Vietnam science, physics enter the big leagues

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh signed an agreement to establish two category 2 centers for mathematics and physics. Under the agreement, the International Center of Research and Postgraduate Training in Mathematics, and the International Center of Physics are tasked with strengthening science, technology and innovation in Vietnam and across the ASEAN region, encouraging knowledge sharing, capacity building as well as collaboration with Africa.

The establishment of the two centers under the auspice of UNESCO in Vietnam is in line with the country’s science and technology development strategy for the 2011-2020 period that aims to establish research institutes along regional and global standards.

“Vietnam has made the clear choice to invest massively in education, in scientific cooperation and research, to participate fully in the rise of new knowledge economies and societies – and these goals are embodied in our Memorandum of Understanding 2016-2020,” said Bokova.

The two centers recognized and sponsored by UNESCO will strengthen science, technology and innovation in Vietnam and across the ASEAN region, encouraging knowledge sharing, capacity building as well as collaboration with Africa. In addition, the centers will participate in international research projects in collaboration with the International Basic Science Program and the International Center for Theoretical Physics of UNESCO and other scientific organizations.

UNESCO’s scientific centers are divided into two categories. The mission of category 1 centers is to receive scientific staff from developing countries for study and research; category 2 centers are specialized institutes conducting regional and international research and specialized training in accordance with UNESCO policies and strategies.

Chu Ngoc Anh said Vietnamese mathematicians and physicists have been involved in training and research programs at the International Center for Theoretical Physics of UNESCO.

With the establishment of the two category 2 centers, Vietnam hopes to display its responsibility for the development of basic science in accordance with the goals set by UNESCO, and its desire to support and cooperate with other countries in the region and other developing countries in the fields of mathematics and physics. Chu Ngoc Anh affirmed that Vietnam would provide more favorable policy and labor conditions for the two centers to ensure their effective operations and participation in international UNESCO programs.