With special privilege to study straight for PhD, 9X Vietnamese was invited to work at Australia's top 1 university

Minh Phuong - an outstanding Planning PhD at Melbourne University and now a research fellow at Australian National University with a salary of over 100,000 USD/year.

In 2013, Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong, a girl from Da Nang born in 1994, came to Australia to pursue a bachelor's degree in Urban Planning at the University of South Australia. As the only Vietnamese student in a class of mostly native speakers, Phuong had difficulty with language and communication. At first, the female student could barely understand what her teachers and classmates were saying.

Phuong must spend time every day listening to the news, actively discussing lessons with classmates, and actively participating in speaking and presenting to practice her English skills. In December 2023, Phuong took the PTE English certificate exam and achieved a maximum score of 90/90 for all 4 skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing (equivalent to IELTS 9.0).

During her four years at university, Phuong won awards and scholarships for the highest-scoring student in her major and was the President of the Vietnamese Student Association at the University of South Australia.

Minh Phuong (3rd from left) with her parents and lecturers at her PhD graduation ceremony at the University of Melbourne, Australia, December 2024.

In 2017, Minh Phuong graduated with honors from the Bachelor of Urban Planning program at the University of South Australia. With that achievement, the Vietnamese girl was admitted directly to the doctoral program. Minh Phuong received full doctoral scholarships from 4 universities: the University of South Australia, the University of Adelaide, RMIT University and the University of Melbourne. She chose the University of Melbourne, the number 1 university in Australia.

When Minh Phuong started her PhD, Melbourne was locked down for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Melbourne holds the world record for the longest lockdown due to the pandemic.

Although the research process was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Phuong still successfully completed her doctoral thesis. She consecutively published 4 studies on sustainable urban development solutions in prestigious international academic journals such as Cities and Urban Transformations.

Notably, in December 2024, Phuong was the youngest researcher to have a book chapter published on urban innovation policies based on vision and mission, typically from the city of Melbourne, in the book "Building Future Cities - Theory and Practice of Sustainable Urban Transformation".

The efforts were well rewarded, Phuong graduated with honors from the PhD program in Urban Planning - University of Melbourne in 2024. While PhD students usually have to spend 4-6 months revising their thesis before being accepted, Phuong's thesis was approved by international examiners who are leading experts in the field of sustainable urban development on the first pass.

Phuong calls this doctoral research process a journey of self-discovery and self-improvement. Because, although the role of the supervisor is very important, the direction and final results of the research depend on the student himself. “This is your research, you are the one who knows best what you should do,” Phuong always remembers the supervisor’s reminder.

Minh Phuong took a photo with Dr. Judy Bush - University of Melbourne, one of her PhD thesis supervisors.

“While my peers have gone to work, gotten married and had children, I am still absorbed in books and doing research,” Phuong said about peer pressure. Despite many difficulties and ups and downs, Phuong always believes that if she tries her best, the results will not disappoint.

“The moment I stood on the podium to receive my diploma and was called a doctor, I felt that all my efforts, sweat and tears were completely worth it,” Phuong confided.

With her successful research achievements, the outstanding Vietnamese girl received two full-time job offers as a research specialist and lecturer from the Australian National University and the Australian Government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

“Between these two offers, I chose to work at the Australian National University because of my passion for teaching and wanting to work in a university environment,” Phuong said.

Phuong (far left) at a workshop on building sustainable development plans in small and medium enterprises at Monash University, Australia.

The young female doctor is currently a research expert on sustainable urban development at the Australian National University. Talking about the reason for her journey to pursue Urban Planning, Phuong said that as a child born in the coastal city of Da Nang, she understands the consequences of climate change such as storms, floods and extreme weather events.

Minh Phuong's current salary is more than 100,000 Australian dollars (equivalent to 1.6 billion VND) per year.

“I am completely satisfied with my current job,” Phuong shared.

Vietnamese girl at Floriade flower festival in Canberra, Australia.

The job market in Australia is currently quite difficult, especially for social workers. Especially when Australian universities have ordered to tighten the number of international students, making academic jobs even more scarce and competitive. Therefore, having a long-term and stable job at a prestigious Australian university like now is Phuong's great luck.

Before her current job, Phuong spent a lot of time working as a research assistant on small projects in universities, either for free or for part-time pay.

Thanks to her active participation in many different projects, the Vietnamese girl had the opportunity to collaborate with leading professors in Canada, England and Norway, publishing prestigious research. Thanks to this, Phuong's academic profile is always highly appreciated and she easily gets good job offers.

Phuong (middle) with her business master's students in the class she teaches.

Phuong's dream is to become a leading professor in her field. In the new year 2025, Phuong will become a supervisor for several doctoral students with research topics that match the project she is working on. The 9X expert hopes to work with excellent students from Vietnam.

Associate Professor Kathryn Davidson of the University of Melbourne said that Minh Phuong was one of the most outstanding students she had ever supervised. “I am very proud of Phuong’s achievements and the way she has developed herself into a young scholar,” said Kathryn.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/dac-cach-hoc-thang-len-tien-si-9x-viet-duoc-dai-hoc-top-1-uc-moi-lam-viec-ar918280.html