The 12th Meet Vietnam attracted 1,600 global scientists to exchange knowledge and further develop science in Vietnam

The 12th Meet Vietnam consisted of 12 scientific conferences and three international classes specialising in physics. The chain of events opened with a symposium entitled “Mechanobiology: From Molecules to Tissues”, which took place on June 27 at the International Centre for Interdisciplinary Science Education (ICISE) in Quy Nhon, the city’s dedicated venue for scientific conferences and events.

The highlight of the 12th Meet Vietnam was the international conference “Fundamental Science and Society”, which was sponsored by UNESCO and co-organised by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Binh Dinh People’s Committee, the Meet Vietnam Association, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and the International Solvay Institute.

This year marked the 50th anniversary of Meet Moriond, the famous multidisciplinary conference founded in 1966 by Professor Tran Thanh Van, who is also the founder of the Meet Vietnam Association.

Meet Vietnam 2016 brought together more than 1,600 high-profile international scientists. The “Fundamental Science and Society” conference attracted nearly 250 participants, among them top Party and state leaders, international and local scientists, six Nobel Prize laureates in Physics, Chemistry, Economics, and Peace disciplines, Ngo Bao Chau, the only Vietnamese national ever to have won a Fields Medal, which is regarded as the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel Prize, and business leaders in science and technology-related trades.

“The conference provides a platform for scientists to meet and discuss with policy-makers and representatives of the private sector the importance of fundamental science to social development – from  presenting the issues related to fundamental science and society in Asian countries in general, and developing countries in particular,” Van said.

Ho Quoc Dung, Chairman of the Binh Dinh People’s Committee, recalled his trip to the French city of Blois. When Dung met the city’s mayor, the mayor said, “Blois is famous worldwide today thanks to the international scientific conferences hosted by Professor Van and his spouse in the city. Formerly, when talking about France, people just mentioned Paris or Marseille. But the scientific conferences have made the city of Blois’ name renowned worldwide.”

This effect is similar to the reputation Quy Nhon is gaining in the international scientific community.

“The passion for scientific research, particularly Vietnamese scientific development, of Professor Van and his wife  deserves respect. The question is what [our regional and national governments] must do to promote the country’s scientific development,” Dung said. “Initially, we had to ask for expenditures to host the international conferences at ICISE – now the government has decided to include the sum for organising scientific conferences in Binh Dinh into the annual budget estimate.”

The Meet Vietnam Association has chosen Quy Nhon as a stop-off point for renowned international scientists for the past four years is a source of pride for the city and its province. Not many places in the whole of Southeast Asia are in the position to host an event of its calibre.