Vietnam's level of academic research remains modest

When asked to comment about research quality of professors and associate professors, a university lecturer in Hanoi cited a report saying that 80 percent of published academic works are undersigned by both Vietnamese and foreign authors. That is, they are products of cooperation programs.

Tran Tam from the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences said the tasks professors have to fulfill include lecturing and research. ISI/Scopus articles with a high citation index are one of the criteria to assess the academic virtue of individuals and their career.

“Professors and associate professors should question themselves if they have fulfilled their tasks and they still don’t have internationally recognized work,” Tam said. 

Many appointed professors and associate professors in 2017 did not have any internationally published article.

Sharing the same view, Pham Duc Chinh from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said research published internationally contributes to general progress and imeasures capability and labor. 

“ ‘Publish or perish’ is what you hear at universities in western countries. This means that if you don’t have published research, you will be weeded out of the academic system,” said Chinh.

In Vietnam, the State Professorship Council is the only body which has the right to recognize someone as qualified for the professor or associate professor title. It has 31 members from 31 disciplines. 

Some analysts say the value of the professorship title is ‘exaggerated’ and that ceremonies organized to grant the title are unwarranted. 

“We are considering professorship as an academic title, but in fact, it is just a career title,” Tam said. “Professors or associate professors are just senior lecturers.”

The difference between Vietnam and other countries is level of recognition. In Vietnam, a professorship title has lifetime value. In developed countries, the professorship title is only valid at institutions and training establishments for which they work.

Tam believes that the state should give universities the right to appoint professors or associate professors. The state, as a management agency, should only intervene in the appointment process by setting up the screening process to ensure the quality of candidates.

In 2015, Ton Duc Thang, a private university, stirred up the public when it appointed professors at the school. However, the nominations were not recognized because educators warned that two kinds of professorship titles, including those granted by the state and those granted by Ton Duc Thang, would create confusion.

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