Road to Olympia runner-up among Australia's most influential scientists

AUSTRALIA - Nguyen Thanh Vinh, Associate Professor of the School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales (UNSW), has just been honored by The Australian newspaper as Australia's most influential researcher in the field of organic chemistry.

Last week, The Australian – the country’s largest newspaper – published its “2026 Research Magazine”, a ranking of the most influential universities and researchers in 2026. The list was based on the number of citations to scientific articles published in the top 20 journals in each field over five years, using data from Google Scholar.

According to the introduction, Associate Professor Nguyen Thanh Vinh (Vinh Nguyen) is the most influential person in the field of Organic Chemistry, belonging to the Chemical and Materials Sciences group. He is currently an Associate Professor at UNSW - a school ranked in the top 20 in the world according to QS 2026. His research focuses on organic catalysis, aromatic cation activation, synthesis of natural compounds and bioactive substances, asymmetric synthesis and pharmaceutical chemistry.

Associate Professor Vinh began his independent research career in 2013 at Curtin University (Perth). In 2015, he moved to UNSW as a lecturer and ARC DECRA researcher; he was appointed a senior lecturer in 2018 and received an ARC Future Fellowship in 2019. He became an Associate Professor in 2021.

Associate Professor Nguyen Thanh Vinh. Photo: University of New South Wales

In Vietnam, Nguyen Thanh Vinh is known to many people as the runner-up of the first season of the Road to Olympia (2000), a member of the International Chemistry Olympiad team that won a silver medal, and a role in the film Before the Sky as Nam. Vinh studied Industrial Chemistry at UNSW since 2001, then earned a PhD in Organic Chemistry at the Australian National University.

In addition to Associate Professor Nguyen Thanh Vinh, The Australian also honored 5 Vietnamese researchers in other fields:

Associate Professor Dinh Phan, La Trobe Business School (La Trobe University): The most influential researcher in the field of International Business Studies. He has taught at Deakin University, Monash University and Taylor University.

Associate Professor Sara Quach Thaichon, School of Marketing, Griffith University: The most influential researcher in Marketing Research. She began her career with research on business-customer relationships and the dynamics of brand loyalty.

Associate Professor Thuc Duy Le, University of South Australia: Honored in the field of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. He develops AI methods based on causal models and applies them to many biological problems.

Professor Kiet Tieu, University of Wollongong: The most influential scientist in the field of Mechanical Engineering. He graduated with a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from the University of Western Australia, and has worked continuously at the University of Wollongong since 1982.

Associate Professor Bui Minh, School of Computer Science, Australian National University: The most influential person in the field of Evolutionary Biology. He graduated from Hanoi National University (2001), received a master's degree from Freiburg University (Germany, 2005) and a doctorate in Bioinformatics from Vienna University (Austria, 2009).

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/a-quan-duong-len-dinh-olympia-lot-top-nha-khoa-hoc-anh-huong-nhat-australia-2466980.html