing the quantity and improving the quality of scientific and technological potential - building and developing strong research groups must be considered as one of the breakthrough leverage solutions.

Reporter: According to you, what are the strengths and weaknesses of young researchers? What do you expect from the current generation of young scientists in our country?
Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc:Young scientists today have many more favorable conditions than our generation: well-trained, many young people have had time to study or train abroad; have solid professional qualifications, good foreign languages; good learning materials and facilities; high integration ability.
Young cadres today, including young scientists, are very dynamic, grasping and adapting quickly to innovations and advances in science and technology. On the other hand, living in an open market economy, they are also more “realistic”.
What I expect from young people is perseverance and persistence. Doing science cannot be done “quickly”, and even more so, one cannot pursue fame. Doing science requires dedication and passion, and the willingness to accept loss and sacrifice.
I believe that young people - the future owners of the country - will always maintain their ambitions and aspirations to contribute, the aspirations to revive the country; cultivate virtue and talent, be serious and diligent in work; integrate with international standards and levels; grasp the opportunities of the times, of the 4.0 technology revolution to be creative, start-up, worthy of being the main force in building and constructing the country, bringing glory to the Fatherland.

Reporter: With nearly 40 years of experience in persistent study and scientific research, especially with many important pioneering studies in the field of new materials and mechanics, can you share more about this field?
Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc:My research focus and strengths and those of my research team are in areas related to advanced composite materials and structures: such as multiphase polymer composites; super-heat-resistant carbon-carbon materials; smart functional materials with variable physical and mechanical properties (FGM), nanomaterials; new materials that increase the energy conversion coefficient in solar panels; piezoelectric composite materials with variable physical and mechanical properties; auxetic materials (with negative Poisson's ratio and the ability to damp and absorb shock waves); composite materials with high physical and mechanical properties used in harsh conditions and special projects; the most advanced materials such as penta-graphene that meet the large information storage requirements of the 4.0 industrial revolution; application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in optimizing composite materials and structures,...
These are all advanced and modern research directions, and have high practical applications. They are both integrated with the international scientific community and meet the requirements of practical orientation in Vietnam.
To achieve the success I have today, I have had to go through countless difficulties, challenges, and shortages; but thanks to my perseverance, strong will, and the support of the school and colleagues, I have overcome these difficulties and challenges, built a strong research team, built a new laboratory, a new department, and a new major: the Advanced Materials and Structures Laboratory, Faculty of Transport Construction Engineering Technology at the University of Technology, Civil Engineering at the Vietnam-Japan University, Automation and Information Technology at the International School, Hanoi National University, and trained many generations of talented and successful students. After 40 years of perseverance in the profession, I have built a prestigious scientific school on advanced composite materials at Hanoi National University, known in the scientific community at home and abroad.

Giáo sư Nguyễn Đình Đức cùng học trò xuất sắc của mình - Trần Hồng Quân trong lễ bảo vệ luận án tiến sĩ. Ảnh: NVCC ảnh 3

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc and his excellent student - Tran Hong Quan at the doctoral thesis defense ceremony. Photo: NVCC

Reporter: As a dedicated teacher with many years of experience in education and training, on the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers' Day, November 20, what concerns do you have about Vietnam's education system?

Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc:“Teaching is the noblest of all noble professions”. Fate has made me become a teacher and I feel honored and proud of that. On November 20, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the teachers who have educated us, and I also wish my teachers - my colleagues - good health, happiness, and always keep the flame of enthusiasm in the career of educating people.
What I always worry about is that Vietnamese education should do a good job of “real learning, real exams, real talent”. All teaching and learning activities, scientific research must be substantial, integrated with international levels, quality and standards. Teachers must be dedicated and devoted to their students, awaken their potential, and light up the thinking and creative abilities of each student so that they can succeed and be talented in life. And I think that is also the simplest and most genuine content of the philosophy and educational goals that I always cherish.
Thank you very much Professor!

Professor, Doctor of Science Nguyen Dinh Duc is a leading expert of Vietnam in the field of Advanced Materials - Structures and Composites. Professor Duc has published more than 300 scientific articles and reports, including nearly 200 articles in prestigious international ISI journals, and is the author of 2 patents. Professor Duc is also honored to represent Vietnamese scientists and be invited to join the international editorial board of 10 prestigious ISI journals in the world.
Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc has been a research professor and visiting lecturer at prestigious universities in the world such as: Moscow State University; Mechanical Engineering Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia); Japan Advanced Institute of Sciences and Technology (JAIST - Japan); University of Birmingham (UK), Sejong University (Korea).
For 4 consecutive years, in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, Professor Nguyen Dinh Duc was ranked in the top 10,000 most influential scientists in the world by the US journal PLoS Biology and ranked 94th in the world in the field of Engineering in 2022.
He is also one of the few Vietnamese scientists honored by this Magazine in the list of 100,000 scientists ranked with influential scientific citations in the world according to lifetime achievements.

Author:Doan Nhan (Vietnam Education Newspaper)

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