As many as 945 research teams have been established at universities

Prof Nguyen Dinh Duc, speaking at a recent workshop on developing research teams in universities, said the two most important functions of universities are providing knowledge (teaching) and creating knowledge (researching). At research-oriented universities, research always has a close link with training, and the formation of research teams at universities is essential. 

Scientists also need to have teams with co-workers and assistants.

A group of researchers developing solutions to build teams in higher education establishments found in a survey of lecturers from 40 universities that 58.8 percent of lecturers (127/216) are members of research teams.

Research teams were established in 142 out of 271 universities. Most members of the research teams (59.2 percent) are aged 35-45, so it is necessary to attract young PhDs when developing research teams in universities.

The survey found that many research teams were set up in 2017. This can be explained by the requirements set by universities on lecturers’ at international scientific publications.

Under the new PhD training regulation released in 2017, instructors and PhD students both have to have articles in international scientific publications. 

A report of the Ministry of Education and Training showed that 65.3 percent of lecturers joining research teams have ISI/Scopus articles. 

Under the new regulation, PhD students must satisfy higher requirements on foreign language skills when attending the entrance exam. Also under the new regulation, PhD students must have at least 2 articles published in international journals to be eligible to defend dissertations.

As Vietnam has raised requirements on PhD students and applied policies to support scientific research and research teams, Vietnam’s international publications have increased sharply in the last five years.

In 2013, Vietnam had 2,309 scientific articles published internationally. From 2017 to June 2018, 30 Vietnamese universities alone had 10,515 articles, which was even higher than the total number of articles in 2011-2015 (10,034).

However, the figures showed the modest achievements of university lecturers in scientific research. More than 37.5 percent of lecturers have never published ISI/Scopus articles and 34.7 percent have had no international publications.

Scientists complain that it is difficult to commercialize scientific findings in Vietnam. Only a few research works can be applied in reality. Most discoveries are put in mothballs after the authors announce their findings in scientific journals.

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