Sumitomo Fund Grant Program for the 2015-2016 school year

Mr. Koichi Ishizuka, Chief Representative of Sumitomo Foundation (Japan) for Southeast Asia, is introducing the scholarship program for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Attending the working session were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Rector of the University, along with a large number of staff, lecturers, and researchers from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities interested in the program.

The Sumitomo Foundation is a non-profit organization established on September 25, 1991, by 20 companies belonging to the Sumitomo Group to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Besshi Copper Mine in Shikoku, Japan. The Foundation's goal is to contribute to the improvement of human society by garnering community support. Currently, the Foundation's grants are awarded to projects that address or solve pressing human issues such as culture, the environment, and support basic scientific research and international exchange.

For Vietnam, the fund has been actively involved and contributed to bridging the Vietnam-Japan relationship, especially in the field of human resource training and connecting scientists from both countries. Over the years, many professors and researchers in Vietnam have received funding from the fund to carry out their projects and research. According to the fund's statistics, from 1991 to the present, 115 out of a total of 519 applications from Vietnamese scientists have received support from the fund.

During the meeting, Mr. Koichi Ishizuka provided detailed information on the 2015-2016 funding program, registration procedures, and specific deadlines for submitting applications for each category in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities (details can be found on the fund's website at:http://www.sumitomo.or.jp/e/index.htmAccordingly, research projects eligible for funding from the fund must focus on research related to Japan, comparative studies between Vietnam and Japan, etc.

In his presentation, Mr. Koichi also expressed his hope that more projects by Vietnamese researchers would be able to compete with universities and research institutes worldwide in receiving funding from the fund. Such support promises to make a significant contribution to the development of Vietnam's human resources in the future.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Party Committee Secretary, Vice Rector of the University) is speaking at the working session.

Speaking at the meeting, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Party Secretary, Vice Rector of the University) expressed his deep gratitude to Mr. Koichi Ishizuka, Chief Representative of the Sumitomo Foundation (Japan) in Southeast Asia. Associate Professor Kim emphasized that the foundation's funding plays a crucial role in the research activities of the University's staff and lecturers. This funding serves as a driving force for the development of research groups at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, opening up opportunities for cooperation and research exchange between the University's staff and lecturers and Japanese researchers, and strongly promoting research collaboration among scientists in the Asian region.

"The Sumitomo Foundation provides relatively good support, and the procedures and reporting are very simple because the foundation focuses only on how researchers achieve results, not on how the research is conducted," shared Dr. Pham Van Thuy, Department of History (a former recipient of the foundation's funding).

During the meeting, many questions from faculty and staff were answered and discussed directly, creating a basis for faculty and staff of the university to apply for research funding from the Sumitomo Foundation.