IMPRESSIONS 2016: STABILITY FOR DEVELOPMENT!

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

- Looking back at 2016, what do you think is the most remarkable result that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has achieved?

I think the most important result that the School has achieved is the smooth and successful transfer of the new leadership and organizational arrangement of the School. The new organizational structure still ensures stability, inheritance and initially brings positive results. The new Board of Directors and the leaders of functional departments and affiliated units have high consensus and unanimity in implementing the new plans and tasks of the School. In particular, this change does not cause internal turmoil or conflict, still promoting the solidarity of the whole collective for the greater goals of the School in the future. I think that is the most important achievement and has a foundation for upcoming innovations.

There were other changes in the organizational structure such as: merging the Training Department and the Postgraduate Training Department into the Training Department, thereby unifying the management of the training activities of the School; renaming the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Training Cooperation to the Department of Cooperation and Development to expand its functions and tasks in line with the new trend. In the past year, the School also established the Department of Religious Studies, separated from the Faculty of Philosophy, increasing the number of training units of the School to 16 faculties and one affiliated department.

The school also pays more and more attention to communication work, building a new image with the new slogan "Honoring the Past, Embracing the Future". Through that, the school's leaders want to convey the message about the values ​​and long-standing traditions of the school to the staff and students, thereby enhancing pride, solidarity, responsibility and confidence in the future.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc - Vice President of Vietnam National University, Hanoi presented the decision to appoint the Rector to Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh

- It is known that international publication in science is still a focus of the School in recent years. Can you share more about this?

International publications in science are an indicator of the level of regional integration and internationalization of the University, and at the same time a measure of the capacity of the scientific staff. In recent years, the University has implemented many policies to encourage and motivate international publications of staff. If in 2010, the reward for an international article published in scientific journals in general was 5 million VND, then this year, the reward for an article in journals with high impact index (ISI/SCOPUS) has reached 15 million VND. If in 2010, the total number of international publications of the whole University was only 7 articles, then in 2016, this number was 50 works, of which 06 articles were in the ISI and Scopus categories.

However, the biggest “gain” is that the School has contributed to changing the awareness and concept of society about international publication in the field of social sciences and humanities. Previously, many opinions said that integration in social sciences and humanities was more difficult than in other fields of science. However, if we look at the increase in both quantity and quality of the School’s publications, we can see that this is completely possible. The important thing is to have good policies and mechanisms, and to have honor and recognition properly for the contributions of scientists, thereby encouraging their creativity. For researchers, honor is more important than money. What they need is an environment of academic freedom and recognition of research results. International publication is gradually becoming a habit and a new cultural feature in the School’s academic activities.

Professor, People's Teacher Phan Huy Le was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology in 2016.

In addition, the School's Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, after only one year of operation, was listed by the State Council of Professors as a prestigious scientific journal, with 1 point per article. Currently, the School's Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities publishes 6 issues per year, including 2 in English. The Journal's editorial board consists of prestigious domestic and international scientists. The review process for scientific articles is quite strict, with independent review by two prestigious scientists. The Journal's goal is to be included in the Scopus list of scientific journals by 2020.

The school has also registered to participate in the ASEAN Science Citation Index. In the future, the scientific publications of the school staff will have more opportunities to appear in the regional reference and reference list. These are the remarkable efforts of the school in the goal of internationalization and integration in the field of scientific research.

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh and domestic and international delegates at the seminar on journalism and communication within the framework of the research program on Internet and social networks of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities

- It can be seen that innovation and integration are important keywords in the school's development goals. So how is this reflected in other areas of the school, Professor?

