Professor Pham Quang Minh: Firmly upholding the philosophy of liberal education

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU

-Dear Professor, please share with us the core values ​​that form the foundation and motto for the activities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities over the past year.?

It can be said that in recent years, the philosophy of "liberal education" and the spirit of innovation are the fundamental values ​​for the University to build and adjust its operational plans in various fields. The advantage is that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has a long tradition and proud achievements over the past 70 years. The University has also accumulated values ​​and internal strengths that not every university has, such as social status and prestige, a team of leading scientists in many fields of Social Sciences and Humanities, a traditional foundation for training dozens of majors and extensive international cooperation with major universities and partners. However, that is also why the University needs to make more efforts to innovate in the context of a rapidly changing world and higher education also facing new challenges.

“Liberal education" has become a modern philosophy that many leading universities in the world pursue. This philosophy emphasizes the human factor, aiming to maximize individual creativity, liberating human thinking to create conditions for them to develop their personal abilities. This philosophy has become the guiding principle for the activities of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities at present. In addition, the mark of innovation and creativity is clearly shown in the fields of operation.

Prof. Dr. Phan Huy Le received the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology in 2017.

-With that philosophy and direction, what impressive highlights has the University of Social Sciences and Humanities had in scientific activities last school year, sir?

First of all, we must mention the steady increase in international publications among the staff in the past few years. This is a very encouraging sign because previously there was a view that social sciences and humanities could hardly integrate internationally. If in 2010, the School's international publications only stopped at 7 articles, then in 2016 it was 42; in 2017 there were 52 international publications, of which 08 were published in journals and publishers in the ISI/Scopus system. And more importantly, the spirit of international publication has gradually become an inevitable awareness of teachers. Every year, the School regularly applies a special reward policy for internationally published articles, holds seminars to exchange experiences in international publication among lecturers and moves towards establishing a network for information exchange and support for international publication in the School. I can confirm that with more than 600 domestic publications each year, the scientific potential of the school staff is enormous. The problem is our clear orientation for international publications and the necessary support for teachers to access foreign scientific journals as well as prestigious publishers in the world.

In addition, the University has maintained remarkable achievements in annual scientific research with the implementation of 17 State-level research projects, 03 Nafosted projects, 25 VNU-level projects and 33 grassroots-level projects. The University has also established the "Internet and Society" research program and has 03 laboratories invested by VNU. The University's staff has published 15 monographs and textbooks, of which 02 monographs are published in English.

In particular, on January 15, 2017, Professor Phan Huy Le was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Science and Technology for his work "Vietnamese History and Culture - A Partial Approach"..This work is considered a breakthrough in theory and methodology in the study of Vietnamese history and culture, highly appreciated by international and domestic scientists; it is the scientific basis for preparing a dossier to request UNESCO to recognize Thang Long Imperial Citadel as a World Cultural Heritage. Up to now, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has had 13 teachers receive the Ho Chi Minh Prize and the State Prize for Science and Technology - a rare achievement among research and training units in Vietnam.

Also last year, a major international conference on Southeast Asian Psychology was held for the first time in Vietnam, hosted by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, with the participation of leading psychologists from 35 countries. The conference created a great resonance and was an outstanding success in the scientific activities and international cooperation of the University in the past year.

The International Conference on Psychology with the theme “Human Well-being and Sustainable Development” (November 29 – December 1, 2017) was held for the first time in Southeast Asia. The co-organizers include: University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU, Institute of Psychology, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; IAAP - International Association of Applied Psychology; ITC - International Testing Committee; IACCP - International Association for Intercultural Psychology; CPS - Chinese Psychological Society; APS - Australian Psychological Society. The conference gathered leading psychologists from 35 countries.

-Besides, tHow has the spirit of innovation been reflected in the school's training activities in recent times, sir?

In order to realize the goal of building a research university, last school year, the University successfully trained and awarded PhD degrees to 30 graduate students in 15 different majors. Notably, since 2013, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has been the first institution in the country to implement PhD training in Science and Technology Management and after 4 years, the first graduate student received a PhD degree. Last year, the University also awarded Master's degrees to 265 students in 17 different majors. Among them, the major in Vietnamese Studies, which has been trained at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language since 2015, had its first graduate and received a Master's degree, and it was a foreign student. These results reflect the University's pioneering efforts in opening new training majors to meet social needs.

The past year marked new steps in quality assessment. The Bachelor of Philosophy is the third major and Literature is the fourth major (after Linguistics and Oriental Studies) to be assessed for quality according to AUN standards. In addition, the Bachelor of Vietnamese Studies and the Bachelor of Psychology were also assessed according to the standards of the Ministry of Education and Training with good results. In 2017, the University also conducted peer assessment of the quality of the Bachelor of Journalism, Tourism and Travel Services Management, Anthropology, and Political Science..Quality assurance activities continue to develop in both breadth and depth, making quality culture a criterion in all activities of the School.

