Professor Ngo Bao Chau: "Doing science requires integrity"

Professionalism starts with the process

According to Professor Ngo Bao Chau, professionalism in scientific activities must first be demonstrated in the research process, which is especially important for young scientists. The Field Prize winner also shared that he was very lucky to study and grow up in schools with a tradition of learning and research, and to be guided early in scientific research by good teachers who were dedicated to their work, so he had the opportunity to "correct mistakes". These skills gradually "absorbed" and became increasingly proficient. For countries with advanced science, compliance with research processes is inevitable and a basic skill, but in Vietnam, there are researchers who have forgotten or have not yet recognized the importance of complying with these processes.

According to personal experience, Professor Ngo Bao Chau divides the research process into 10 stages, including: determining the scope of the research - finding the research problem - updating information about the research situation - finding ways to solve the problem - making a research plan - summarizing what has been done - writing the article - sharing and collecting comments - editing the article - submitting for publication.

He also acknowledged the fact that finding a research problem that is new, topical, and suitable for one's own field and research capacity is sometimes not easy. The experience he shared with young scientists is to regularly attend scientific conferences and presentations by experts in many related scientific fields to update the latest research directions, to listen to what scientists are researching and discussing. "Sometimes direct discussions on the sidelines of conferences with speakers bring you new information and ideas - when sharing becomes closer and easier" - Professor Chau said.

An indispensable step in implementing a research topic is to collect and search for information, articles, and scientific works that have been done related to the topic. “You need to read all those research works to see how far the predecessors have solved the problem? Start with classic research works to fully grasp the basic spirit of the problem, then move on to the latest research to learn new perspectives and research methods…” – the mathematician shared.

Starting to write a scientific paper is the simplest step in the whole process - Professor Ngo Bao Chau commented. Talking about his personal experience as a young researcher learning to write his first scientific papers, he said that he meticulously and carefully hand-copied a number of scientific papers by previous authors with the intention of learning how they presented the problem. In addition, he also translated a number of foreign articles into Vietnamese. This work has helped scientists learn early how to present scientific papers in the correct format and ensure the necessary criteria.

“A common mistake for new researchers is to send their scientific paper to the journal they want to publish in after writing it,” said the famous mathematician. The nature of science is to communicate. In fact, this initial product needs to be “interacted” with colleagues, introduced at conferences and seminars to receive more feedback and useful suggestions to help the author clarify his or her understanding.

“Sometimes young authors always want to send their articles to the most famous journals, but that is not an effective way,” said Professor Ngo Bao Chau. “The ranking of a journal is not the most important thing, what is important is its suitability!” And his advice to young scientists is to send their articles to journals and experts who understand and accept the issues they raise, and they must also be experts who are serious and careful in the process of evaluating articles.

Disrespect for the process sometimes causes unfortunate results for scientists who do not have much experience. One story that the mathematician shared was a case of a Vietnamese scientist submitting an article to a foreign scientific journal, under the name of the article and two of his students. After going through the review round, the author received the article to edit according to the request of the editorial board. When sending the article back to the journal, this author removed the names of the other two co-authors from the article. The editorial board then rejected the article not because of the quality of the article but because of doubts about the author's honesty. This scientist could have done this for many reasons, but it is clear that he did not respect the process and behaved unprofessionally - Professor Chau commented.

Science emphasizes critical thinking

Discussing the characteristics needed in scientific research, Professor Ngo Bao Chau especially emphasized honesty in science. Because with open information like today, almost no one can hide dishonesty, especially dishonesty in science. "The most important thing in doing science is integrity" - Professor Chau said. Because when being dishonest even just once, scientists have lost their reputation and all previous efforts and efforts will be "down the drain".

In response to the question about the difference in scientific research in Vietnam and abroad, Professor Chau frankly shared: "Science, wherever it is, still needs to respect the characteristics: correctness, honesty, novelty and usefulness". In the common concept, scientific research is associated with the passion of the individual for the work he does. However, in countries with advanced science and education, research is considered a type of creative labor, highly professionalized and research becomes a profession, both satisfying personal passion and being able to make a living. Teaching is the commitment of the lecturer to the students, to the school, research is more personal and independent. However, if we are to evaluate the rankings of universities and the reputation of professors, the factor of scientific research is highly valued.

Professor Ngo Bao Chau also particularly emphasizes the critical nature of science because “only through conflict and criticism can we find the truth”. Scientists need to be ready to criticize research works strictly, and not to disrespect the objective working process of science out of respect for friends and relatives. The collisions and conflicts that work requires do not affect feelings in daily life – only when scientists can do that can they be truly professional, respect research work, respect themselves and their colleagues.

When asked about the significance of the number of publications and the rate of citations to a scientist’s academic reputation, Professor Chau shared his opinion: if we only focus on the number of research articles and works while ignoring other factors, it is a mechanical way of doing things. In fact, the evaluation of a scientist by colleagues and researchers does not depend on the number of works they write, but on the quality and influence of that author’s work.

Discussing the trend of integration and internationalization in scientific research, Professor Ngo Bao Chau said that, regardless of the scientific field, it is still necessary to keep up with hot and current issues of contemporary science, integrate and dialogue with international colleagues, and comply with common rules in research, and not be able to "do it alone".