Nafosted will focus on major problem clusters and develop a strong research team

This is one of the contents discussed at the workshop to evaluate and select basic research topics in 2024, on the afternoon of November 28.

Representative of the Nafosted Foundation said that in 2024 the Foundation received 247 applications in the fields of natural sciences and engineering; 116 social sciences and humanities field profiles. In the process of evaluating and selecting topics, scientific councils pay attention to prioritizing young, excellent scientists and promoting postgraduate training; Improving quality, aiming for excellent published products (nature, cell, science…); Develop domestic/international research cooperation network; Sponsor groups of large, long-term problem-solving tasks…

Mr. Bui The Duy, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Chairman of the Nafosted Foundation Board of Directors, said that over the past 15 years, basic research in Vietnam has made significant breakthroughs. Basic research topics not only create new standards but also help increase the number of scientific publications in prestigious journals by 2-3 times. However, in the coming time, the Nafosted Foundation will restructure basic research tasks into two main groups. The first group focuses on basic research in the fields of: big data, artificial intelligence, biotechnology… The second group focuses on developing strong research groups, forming big topic.

Professor Dinh Dung, Hanoi National University, said that strong research groups in Vietnam are currently not common. He emphasized that developing a strong research team is necessary but should not be given complete dominance. He proposed prioritizing about 40-50% of resources for these groups, while creating opportunities for young researchers to participate in independent research.

Professor Le Quoc Hoi, National Economics University proposed that the Nafosted Foundation’s mission should be to link basic research with strong research groups, in which strong research should be given priority.

At the conference, many scientists supported the view that developing research groups should focus on solving financial mechanisms. To form strong research groups, individual research groups need to choose a common topic, thereby developing a specific, diverse but still complementary research program. In addition, to ensure progress and efficiency, it is necessary to establish a clear time frame for each stage, creating positive pressure for scientists to complete tasks on time.

The Nafosted Fund will develop thematically to guide product research technology, creating a foundation for fields such as big data and artificial intelligence, to hold ownership of Vietnam’s core technology.

Deputy Minister Bui The Duy also encouraged scientists to pursue breakthrough research. The Foundation will take risks to promote innovation in research. “Only accepting risks can help scientists feel secure in their research,” he said. Developing strong research groups, combined with an independent research support base, not only helps improve scientific capacity but also establishes the foundation for future practical applications.

The Deputy Minister requested the Fund’s Executive Agency to absorb and report to superior management agencies to soon make reasonable adjustments in policies in the management and implementation of sponsorship and support programs. He affirmed that he supports ensuring research integrity and hopes that scientists will contribute and share, maintain the principle of academic respect, and effectively select strong topic groups with a key focus for their activities. Scientific research in Vietnam.

The Nafosted Foundation was established by the Government in 2003 and assigned to the Ministry of Science and Technology to manage and operate. The Foundation is designed as a scientific and technological research funding agency modeled on the Swiss National Research Foundation. Orient research funding towards international integration, promote the development of highly qualified human resources, and increase the quality of domestic scientific and technological research. The fund’s funding allocation structure from 2014 onwards was granted a maximum of 300 billion VND per year. After 2014, the fund is granted a maximum of 500 billion VND per year. In the current period, the Fund is actually allocated about 300 billion VND.

Since its implementation, the Fund has sponsored about 4,200 projects (about 300 projects/year) for nearly 3,000 scientists at 350 research institutes and universities. Average budget is nearly 950 million/project. Each topic has an average output of nearly 2 – 3 prestigious international articles, training one graduate student or two masters.