Ngo Le Huy Hien, born in 1998, is a Vietnamese man who has been recognized by the UK Government as a Global Talent and an Emerging Leader in Digital Technology.

Global Talent is a certificate awarded to individuals with achievements and contributions in a number of fields, including: Academia/Research, Arts and Culture, Digital Technology. Only four individuals from Southeast Asia receive the certification each year in the same category.

“When I received the certificate, I burst into tears because all my efforts over the years were finally recognized,” Hien said.

Hien was a student of Computer Science and Engineering at Da Nang University. When he entered university, Hien wrote a list of 100 things he wanted to do in life. One was setting foot in 20 countries.

When he was a first-year student, the boy from Da Nang sought opportunities to participate in short-term fully funded student exchange programs. Persistently submitting applications, he received 12 refusals.

But Hien did not feel discouraged. He thought of his weaknesses and improved himself.

“I actively participated in more domestic programs and activities to improve my profile, retook the exams for certificates to achieve higher scores, and developed more skills,” he recalled.

Thanks to his tireless efforts, Hien got full scholarships from many short-term programs to study abroad.

“After every program, like a fish trying to reaching out to the open sea, I feel I am still small and there are so many things I don’t know,” he said.

The trips helped Hien meet talented people, which prompted him to have more experiences. His goal then was studying abroad and residing for a long time in a foreign country.

In 2020, before finishing university education, Hien received three full scholarships to attend the Erasmus Mundus program for a master’s degree funded by the EU, and he chose EMJM in GENIAL.

The study program lasted two years, gathering many excellent students from all over the world. In the first semesters, Hien studied in France, the UK and Sweden. In the last semester, he was allowed to choose a topic for his thesis and implement his project in any European country. He then decided to complete the thesis in the UK and then defend it in France.

The study was hard and he once had to spend 20 hours a day on studying. However, during the two years, he was rewarded as he was recognized as the student with the best project at the school in the UK and with the best master’s thesis under the Erasmus Mundus program.

In 2022, Hien obtained four master’s degrees in the joint training program with excellent marks, majoring in computer science, information technology, complex system engineering, green computer network and cloud computing.

After obtaining master’s degrees, Hien lived and worked in the UK for two years as a manager of tech firms. The jobs brought him high incomes, but Hien realized that the competition was very stiff. Just several months before the visa expired, he began seeking out companies which could act as a guarantor for him to stay in the UK.

Hien attended a lot of interviews, and many businesses had good impressions about his achievements and talents. However, they refused to act because of the visa problem. So Hien began thinking of seeking opportunities in other countries.

There was a ray of hope after an chance meeting with a female professor who had taught him when he was a master’s degree student. Hearing that Hien was going to leave the UK, the professor advised him to submit his dossier for the Global Talent visa, while warning that it was very difficult to obtain and she had never met anyone who succeeded with their application.

Hien decided to try, considering this his final attempt before leaving the UK.

By the time of submission, Hien had 12 articles published in prestigious international journals. He once worked as a leader of an international project in AI with professors in the UK and France. And he had received funds from the EU and AI research organizations.

To date, Hien has set foot in 48 countries and territories on five continents during his work and study process.

Thuy Nga