‘Teacher Van’ is the word used by Son when talking about Van, who is internationally famous for his excellent achievements in science. Son is chair of ‘Meet Vietnam’, a rendezvous for the world’s eminent scientists, and director of ICISE (International Center of Interdisciplinary Science Education).

Dr Tran Thanh Son (left) and Prof Tran Thanh Van

Van the professor currently lives in France. He asked Son to take the post of deputy director of the center with the wish to cooperate with him to implement his end-of-life project – introducing images of Vietnam to the world and help Vietnam’s science reach the elite scientific community.

Many years ago, after graduating from the biology faculty of Hue University of Education, he became a lecturer at the Quang Binh Pedagogical Junior College. The job gave him the opportunity to meet Van when the professor and his wife built Dong Hoi SOS Village.

In 2018, Prof Jerome Friendman, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, came to Vietnam to attend a conference. He met with Vietnamese students who had won prizes at international competitions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, information technology and astronomy.

Later, he got a scholarship from the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the French INRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) to study in France where he obtained t'a master’s degree and doctorate.

He studied for a master’s degree at Paris-Sud University, where Van worked. His residence was just two train stations away from Van’s home. The acquaintance became closer when he participated in a campaign to sell Christmas cards and souvenirs related to Vietnam to raise funds for Aide à l'Enfance du Vietnam, where Prof Le Kim Ngoc, Van's wife, was the president.

Hearing that Van did not have a secretary and had difficulties using the Vietnamese language, Son volunteered to assist Van.

Every year, in the summer, since 2008, as a volunteer translator, he has followed French professors to Vietnam to train high school teachers in methods of teaching science.

In 2013, after successfully defending his doctoral dissertation, he came to Vietnam to become a part-time deputy director at ICISE.

Many conferences have been organized at the center, which creates favorable conditions for young Vietnamese to do scientific research.

Meet Vietnam and ICISE organize conferences to introduce new research trends in the world.

In 2018, Prof Jerome Friendman, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990, came to Vietnam to attend a conference. He met with Vietnamese students who had won prizes at international competitions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, information technology and astronomy.

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