VietNamnet Bridge - A survey conducted by two postgraduates Pham Hiep and Huynh Huu Hien shows a breakthrough in research productivity made by young universities.

It is not Hanoi or HCM City National University, the two leading research institutes in Vietnam, or other prestigious universities, which top the list of universities with high level of scientific research institutes. 

The two top positions were very new schools –  Duy Tan and Ton Duc Thang universities.

Scientific research productivity is an index calculated by the ratio of the number of scientific articles published in scientific journals compared to the number of an institution's’ researchers.

According to Professor Nguyen Van Tuan, most universities in the world measure research productivity with articles in ISI (Institute for Scientific Information).

In this case, Pham Hiep and Huynh Huu Hien counted the number of IST articles on the number of lecturers and researchers with doctorates in seven universities.

These include the most prestigious state-owned schools, namely Hanoi National University, Hanoi University of Technology, HCM City University, Hanoi University of Education, and Can Tho University, and two private schools – Ton Duc Thang and Duy Tan.

Hiep and Hien said they found the information about schools with the highest numbers of scientific articles published so far this year on the Web of Science. 

Meanwhile, the information about the numbers of lecturers and researchers was found on the schools’ official websites.

Though prestigious schools have more ISI articles, they ranked lower than the two young schools – Ton Duc Thang and Duy Tan – in terms of research productivity.

HCM City National University has the highest number of PhDs, 1,087, but only had 94 ISI articles. With the ratio of 0.09 ISI articles per PhD, it ranks seventh among the seven surveyed schools.

Meanwhile, Duy Tan University only has 122 PhDs, but had 52 IST articles, or 0.43 articles per PhD. With these results, it is leading Vietnamese universities in scientific research productivity.

Hien noted that the survey’s result is ‘reasonable’ which shows that the schools offering good policies to encourage scientific research can gain a high level of international publication efficiency.

“The schools have been making heavy investment in scientific research and they have effective international cooperation in scientific research,” he noted.

The survey by the two postgraduates surprised many scientists. Duy Tan and Ton Duc Thang have never been listed as prestigious schools in Vietnam. 

In Vietnam, state-owned schools are always the preferred choice for students and researchers because of their long-standing existence and great achievements over dozens of years.

GDVN