The mark of innovation and integration is also reflected in many other achievements of the School in the past year. Regarding training, the School has reviewed and adjusted the training process at all levels, in the direction of shortening the training time to be effective and scientific, avoiding the case where students have to prolong their studies just because of technical factors. With the philosophy of taking the learner as the center, the management and training service are also required to change in a more proactive and responsible direction. Another bright spot is that this year, more than 20 teachers have registered to teach their courses in English. This is also a trend encouraged by the School, thereby improving the foreign language proficiency of both lecturers and students, towards attracting more international students to study. In the past year, the School also conducted quality accreditation according to AUN standards for the Philosophy training program, after the Linguistics and Oriental Studies training program was accredited according to AUN standards with good results. It is expected that by 2020, there will be 08 university training programs accredited according to AUN standards.

This year is also a year of strong development of international cooperation activities, showing the number of signed cooperation documents reaching over 250. Among the partners signing cooperation documents with the University, we can mention Zurich University (Switzerland), Rikkyo University, Kobe University (Japan), Cologne University (Germany), Beijing Foreign Studies University (China)... Last December, the University supported the establishment of the Vietnam Research Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Many international cooperation projects have been well implemented, in-depth and brought about substantial results such as the Project “Enhancing National Research and Innovation Capacity in Vietnam” (ENHANCE) funded by the Erasmus+ Program under the European Union. The project has the participation of 6 Vietnamese universities and 03 European universities. The project includes 07 specific activity packages with a series of research activities, assessing the current status of research and innovation in Vietnam, proposing solutions to support Vietnamese universities in improving their capacity for innovation, research and transfer of science and technology. Next is the “Internal Quality Assurance Training Project in Southeast Asia” with the participation of many partners such as DAAD, AQAN, AUN, ENQA, HRK, SEA…; Finally, there is the “ASEAN Research Project” funded by the EU for 3 ASEAN universities and 7 EU universities. In addition, other projects funded by traditional partners such as the Konrad Adenauer Institute and the Rosa Luxemburg Institute maintained good performance.

2016 Doctoral Degree Award Ceremony at University of Social Sciences and Humanities

- What about the challenges next year, Professor?

There are many challenges, but perhaps the most important is that the fourth industrial revolution is taking place strongly and has a profound impact on a global scale. The fourth industrial revolution forces us to change a lot, from upgrading infrastructure, to changing university management thinking, innovating teaching methods, research, and international cooperation.

Next is the challenge of the quality of scientific research topics and the capacity of the staff. Although the University has a large number of scientific research topics and a fairly high number of scientific staff meeting the standards of PhD, GS, and PGS, with 11 GS, 95 PGS, and 121 PhDs, the number of prestigious scientific publications in general, and international publications in particular, is not commensurate with the number of topics and the potential of this team. The number of staff with international publications is limited to only 25-30 people, meaning that only about 25% of highly qualified staff are capable of international publications. Among many reasons, foreign language is still one of the barriers that is difficult to remove in a short time. The University expects each Associate Professor/Professor of the University to publish one international work each year.

The third challenge is in university administration, how to promote creativity, initiative and responsibility in the work of each individual. University administration needs to be carried out in the direction of rational organization, science, information transparency, linking rights with responsibilities, applying advanced science and technology, in order to create high labor productivity among staff.

The final challenge that needs to be mentioned is how to promote communication activities, build the image of the School, thereby developing resources, building cooperation programs with localities and businesses, creating close connections and high interaction between the School and society.

- So, can the Principal share his wishes for next year?

The spirit of openness, innovation and creativity will continue to be the fundamental values ​​that the School pursues in the upcoming development journey. We cannot sit and wait, but need to be proactive and change ourselves. There is no other way, from the leaders, staff to students of the School must constantly strive to be creative to bring the School to sustainable development.

On behalf of the Party Committee and the Board of Directors of the University, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the attention and support of Hanoi National University, the dedicated contributions of the staff, students, graduate students and PhD students who have made the past year of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities a successful one. I hope that in the coming year, the efforts and hard work of the teachers will bring about more comprehensive and profound changes in all areas of the University's activities.

On the occasion of the New Year of the Rooster, I would like to send to Ladies, Gentlemen, Teachers, Colleagues, Friends and Students of the School in particular, and VNU Hanoi in general, my best wishes: health, happiness and success.