TTLV: Policy research promoting informal linkages through knowledge-sharing communities between universities and businesses: a case study of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Pham Thi Tham2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: 21/03/1989

4. Place of birth:Thanh Hoa

5. Decision to recognize student numberDecision No. 5915/QD-XHNV dated October 28, 2024, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process: Are not

7. Thesis title:Policy research on promoting informal linkages through knowledge-sharing communities between universities and businesses: a case study of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

8. Major:Science and Technology Management (Research-Oriented); Code: 8340412.

9. Scientific supervisor:

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Ngoc Ca: Lecturer, postgraduate trainer, School of Management and Business (HSB), Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

Dr. Nguyen The Thang: Faculty of Management Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

10. Summary of the thesis results:

This thesis clarifies the theoretical basis of informal linkages, defines and operationalizes the concept of "Knowledge Sharing Community" into five specific types based on the five informal linkage channels of the OECD, including: Academic Community, Conference and Expert Network Community, Regional Community, Shared Infrastructure Community, and Learning Community. Secondly, the thesis analyzes the current state of linkages and policies in Vietnam, pointing out that while knowledge-sharing communities have been formed, they remain fragmented and unevenly developed, with superficial activities such as workshops and networking predominating, while deeper forms of cooperation such as infrastructure sharing are still very weak. The current policy system reveals many gaps, particularly the weakness of the Financial Instruments group and the barriers in the Legal Instruments group related to the commercialization of intellectual property. Thirdly, based on those analyses, the thesis proposed seven priority policy tools, including: three tools belonging to the financial policy group (1. R&D subsidies/funding; 2. Financial support for academic spin-offs; 3. Funding for infrastructure and intermediary organizations); three tools belonging to the institutional policy group (4. Intellectual property rights regime; 5. Regulations on spin-offs established by researchers and students; 6. Regulations on open access and open data); and one tool belonging to the "soft" policy group (7. Network connectivity).

11. Practical applications:

The thesis results can be applied as a reference framework when building and operating policies to promote university-enterprise linkages, especially informal linkages. In practice, the government can implement three groups of solutions: (1) financial group to activate cooperation such as R&D funding with linkage conditions, support for the formation of spin-offs and investment in infrastructure/intermediaries; (2) institutional group to remove intellectual property barriers, benefit-sharing mechanisms and intangible asset valuation as well as regulations on open access and open data; (3) "soft" group to create an environment for knowledge sharing and partner matching.

12. Future research directions:

This thesis inevitably has certain limitations. Methodologically, the assessment of the current state of 73 universities based on publicly available information from their websites may not fully reflect the actual operational picture. Furthermore, the case study, while insightful, focuses only on a leading technical university and lacks a comparison with other types of institutions. In terms of scope, the thesis proposes a group of policy tools but fails to conduct a quantitative assessment of the impact of each tool. These limitations open up avenues for future research. Further studies could involve large-scale quantitative surveys to measure the extent and effectiveness of informal linkages; in-depth comparative case studies across different industries and organizational types; and the development of econometric models to test the impact of each policy tool after its pilot implementation.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

Pham Thi Tham, & Pham Thi Linh. (2025). Policies to promote linkages between higher education institutions and businesses: International experiences and lessons for Vietnam. Journal SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES AND MANAGEMENT, 14(3), 91–104. Query fromhttps://vietnamstijournal.net/index.php/JSTPM/article/view/597

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name:Pham Thi Tham2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: 21/03/1989                     4. Place of birth:Thanh Hoa

5. Admission decision number:Decision No. 5915/QD-XHNV Dated 28/10/2024.

6. Changes in academic processNone

7. Official thesis title: Policies to promote informal linkages through knowledge-sharing communities between universities and enterprises: a case study of Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

8. Major: Science and Technology Management (Research-oriented) Code: 8340402.

9. Supervisors:

Assoc. Prof. Tran Ngoc Ca, Lecturer, Dean of Faculty - Hanoi School of Business and Management (HSB), Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNU).

Dr. Nguyen The Thang , Faculty Member, Faculty of Management Science - University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH), Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

First, the thesis clarifies the theoretical framework of informal linkages and operationalizes the concept of "Knowledge Sharing Communities" into five specific types based on the five informal university-industry linkage (UIL) channels defined by the OECD. These include: Academic communities; Conference and professional network communities; Regional communities; Shared infrastructure communities; and Learning communities. Second, the thesis analyzes the current status of linkages and policies in Vietnam, indicating that while knowledge-sharing communities have been established, they remain fragmented and develop unevenly. Surface-level activities such as workshops and networking dominate, while deep cooperation forms, such as sharing infrastructure, remain weak. The current policy system reveals many gaps, particularly the weakness of financial instruments and barriers within institutional instruments related to the commercialization of intellectual property. Third, based on these analyses, the thesis proposes 07 priority policy instruments categorized into three groups (following the OECD 2019 framework): Financial instruments: (1) R&D grants/subsidies; (2) Financial support for academic spin-offs; (3) Funding for infrastructure and intermediary organizations; Regulatory instruments: (4) Intellectual Property (IP) ownership regimes; (5) Regulations on spin-offs established by researchers and students; (6) Open access and open data regulations; Soft instruments: (7) Networking and connectivity.

11. Practical applicability:

The results of this thesis can serve as a reference framework for formulating and operating policies to promote university-industry linkages, specifically informal ones. In practice, the government can implement these through three groups of solutions: Financial group (To trigger cooperation through R&D funding with linkage conditions, support for spin-off formation, and investment in infrastructure/intermediaries); Regulatory group (To remove barriers regarding intellectual property, benefit-sharing mechanisms, intangible asset valuation, and regulations on open access and open data); Soft group (To create environments for interaction, knowledge diffusion, and partner matching).

12. Further research directions:

This thesis has certain limitations. Methodologically, the assessment of the status of 73 universities based on publicly available website information may not fully reflect actual practices. In addition, while in-depth, the case study focuses on a leading technical university and does not include comparisons with other types of universities. In terms of scope, the thesis proposes a set of policy instruments but cannot yet conduct quantitative impact evaluations of each instrument. These limitations open up directions for future research. Subsequent studies may conduct large-scale quantitative surveys to measure the extent and effectiveness of informal linkage channels; carry out comparative case studies across sectors and organizational types; and develop econometric models to test the impact of each policy instrument after pilot implementation.

13. Thesis-related publications:

Pham Thi Tham, & Pham Thi Linh. (2025). Policies to promote university-industry linkages: International experience and lessons for Vietnam. Journal SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND MANAGEMENT, 14(3), 91–104. Retrieved fromhttps://vietnamstijournal.net/index.php/JSTPM/article/view/597