University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU Hanoi

https://ussh.vnu.edu.vn

Promoting international publications among young staff

The 2nd Meeting between USSH's Rector and young staff on November 13th put an emphasis on how to increase the quality of academic research and strengthen international publications among USSH's young staff. Participating in the meeting were Prof. Dr Pham Quang Minh (USSH's Rector), Assoc. Prof. Dr Hoang Anh Tuan (USSH's Vice Rector) and Dr. Do Tien Dung (Director of Vietnam's Nafosted).

Currently, USSH has 278 staff under the age of 40, amounting to 52.75% of all 527 staff. The number of staff under 40 that are Associate professors are 11, accounting for 11.58% of all associate professors. The number of young research fellows is 106, accounting for 83.46% of the University's total number. The number of young staff with good English proficiency (that graduated overseas or have international certificates or foreign language degrees) account for 56.86% the total number of staff adept at this language.

With the above information, Prof. Dr Pham Quang Minh said the University's young staff are the most important, crucial force expected to prolong the University's scientific brand and reputation in both the present and future. This year, an encouraging sign is the University had published 80 international publications, including 22 that belong to the ISI and Scopus databases, the highest number so far. Many authors actively contributing to international publications are young staff such as Thach Mai Hoang (Faculty of Anthropolgy), Nguyen Thi Nhu Trang (Faculty of Sociology), Pham Le Huy (Faculty of Oriental Studies), Nguyen Thu Hien (Faculty of Literature), and Trinh Thi Linh (Faculty of Psychology).   

Recently, the University has announced its policy of supporting up to 250 million VNDs for a book published by an international publishing house; providing other lower funds for publications written in English and published by prestigious domestic publishing houses, and other grants for writing articles and participating in overseas international conferences. In addition, every year the University holds several international conferences, English academic writing courses, and courses for sharing international publishing experiences; and strive to maintain a network among internal and external young researchers.

Prof. Dr Pham Quang Minh suggested the young staff actively take advantage of the above supportive measures to elevate their research capability to international standards because "it is an inevitable and survival issue" as USSH was developing into a research-based university of regional and international level.

To the assumption that international publications in social sciences and humanities are difficult and sensitive, the Rector expressed his disagreement and said international publications depend on research quality and novel ideas and the ability to connect with international scientists and academic journals in one's specialized field. The Rector requested young staff to change their perceptions of international publications in a more positive way, continue to participate in domestic and foreign international conferences, actively "mingle" with the flow of international academic and current events, study the demands of their dedicated international journals, develop close relations with predecessors to learn from them, and participate in trans-disciplinary research groups.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr Hoang Anh Tuan (USSH's Vice Rector), there are more and more opportunities to successfully register for research projects at different levels, especially those sponsored by Nafosted. Young scientists are equipped with good foreign language proficiency, up-to-date knowledge, the ability to connect with regional and international agents and the will to rise up. The important thing is instead of being timid or self-doubt they have to move forward, persevere and develop strategies to successfully realize their objectives. Assoc. Prof. Dr Hoang Anh Tuan also asked those with international publications to allow the young staff to participate in their research groups, making them grow.

At the meeting, Dr. Do Tien Dung introduced to the participants about the policies, criteria and conditions for registering a Nafosted research project; the Foundation's funding priorities and priviledges regarding young scientists.

The young staff also discussed with the Rector's leaders about such issues as how to quickly mobilize young researchers; the quantity/quality prioritization, etc.

Author: Thanh Ha

You did not use the site, Click here to remain logged. Timeout: 60 second