From thousands of international students studying hard in international lecture halls to young PhDs packing their bags and returning home, the question “Stay or return home?” has never been easy to answer.
Many big problems are raised:
- How to "incubate" Vietnamese scientists capable of "swimming" out into the ocean?
- When talents have been trained and honed in an international environment, how can we attract them to return?
- And once back, what is the solution to the problem of retention, so that talents not only stay but also develop their full potential?
We listened to stories from young scientists who chose to return to serve their homeland, to see some of the bottlenecks and barriers.
No matter where they are, Vietnamese people always yearn for their homeland. But if there are clear plans and roadmaps to implement, the answer to "what will we do for our country today" will be much clearer to them.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education and Training , there are currently nearly 250,000 Vietnamese students studying abroad at high school, university and graduate levels.
Of these, nearly 4,000 students study abroad on state budget scholarships managed by the Ministry of Education and Training , accounting for about 1.6% of the total number of Vietnamese students abroad.
International students studying and researching abroad with funding from non-state budget sources are mainly on other scholarships and self-funded.
With these options, the journey of investing in knowledge does not stop at academic efforts but is also associated with a long-term financial strategy.
The pressure and expectations from that investment can become the deciding factor in whether to stay or return after graduation.
Dr. Pham Thanh Tung is a lecturer at VinUni University. After graduating from Hanoi Medical University, he received a full scholarship from the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) to study for a master's degree at Johns Hopkins and a doctoral scholarship from Harvard University.
Dr. Tung acknowledged that one of the major challenges today is that international aid for agreement scholarships and Vietnamese Government scholarships is decreasing compared to before.
Part of the reason is that Vietnam has entered the middle-income group, causing international organizations to prioritize allocating resources to more disadvantaged countries.
“As state budget scholarships decrease, many young people have to find scholarships from schools or pay for their own education.
In cases of self-funding, financial pressure becomes an important factor in the decision to stay or return after graduation, especially when time is needed to work abroad to offset the investment in the degree," said Dr. 9x.
Dr. Can Thanh Trung - a 9x guy who returned from the California Institute of Technology and is teaching at the University of Natural Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City shared:
“In many cases, studying abroad is considered a big investment for the family, leading to pressure to quickly achieve an income level to offset the costs.”
According to the young doctor, full scholarship recipients often have fewer financial constraints, while self-funders have to prioritize high-income career opportunities, which may make them think carefully about whether to stay abroad or return.
Dr. Thai Mai Thanh is currently a lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Program, School of Engineering and Computer Science, VinUni University. After completing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales (Australia, 2023), the young man decided to pack his bags and return home.
Dr. Thanh said that studying abroad on a self-funded basis is a big investment and getting admitted to the world's top schools is a big challenge.
However, the impact of these individuals upon return depends on the environment and working conditions in the country.
According to him, State scholarship programs can create clearer constraints and orientations, helping returnees to have a lasting impact.
From Dr. Thanh’s perspective, there are many students who are doing research in Vietnam but then stop and do not continue. “The attraction of the international environment is still very strong,” Dr. Thanh explained.
“Convincing PhD students in Vietnam is extremely difficult, because many of the students I am supervising are completely capable of getting PhD scholarships abroad,” Dr. Thanh shared.
To really attract them, according to Dr. Thanh, it is necessary to meet the requirements of building a laboratory with full infrastructure, implementing new topics and large enough problems, and in addition, having some other benefits such as health insurance.
Abroad, there are three core conditions that help young researchers feel secure in staying: a visa to stay, a good income, and insurance.
Dr. Pham Sy Hieu, Researcher, Institute of Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, holds 2 doctoral degrees: in Chemistry from the University of Artois (France) and in science from the University of Mons (Belgium).
This young doctor believes that in the story of “returning” after studying abroad, the group that goes on scholarships plays a special role. These people have their tuition and living expenses paid by the State or international schools and often commit to returning to serve the country.
However, in reality, there is also a problem: many people after returning are not suitable for their working positions. The reason is that the training environment abroad is often highly academic, while the research conditions and facilities in the country do not meet the requirements.
This makes many people discouraged, research projects are difficult or impossible to carry out, leading to some cases of seeking reimbursement for expenses to leave their positions.
In the story of return, financial problems are one of the factors that determine the ability to retain talent.
At the 6th Global Forum of Young Vietnamese Intellectuals, which opened on the morning of July 19 in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang proposed the need to eliminate the “salary ceiling” regulation in public units, especially universities and research institutes, to attract and retain Vietnamese intellectuals abroad to return and contribute to the country.
According to Deputy Minister Hang, to make breakthroughs in science, education and digital transformation, Vietnam needs a new recruitment and remuneration mechanism - not restricted by ranks, levels, or coefficients, but must be flexible and competitive.
She also recommended encouraging no distinction between the public and private sectors, as both contribute to the overall development of the country.
These recommendations also reflect the reality that young scientists, such as Dr. Can Tran Thanh Trung, have observed and experienced. Dr. Trung pointed out a difference between Vietnam and developed countries, which is the postgraduate training mechanism.
