Strengthening connectivity and information sharing among scientists

In his opening remarks, Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan said that the current context is posing challenges for researchers. Most recently, Circular 08 (dated April 4, 2017) of the Ministry of Education and Training promulgating the Regulations on admission and training for doctoral degrees and Decision No. 4555/QD-DHQGHN (November 24, 2017) on the Regulations on doctoral training at VNU have "tightened" the input and output standards for doctoral training programs and set higher requirements for doctoral theses and supervisors. Accordingly, the new regulations set out strict and specific criteria for the international publication capacity of doctoral students and supervisors. In the trend of international integration in science, domestic scientists will have to increase their search for scholarships or research funding from international funds to have the opportunity to improve their research capacity abroad. However, not everyone has access to information about the above scholarship funds or meets their requirements.

As a scientific representative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) since 2012 and the Gerda Henkel Foundation (Germany) since 2017, Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan shared a lot of information about the research funding programs of these two foundations for Vietnamese and international scholars. Currently, Germany is still one of the leading European countries interested in and investing heavily in science and education. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has a variety of short-term and long-term scholarship programs for many types of subjects such as post-doctoral research, famous scholars or visiting professors... With the motto of investing in people and with a long-term vision, the Foundation not only has a good level of material support for researchers but also has open mechanisms to encourage them to complete their research. Topics with excellent results are also awarded by the Foundation. In 2016, the investment budget of the Fund for funding topics was about 116 million Euros. Since its establishment (1953) until now, over 50 years, the Humboldt Fund has sponsored 58,000 people and distributed in 140 countries, including Vietnam. Currently, each year, the Fund grants about 700 different scholarships. The Fund has an independent application review board and does not allocate quotas by country but only based on the quality of the proposed documents. Topics in the field of social sciences and humanities account for about 25% of the Fund's funding. Over time, the number of researchers from Asia receiving funding has increased.

To increase the chances of success in seeking funding from international funds, Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Anh Tuan believes that it is necessary to connect scientists to form research groups, especially in highly interdisciplinary topics. Collaborating together on common projects helps scientists maximize their professional capacity, contributing to improving the quality of the project and speeding up the implementation of the topic. Such joint research is also easier to impress the review board of the funds.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Hanh (Lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy) said that there is no need to hesitate any longer, domestic scientists need to establish an information network with strong connections and sharing. Those who have gone before and have experience should share and help those who come after. The current context is not only a challenge but also an opportunity for young researchers to participate in the international academic environment.

Also at this meeting, lecturers and scientists from many universities and research institutes also exchanged specific experiences on: skills in preparing funding applications, how to impress the selection board, how to conduct research according to international standards, how to find domestic and foreign funding sources, etc.

See detailed introduction about the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany)