Vietnam has yet to create clear incentive policies to encourage overseas professors to make contributions to the country’s education system, one official said.

Dr. Tran Van Nhung

Tran Van Nhung, the General Secretary of the State Council for Professor Title, said in a recent interview that professors are tending to be younger.

Could you please make comments about the results of this year’s selection process for associate professor and professor positions?

Among 57 professors nominated this year, only three were female and only 116 out of 514 associate professors were female. These figures prove a fact that women still are at a disadvantage in the system.

Tran Dinh Hoa, 43, working in the field of irrigation was the youngest professor accepted this year, while 30-year-old Le van Vinh, working in the field of mathematics, was the youngest associate professor. In previous years, the youngest professors and associate professors most often specialised in the mathematics. The nomination of a professor of irrigation demonstrated that more attention is paid to the contributions made in the applied sciences.

Those nominated are getting younger and more and more skilled. 79.33% of the newly nominated for professorships were lecturers, up 4.33% from last year. More teachers will be nominated in the near future.

Were there any overseas Vietnamese applicants nominated as associate professors and professors this year?

There were no overseas Vietnamese applicants this year. This is the same situation as we saw several years ago. We’ve nominated a few overseas Vietnamese including professor Ngo Bao Chau, associate professor Tran Hai Anh, Dr. Vu Ha Van and Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thanh.

What are the reasons for the current situation?

Even though hundreds of overseas Vietnamese are scientists, teachers and managers in foreign countries, Vietnam only started to nominate such people with professorships in 2000. The Vietnamese government has been increasing focus on these groups and wants to pay tribute to their contributions to the country. In fact, the we still lack incentive policies to encourage contributions by overseas Vietnamese nominated for these positions.

In your opinion, how can the country attract further contributions from overseas professors to their homeland?

Overseas citizens are a good resource for expertise and experience, updated information about scientific development in the rest of the world and to act as a bridge between their home country and foreign partners. In order to attract their contributions to the homeland, the government should make clear policies and mechanisms to address issues such as working and living conditions when they return to their motherland.

Some countries have worked out very detailed policies for overseas citizens who work in their homeland. A professor in some countries is paid an average salary of about USD1,000 per month, not including other allowances.

Vietnam is still at the beginning efforts to create a working environment that will attract more qualified professors, and Ngo Bao Chau is a prominent example. Currently, Chau spends between three and four months working in Vietnam, participating in seminars, meetings and senior training programmes in mathematics.

Chau’s return to Vietnam has attracted the participation of several other major scientists in the world, including professors Vu Ha Van and Dam Thanh Son, who are lecturing and guiding Vietnamese students.

This is a really good chance for Vietnam to attract overseas scientists to make contributions to this country. Other sectors, including physics, chemistry and applied sciences should follow suit.