A noteworthy innovation at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities last year was the change and implementation of the spirit of service in the organization, management and training services. Putting students at the center, the training process has been optimized and improved in efficiency, student dialogue has been organized substantively; the one-stop mechanism has been put into operation; the attitude of service and respect for learners has been promoted. Admission activities have been promoted in the direction of approaching learners' needs more closely.

Bachelor of Literature program was accredited according to AUN standards in 2017

- Last school year, investments in peopleof interest to the Schoolhow is it sir?

Also in the last school year, 03 staff of the School were appointed to the title of Professor, 07 staff were appointed to the title of Associate Professor, increasing the number of Professors and Associate Professors of the School to 102 (11 Professors and 91 Associate Professors), accounting for 27.49% of the total number of lecturers. The School currently has 152 staff studying postgraduate (142 PhD students, 10 graduate students), of which 28 staff are studying abroad. Last school year, 24 staff successfully defended their doctoral theses, 05 staff defended their master's theses. Currently, the School has 232 staff with doctoral degrees, bringing the percentage of lecturers with doctoral degrees to 60.3%.

The above figures confirm that the work of developing and building a team is always a top concern, considered a prerequisite to enhance the position and scientific capacity of the School.

With the aim of improving the English proficiency of staff and students, the School has established two English clubs, Master's Tea Club and Lunch Box Club for English, for students and staff. The two clubs meet weekly, with specific topics related to study and research. Participants have the opportunity to practice English and exchange expertise with foreign scientists and international students who are teaching and studying at the School. Thematic English classes are organized to attract the wide participation of staff. The activities of the two clubs and the above classes initially bring a new breeze in the awareness of using English as the key to the School's internationalization and integration strategy.

In 2017, the School also expanded international cooperation to attract external resources to serve the needs of capacity building for staff and students. Dao Minh Quang Foundation (Germany) signed an official cooperation agreement with the School, committing to annually support a budget of 380 million VND for awards, scholarships and scientific research of young staff, aiming to build a Research and Training Cooperation Center between the School and Germany and the EU. International cooperation activities help promote the School's activities towards integration, building an academic exchange environment of a highly international nature.

Collectives and individuals were awarded at the Vietnam Teachers' Day Celebration at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

- So what do you think about the future challenges of the School?

Basically, the school is still following the set roadmap. The spirit of innovation is gradually permeating into the activities and consciousness of staff and students. Of course, this must be a long-term process to realize clear results.

In the immediate future, the University is facing many challenges that can be named: for example, although international publications have increased, they are not uniform among disciplines and there are few publications in journals with high impact factors (ISI/SCOPUS); there is not much applied research; there are few strong research groups; there are not many outstanding scientific products and research directions that are unique to the University; the foreign language ability of the staff is still limited; postgraduate training faces many challenges when the new doctoral training regulations of the Ministry of Education and Training and VNU are issued; there are no training programs in English for foreigners...

In the near future, the University will also face challenges regarding university autonomy, when we have to take into account many factors such as market factors, social needs, financial autonomy, etc.

-So what are the solutions or prerequisites to help the School overcome the above difficulties?

I think the most important thing is still the human factor. Schools need management mechanisms that promote creativity and self-awareness in each individual. Only when the collective goals are closely linked and in harmony with the interests of the individual will people be willing to be passionate and dedicated. The university environment must be truly open and remove rigid administrative constraints so that individuals can fully develop their abilities.

This is a period when we can no longer hesitate in innovation and integration. It is even a matter of survival, either continuing to maintain the pioneering position and reaping many successes despite many difficulties, or falling behind and failing. Social sciences and humanities still face many opportunities to demonstrate their role in orienting and building a better and more prosperous society.

-As the Principal of the School, IhiWhat will you do to promote the future development of the School?

I will continue to work with the Board of Directors to firmly adhere to the philosophy of “liberal education” because once people are liberated, their creative capacity will be multiplied. In the 2018 school year, that motto is concretized by two main focuses:postgraduate training and high quality scientific research products. These two tasks are closely related. Postgraduate students and postgraduate students are a potential force that needs to be attracted, cared for, and nurtured. Their research ideas need to be nurtured, exchanged, and invested in under the guidance of leading professors. If so, we will be able to solve both the requirements of postgraduate training and scientific research. For scientific research, the School calls for the initiative, dedication, and ability to connect with domestic and foreign scientists of young lecturers and postgraduate students to have publications in prestigious international publishers.

- Thank you very much, Professor.