‘Vietnam’s key laboratories must be equivalent to developed countries’

This is one of the directions mentioned by Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung at the 4V1M event on February 8. This is an annual conference with the participation of the Ministry of Science and Technology and four key research units in Vietnam, including the Academy of Science and Technology, the Academy of Social Sciences, Hanoi National University and Ho Chi Minh City National University.

In the 10 directions given, the Minister spent a lot of time talking about the direction for building key laboratories. This is also one of the issues of concern to scientists and research units in Vietnam.

According to the Minister, laboratories for institutes and schools are “magnets” to attract researchers and talents from the world and businesses. “Each of the four key units should receive at least one or two key laboratories,” the Minister said. With the Academy of Social Sciences, which does not yet have a “physics” laboratory, he emphasized that the laboratories in this field will be policy simulation programs and “very heavy” programs.

“Key laboratories must be as modern as those in developed countries,” he said.

To operate these laboratories, the Minister also raised the issue of the State budget spending both on investment and operation of the laboratory for at least the first 3-5 years, allowing the hiring of a full-time director and the salary of the operating apparatus according to the market mechanism, meaning that in addition to free support, some activities will have a mechanism to rent these laboratories for additional operating costs. In particular, each year the State will fund research projects using this laboratory equal to about 30% of the investment value of the laboratory.

In addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology will build a platform to connect key laboratories and “the whole of Vietnam will become one big laboratory”. Resources will be represented on the platform, from which effectiveness can be measured.

Previously, in the presentation on key laboratories, Professor Tran Thanh Tu of Hanoi National University emphasized that the key laboratory system will be the nucleus of national innovation.

According to her, although resources are limited, the system of 16 key national laboratories has created a significant mark in Vietnamese science and technology. Key laboratories currently account for about 72% of high-quality science and technology human resources, master 60% of core technologies, and contribute about 50% of the country’s international publications, including many works in the 1% and 5% most cited articles in the world in leading journals such as Nature and Science.

However, behind these results, she also mentioned a number of lingering bottlenecks, including personnel issues. Most of the research team still has to work part-time. At universities, lecturers undertake both a large teaching load and research, causing resources to be scattered. Many laboratories lack specialized technicians, making it difficult to maintain stable operation of complex equipment.

From here, she suggested the need to switch to a “three-party” linkage model, including the State, scientists and businesses, in which the laboratory plays a central role, both as a research infrastructure and a place to attract human resources and social resources.

Hanoi National University also proposed to focus on comprehensively rebuilding the key laboratory model towards autonomy, openness and market linkage, including restructuring and classifying laboratories according to operational efficiency. Well-operated laboratories will be upgraded and integrated with strong research teams to become national laboratories according to new standards; Ineffective departments need to be merged or dissolved to avoid spreading resources. In parallel, it is necessary to give the laboratory full autonomy, with the director deciding on personnel and budget allocation based on KPIs.

Completing Vietnam’s science and technology value chain

Concluding the conference, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that the four units must be key national research units. The main force will be directly tied to resources and responsibilities. He reiterated the new way of funding research from “per topic” to “a department”, considering each institute or school as a “science and technology consumer”. The state will not intervene in specific tasks, but will evaluate overall effectiveness, allowing the acceptance of risks and local failures in exchange for long-term results.

The Minister also pointed out Vietnam’s science and technology value chain with the stages of Scientific Research – Technology – Products – Production – Market, but usually only stops at the technology stage. Meanwhile, “the stages behind create change”, suggesting the need to impact those stages more and that key research units must not stop at the intermediate results of articles, but must coordinate with businesses to get to the bottom of products, revenue and profits, directly contributing to economic growth.

Emphasizing the view that “what can be measured can be managed, only when measuring output can we dare to move management from input to output”, the Minister also said that the Ministry has built software to measure, with four layers, including: Input – money and human resources, Output – articles, patents, Outcome – products, products on the market, and Impact – socio-economic impact. According to him, this approach helps the value chain of the science and technology industry be tracked throughout the life cycle, including the impact on economic growth with labor productivity, not just intermediate results.

Science and technology programs for the period up to 2030 will be restructured according to the strategic technology list, but will not be spread out, but will only select 5-6 priority areas in the first phase. Each strategic technology will be organized into a separate program, according to the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) scale.

The unified structure of a program includes three cross-cutting parts: scientific research (TRL 1-3), technology and product development (TRL 4-7/8), and production for the market. This approach aims to overcome the previous separation between basic research and technology development, ensuring that each program covers the entire value chain, from knowledge to products and practical applications.

Another important issue mentioned by the Minister is attracting talent. Instead of stopping at policy, he emphasized that units need to proactively hire the world’s best researchers to solve Vietnam’s big problems. To do this, the science and technology system must meet three key conditions: research infrastructure and laboratories on an international level; The challenges are big enough, there is an implementation budget, through science and technology funds and national tasks ordered; along with a clear mechanism for enjoying results, allowing the commercialization of 100% of research results, of which the direct implementer receives at least 30%. According to the Minister, key units need to boldly take on big jobs and use large budgets to “hire the world to do it for them”, thereby raising the level of the domestic research team.

Finally, the Minister emphasized the element of cohesion between units, especially in the 4V1M group. According to him, cohesion usually only happens when there are extremely difficult tasks, especially national problems. And current conditions are the environment for this cohesion.

“We are united because we have a common ‘guiding star’, a great goal, a ‘divine’ mission, which is the mission to help the country from middle income to high income, on par with a great power,” the Minister said.