Planning of training majors and disciplines – Orientation for the development of VNU

On this occasion, we had an interview with Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, Head of Training Department, VNU.

-DearProf. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Duc, What does Decision 4033 mean forVNU in general and its unitstraining in VNU saidprivate?

Recognizing the role of training industry orientation, since 2014, VNU has developed and issued the Training Industry and Major Planning for the period 2014 - 2020. To continue the orientation for the next 5 years, the Director of VNU signed Decision No. 4033 promulgating the List of training industries and majors planned for the period 2021 - 2025.
Decision 4033 was issued not only to fulfill the Prime Minister's request in the Regulations on organization and operation of VNU and member universities that "The Director of VNU is responsible for approving the development plan of training majors and disciplines within the entire VNU" but also because of the development motivation of VNU and its training units.
Planning training majors and disciplines helps to minimize overlaps and duplications between training majors in VNU, avoiding the risk of spreading investment and ineffective use of training resources in VNU; Creating connectivity within the same unit and between units in VNU to promote the strength of each unit and the combined strength of VNU;
This planning also helps VNU to explore and develop pilot, unique, pioneering training majors and majors bearing the VNU brand.
For VNU in general and training units in particular, the process of developing and approving training sector and major planning is an opportunity for units to review and clearly define strategies, plans, and roadmaps for developing training sectors for each stage, thereby proactively and orientedly investing and developing resources in terms of human resources, finance, facilities, international cooperation, and conditions to ensure corresponding quality.
Thus, the planning of training sectors and majors is essentially the orientation for the development of units and VNU in the coming period.
According to this plan, with the number of existing programs and the number of planned programs, by 2025, VNU will have a total of 572 training programs of all kinds, including 192 undergraduate programs, 225 master's programs and 155 doctoral programs.

Compared to the current training programs, this list has many new majors. Of which, there are 67 planned majors for undergraduate level, 118 majors for master's level and 55 majors for doctoral level.
In particular, there are 58 pilot undergraduate training majors, 102 pilot master's degree majors and 43 pilot doctoral majors. The pilot majors are majors that are not yet listed in the list of training majors and specialties issued by the Ministry of Education and Training and have been coded. These pilot majors are "specialties" in training at VNU.
In previous stages, many pilot majors were later included in the State's list and deployed nationwide training, affirmed and highly appreciated such as master's and doctorate in Measurement and Evaluation in Education, Engineering in Technology - Construction Engineering - Transportation, Automation and Information Technology, Aviation - Space Technology; bachelor's in Data Science, Energy Engineering, Nano Materials and Components, Non-traditional Security, Climate Change, ... The pilot majors and majors are the result of research activities and international integration, demonstrating the pioneering leadership in the higher education system of VNU.

Each industry and specialty that is born has a certain role and function for the dialectical development of the socio-economy. In the coming period, until 2025, perhaps no industry will really "disappear". However, with the rapid development of science and technology, artificial intelligence, and the 4.0 industrial revolution, along with the changes and increases in both human requirements and needs, many scientific fields are increasingly interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary, even blurring the boundaries of some fields, along with many training programs that must have flexible innovation: it can be intertwined, it can be transformed, it can be divided, it can also be integrated.
This "improvisation", as well as the growth of strong research groups of VNU, is an opportunity and a foundation for the creation of new interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary training programs. This will lead to the restructuring of units and the development of the scientific and technological staff and potential of VNU in the coming time.
Some training majors/specializations will soon appear in the near future at VNU such as: Artificial Intelligence, Technology Management and Innovation, Energy Management and Sustainable Development, Logistics, Industrial Design and Multimedia, Urban and Construction Management (Smart), Financial Technology and Digital Business, etc. Engineering - technology majors, majors related to human resource needs of the 4.0 industrial revolution account for a large proportion of the new majors planned by VNU in the near future.

In the past, the training industry was closely linked to the career of students after graduation, each industry corresponding to one/several careers. Nowadays, with the rapid development of science and technology and the requirements of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, many major changes have been predicted in the way people live and work. STEM education, adaptability and integration, vision, innovation and entrepreneurship, associated with sustainable development, along with foreign languages ​​and soft skills are important keys to the success of each individual as well as evaluating the success of higher education.
The development model of universities has also changed. Previously, we often talked about advanced research universities. Today, not only is it possible, but research - innovation and digital transformation are the three pillars in the structure of a university in the era of Industry 4.0.
Therefore, in the coming time, there will be changes not only in the list of occupations, but also in the structure of the program, the form of training management organization, as well as the knowledge foundation, skills, and output standards, of course leading to fundamental and comprehensive innovation in the content and methods of admission, and from there also bringing many career opportunities and futures for learners, and opportunities for higher education institutions.
Therefore, in my opinion, STEM and liberal education philosophy will probably be the appropriate philosophy for education in the future. Accordingly, learners will not only be equipped with in-depth knowledge of a field but also receive interdisciplinary knowledge, skills to adapt to many different working environments, and have the opportunity to work in a globally integrated environment.
With this trend, interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary training programs will probably be the choice of many learners. In addition, engineering and technology industries will also develop strongly to meet the human resource needs of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.
The list of majors and majors planned by VNU for the period 2021-2025 has anticipated and clearly demonstrated the above trend. If interdisciplinary majors and majors and majors in the engineering and technology sector are added, this group accounts for about 60% of the list.
VNU, from a university known as only strong in basic sciences, has transformed strongly and on the basis of its strength in basic sciences, while the engineering and technology sectors of VNU have come a long way, such as the computer science and mechanical engineering sectors of VNU, which have stood shoulder to shoulder with mathematics and physics, and are ranked in the 500-600 group in the QS rankings.
Recently, in October 2021, the two fields of Computer Science and Engineering of VNU were ranked 601-800 in the prestigious THE WUR world rankings. In 2021, the number of international publications in the field of Engineering was also the highest among all fields and accounted for more than 10% of VNU's ISI/scopus international publications.

The planning of training majors and disciplines is not only meaningful to VNU and its member and affiliated units, but also meaningful to society in general and to future learners of VNU in particular.
With this planning map, the Government as well as State management agencies will have more information for management, operation and development orientation for training and research activities of the whole country, contributing to the construction and orientation for both the university education strategy and the science and technology development strategy of the country.
For potential learners, this is an overview for learners to grasp the career structure of VNU in the next 5 years, thereby choosing the most suitable major for themselves in the future.