In the US, doctoral programs typically last five to six years with full scholarships, allowing students to fully devote themselves to research as a steady job.
In the final year of his PhD program, Trung received a postdoctoral scholarship that was enough to cover his living expenses, allow him to do research with peace of mind, and even save money every month.
This model helps researchers feel secure in committing to long-term projects. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, this mechanism is still quite new.
Dr. Trung cited an example: in the US - where the Vietnamese man had the opportunity to study and research, there are professors who are able to take many years off from teaching to focus on research, while still receiving a stable salary.
“For large and important topics, the time can last up to 8-10 years, requiring a long-term financial investment strategy so that scientists can wholeheartedly devote themselves to research,” Dr. Trung shared.
According to Dr. Trung, recently, some universities have begun to pioneer the application of combining teaching and research salaries for lecturers, aiming to improve the financial problem for scientists.
From practical experience, Dr. Pham Sy Hieu said: "Separating these two salaries often appears in schools with the ability to be financially autonomous as a policy to retain talent."
At the same time, Dr. Hieu also believes that only when the problem of making a living can scientists develop stably and sustainably.
According to Clause 3, Article 4 of Circular 20/2020/TT-BGDDT, the standard teaching hours of lecturers in a school year in Vietnam are from 200 to 350 standard hours, equivalent to 600-1,050 administrative hours, nearly double that of France (190 hours) and much higher than the US and Germany (120-180 hours).
When most of the time is taken up by teaching, the time available for research and pursuing long-term scientific projects is significantly reduced.
Dr. Thai Mai Thanh added a comparative perspective, arguing that the model of focusing entirely on full-time research usually only appears at schools in the world's top 100.
“Even at top 200 schools, professors still have to teach, like my teacher in Korea still takes on 3-4 subjects/year,” Dr. Thanh cited.
Dr. Thanh currently teaches 3 subjects/year. He believes that scientists need to combine teaching, but at a reasonable and balanced level.
Because when spending part of their time teaching, scientists are also imparting knowledge and experience to the next generation, creating value in parallel with research work.
The young doctor shared that in science, focusing only on research is very stressful.
If the results cannot be "measured" by products or announcements, it is difficult to prove the value, because every investment must be transformed into specific, applicable results that benefit the community.
According to Dr. Thanh, scientists should also put themselves in the position of managers to understand this pressure.
“When research and topics are not successful or projects are in a “dormant” period, we can still create teaching value,” Dr. Thanh expressed.
According to Dr. Hieu, besides the issue of remuneration, administrative procedures also become a major barrier for scientists when they cannot "wholeheartedly" devote themselves to research.
“When working abroad, I only focus on research, the assistants and secretaries of the research center are in charge of the procedures,” Dr. Hieu shared.
On the contrary, in the country, researchers have to take care of everything themselves: from requesting topics, implementing them to disbursing funds.
Each topic or project requires a separate set of documents and administrative procedures, with confirmation from the governing body.
“It is very difficult for scientists to focus on research if they have to constantly worry about paperwork,” Dr. Hieu shared.
According to Dr. Thai Mai Thanh, Vietnam is currently investing a lot in scientific research projects, especially projects sponsored by the Government.
However, from the perspective of a young scientist who has experienced the international research system, Dr. Thanh sees a significant barrier: young talents find it almost impossible to compete for these large project positions.
In many countries, the research funding allocation system is clearly divided into several levels.
Dr. Thanh gave an example: “About 5 years after graduating with a PhD, there will be a separate “playground” for a group of young scientists, who compete with people of the same generation to win invested projects.
Once they have another 5-10 years of postdoctoral experience, they can approach higher level projects with larger funding sources.
After about 15 years of experience, they are qualified to participate in very large-scale projects, requiring management capacity and extensive research experience.
In Vietnam, this mechanism almost does not exist. That makes it difficult for young scientists who have just returned to the country to compete with their seniors who have been attached to the system for many years.
When applying to scientific councils or project review committees, young candidates have little "standing" in terms of both experience and achievements, leading to very low chances of receiving funding.
Dr. Thanh believes that this policy invisibly creates psychological and professional barriers, causing many young people who have finished studying abroad to hesitate or even give up the idea of returning home.
“What I want to convey is to give young people a real opportunity to try and take risks. Society often expects young people to succeed immediately, but the nature of research is to experiment and learn.
Veteran scientists have the foundation to ensure results. Meanwhile, young people may not have much experience but are rich in new ideas, ready to try bold directions.
If there is a good monitoring mechanism along with clear requirements on progress and goals, even if the results do not meet expectations, the cumulative value from the research process is still very large," Dr. Thanh expressed.
Dr. Thanh believes that if Vietnam decentralizes projects according to career stages, provides reasonable financial support, and transparent supervision, many young scientists will be willing to return, bringing with them knowledge and enthusiasm to contribute.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/khoa-hoc/loi-gan-ruot-cua-nhung-nhan-tai-chon-tro-ve-20250828225942356.htm
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