"Towards a world-class university" is the title of an article by Professor Dr. Nguyen Van Khanh (Rector of the University) published online.
Hanoi New Newspaper OnlineMay 25, 2010.This article affirms the achievements that the University of Social Sciences and Humanities has attained over the past few decades, and the mission and strategic tasks that the University needs to implement in the coming years. Inheriting the 65-year tradition of the Faculty of Literature and over 50 years of Hanoi University, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (VNU Hanoi) continues to maintain its position as a leading training and research center in the social sciences and humanities in Vietnam. Among the nearly 20 undergraduate programs and nearly 50 postgraduate specializations that the University currently offers, there are fundamental, traditional fields such as Literature, History, Philosophy, and Linguistics; The university's academic disciplines are closely associated with the names of its founding professors such as Dang Thai Mai, Tran Van Giau, Dao Duy Anh, Tran Duc Thao, etc. These disciplines have built the university's prestige over the past half-century and continue to affirm their position with the names of famous educators and scientists such as Dinh Xuan Lam, Phan Huy Le, Tran Quoc Vuong, Ha Van Tan, Hoang Nhu Mai, Le Dinh Ky, Nguyen Tai Can, Phan Cu De, Ha Minh Duc, etc. Besides traditional disciplines, the university has launched many new programs, which have recently started admitting students but have attracted considerable interest from applicants, such as Social Work, Political Science, Anthropology, and Vietnamese Studies. Currently, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities is one of the first universities in Vietnam to apply the credit-based training system, creating interconnectedness and linkages between faculties within the university, between the university and member universities of the Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and between the university and foreign universities. Starting with the initial 57 course classes established during the implementation of the credit-based training system in the 2007-2008 academic year, 100% of courses are now structured as course classes (over 800 course classes in the second semester of the 2009-2010 academic year), completely eliminating the traditional year-based system. With the credit system, some students will graduate earlier than the normal training process (4 years). With the university's development strategy of rapidly becoming a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research university, personnel management is considered one of its key tasks. Inheriting and building upon the achievements of the former Hanoi University, and following in the footsteps of generations of professors who built the foundation of Vietnam's social sciences and humanities, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities continues to be one of the leading universities nationwide in terms of the ratio of professors, PhDs, and senior lecturers to the total number of lecturers in the university. For every six faculty members at the university, there is one Professor or Associate Professor, and for every three lecturers, there is one PhD or Doctor of Science. Of the nearly 400 lecturers currently employed, almost 80% hold postgraduate degrees, and the remaining 20% are mostly pursuing master's degrees or doctoral studies. The university's highly qualified, experienced, and dedicated faculty is a reliable team of experts, entrusted with leading numerous national-level scientific projects and international initiatives. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities was assigned to lead five national-level research projects, including: 'Building and developing Vietnam's intellectual resources to serve the national rejuvenation in the 21st century', 'The family issue in social development and social development management in our country during the đổi mới (renovation) period', 'Basic characteristics of the people and culture of the Vietnamese community abroad today'... The successes in teaching, research, and international cooperation of the University over the past years have contributed to making the University of Social Sciences and Humanities rich in traditional identity yet modern, dynamic, and intellectual. This is a solid foundation for the University to excellently fulfill the tasks assigned by the Party and the State, creating conditions for building a research university, and contributing effectively to the cause of industrialization, modernization, and international integration of the country.
