On June 14, 2012, the Policy Advisory Council of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities held its second meeting under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Phan Huy Le - Chairman - and Vice Chairmen: Prof. Vu Duong Ninh and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Xuan Hang.The Council listened to and discussed the following issues: promoting research on Oc Eo culture; building and establishing a research and training program on Vietnam's seas and islands; building and establishing a program on social sciences and humanities. At the meeting, opinions expressed the need to organize and direct national-level unified research on Oc Eo cultural relics, promote basic and comprehensive research on Oc Eo culture with the aim of further clarifying the distribution area, types, and ages... Universities, including the University of Social Sciences and Humanities - VNU, need to organize research programs and international scientific conferences on Oc Eo culture with the cooperation and participation of Vietnamese and foreign scientists.
Regarding the Vietnam sea and island research program, opinions suggest that it is necessary to review and re-evaluate the situation of sea and island research, to avoid spontaneous situations and overlapping functions and tasks of different research institutions, on that basis, to organize and systematize sea and island research. In particular, sea and island research from the perspective of social sciences and humanities needs a separate, in-depth research program based on gathering the intelligence of domestic and foreign experts. These studies need to pay attention to the issue of Vietnamese culture and traditions towards the sea as a fundamental foundation for long-term and sustainable development, aiming to exploit the sea as a potential and advantage of the process of industrialization and modernization of the country. For VNU and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the Council proposed: to establish a center or institute for sea and island research focusing on social sciences and humanities issues. The school also needs to soon include teaching content about the sea and islands in the undergraduate and postgraduate training programs, and pay more attention to educating students about the sea and islands and the country's sovereignty over the sea and islands. Evaluating the social sciences and humanities program, opinions agreed: the development of social sciences and humanities always bears the unique mark of each country, based on the cultural and social foundation and for the benefit and development of each country. Social sciences and humanities shoulder important responsibilities in educating ideology, building values, social awareness, developing culture, and training people. Social sciences and humanities propose policies, management solutions, and propose development models and theories for Vietnam. On that basis, opinions suggested that there should be solutions to help build a deep awareness of the important role of social sciences and humanities in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland; it is necessary to focus resources, create mechanisms to improve the capacity of social sciences and humanities research. Besides, the State and training institutions need to have a breakthrough in the strategy of training a team of excellent experts with international qualifications in the field of social sciences and humanities.
