Nguyen Ha Dong, creator of Flappy Bird, said he will provide funding for student projects, with a maximum budget of VND200 million (US$8,810) per project.

“To give back to society, from 2017, I’d like to provide funding for some projects of students in Viet Nam or anywhere. Just propose the projects to me, no matter how bad it is,” Dong shared on his Facebook page on January 2.

He said he would support five projects per year, with a maximum of VND200 million for each project.

“Because there are too many inquiries, I will prioritise projects in these fields: Robotics, AI, Social, Community and Education. Students of all kinds, including levels of Masters and PhD,” he added.

Projects should be sent to dong@dotgears.com.

Speaking to Khoa hoc va Phat trien (Science and Development), he said because this was not an investment, therefore, no matter what the project was, even if it was just research for fun but interesting, he would still help.

"I want students to have more money to buy tools, materials and documents to develop their projects. I will directly choose projects to support. For projects which are not my major, it is an opportunity for me because I will have a chance to learn,” Dong said.

Nguyen Ha Dong was listed among 10 Internet millionaires by The Richest website in December 2014 after his mobile game Flappy Bird gained international popularity and earned him about $3 million in profits in just 60 days. The game was taken offline in February 2014. 

VNS