Meeting with the Director of the Center for Handwritten Text Research, University of Hamburg (Federal Republic of Germany)

During the meeting, Professor Michael Friedrich stated that the Center for Handwritten Text Research (CSMC) at the University of Hamburg is implementing a cluster of projects titled "Understanding Written Artifacts," part of the Excellence Initiative program of the German Research Foundation for universities in Germany. The project aims to investigate the processes of creation, storage, circulation, and analysis of texts and inscriptions in Africa and Asia, thereby exploring the impact and significance of handwritten texts on societies and cultures.

In Vietnam, Professor Michael Friedrich visited the National Archives Center I and the Nguyen Dynasty Imperial Archives – a World Heritage site – to discuss cooperation in the preservation of handwritten archival documents. To expand the research network on handwritten texts in Vietnam, CSMC hopes to collaborate with higher education institutions in Vietnam, such as the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, on joint research projects.

On behalf of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Associate Professor Hoang Anh Tuan expressed his gratitude to Professor Michael Friedrich for placing his trust in the University. The Vice Rector suggested that Professor Friedrich discuss specific options with relevant faculties such as the Faculty of Archival Studies and Office Management, the Faculty of History, and the Faculty of Information and Library Science. Initially, according to the idea of ​​Associate Professor Dao Duc Thuan (Head of the Faculty of Archival Studies and Office Management), the Faculty and CSMC will implement a pilot research project on archival documents at the local level, such as villages, communes, and households in Vietnam. In the future, the parties may expand to areas such as digital documents and the digitization of handwritten documents.

Professor Michael Friedrich is also a Sinology expert at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, University of Hamburg, and a visiting professor at Fudan University, Shanghai. At CSMC, he is supervising doctoral students on Qin-Han period bamboo slips, Dunhuang texts from China, and Nguyen Dynasty imperial archives from Vietnam.