Ten outstanding young individuals were given the Vietnam Golden Globe Award by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee in Hanoi on December 29.

The award is presented annually for excellent individuals, under age of 35, in areas of information, medical, pharmaceutical, biological, environmental and new material technology. Each winner receives 20 million VND (880 USD).

The winners this year include eight PhD holders, one person with a Master’s degree and a 22-year-old student.

Pham Viet Khoi, a student at the Vietnam National University in HCM City and the youngest winner, said the target of his ongoing research is an application that can identify a person via image data. “It might help police in catching suspects,” he explained.

Khoi said receiving the award yesterday was a necessary motivation for his research and expressed his hope that the Government would provide additional encouragement to students participating in scientific research.

Speaking at the event, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, said “The future of the country is on the young generation’s shoulders.”

Thinh said most of the winners this year lived and studied in foreign countries but chose to return to Vietnam to contribute to the country’s development. “It’s a precious thing,” she said.

She said science and technology had been playing a key role in the country’s development over the past three decades.

She asked the science ministry to open more categories for the award, set up an initial fund for scientific research, and match young people who want to conduct scientific research with each other. It should also call on talented Vietnamese young people living and working abroad to return to develop the country, she said.

Also at the event, 20 female students from universities across the country were awarded prizes for the Brightest Female Student in Information Technology.

Phan Thi Hong Hanh, a student of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, said the reward increased her motivation to study and do research. She will study harder and work harder with the hope of contributing to the country’s science and technology development, Hanh said.

The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee established the Golden Globe Award and the Reward for the Brightest Female Student in Information Technology in 2003.

The 10 Golden Globe Award’s winners are Le Duc Tung, lecturer at Hanoi University of Science and Technology; Duong Trong Hai, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City International University under Vietnam National University, HCM City; Bach Long Giang, head of the Science and Technology Department at Nguyen Tat Thanh University; 

Ha Thi Kim Thanh from Da Nang Science and Technology Department; Pham Viet Khoi, student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Science of Vietnam National University, HCM City; Tran Dinh Phong, lecturer at the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (also called Vietnam–France University); 

Huynh Ngoc Trinh, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University; Nguyen Xuan Hai, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Science under Vietnam National University, HCM City; 

Nguyen Manh Hung from the Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology; and Truong Hai Nhung of Ho Chi Minh City University of Science under Vietnam National University, HCM City.

VNA